Deep Exploration into Shambhala - Tibet, Yunnan

Tea Horse Inn is located on the hillside of the Haba Mountain. We arrived at the inn near in the evening. Tea Horse inn seemed much more famous to the foreigners than we Chinese, for there were many foreigners in the inn. Opened the window of the inn, the north peak of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain came into my sight.

Night fell quiet in the valley, and there was no trace of the hustle and bustle with a chilly wind blowing from the mountain. Looking up the stars in the sky, I was occupied with the feeling of peaceful and calm. I did not expect to actually come to the Tea Horse Inn, which was a windfall in this journey, we owed thanks to the recommendation of the Mr. Master Wang. We walked alone the Tea Horse Ancient Road from the upper Tiger Jump to the lower Tiger Jump.
Tea-Horse Ancient Road originated from the tea-horse trade in southwest border of China, flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, and thrived in Ming and Qing dynasties, during World War II, Tea-Horse Ancient Road achieved the most flourishing period, from the earliest tea stall shaky to the fur of horses and mules, medicinal herbs produced in Tibetan, Sichuan and Yunnan border Regions, as well as tea, salt, cloth and commodity swaps produced in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. Tea-Horse Road is divided as in north-south roads, which the south road is Yunnan-Tibet Road, and the north road is Sichuan-Tibet Road.
Yunnan-Tibet Road, starts from the western tea-producing areas-Yunnan Erhai area, though Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-La, Deqin, Mangkang to Changdu, then passes the Tibet, until Nepal and India.
Tea-Horse Road is a trade road, along the main trunk of the Tea-Horse Road, there are numerous small feeders scatted around to closely link the "Triangle" area Yunnan, Sichuan and Tibet together, forming the highest and the most dangerous mountain road in the world and the most remote tea-horse trade route and ethnic migration corridors.

From middle Tiger Jump to the upper Tiger Jumped is on the slope, along the way, Tea Horse Road is Hutiaoxia Valley, halfway up the side of the Haba Snow Mountain. At the foot of the abyss, Jinsha River looked like a bent thin belt. The sun slowly rose from one side of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, the clouds in the valleys constantly pouring out, it was really spectacular. We put ourselves in the embrace of the clouds.

The rugged, steep and bumpy Tea-Horse Road was simply formed by a number of caravans who stepped on the road day after day, year after year with their own feet and even life. We walked on the ancient road, feeling that the hardships and lonely of the caravans.
From generation to generation, caravans walked in the rugged mountain road, the heavy and tired food steps broke down the thousands of years of silence in the mountains and deep valleys. The ancient road has witnessed the hardship life of caravans that many of them dreamed of home but died in this ancient road. Without extraordinary courage, perseverance, patience and wisdom, they couldn’t walk on the Tea-Horse Road day by day. Tea Horse Road caravan was their way of existence, adventure and the road of life.
We left the Tiger Jump and went to Lijiang, on the way we witnessed the famous Yangtze River Bay. The road is close to the vertical cliffs, that was why we did not see the road when we looked down from the Tea-Horse Ancient Road.

6-Day Discover Tibet

Coming from Hong Kong, I experienced this easy and enjoyable tour pack to visit Guangzhou and Lhasa. I couldn’t forget this tour in my whole life for I experienced some impressing things and met some different people.
Day 1 and Day 2
Without doubt, the first day of our tour was spent in the train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. I was really impressed with the quality of the guide, Miss.li Ping. She always ready to help us and was there to meet our needs even when the schedule changed. She took us to the Hongfan Hotel Guangzhou after we arrived. We were told that the first day we could free arrange our time. Guangzhou is a fast-moving metropolis and sometimes we need to get under it’s skin. The next day, we visited Chen's Family Temple. Chen Ancestral Shrine is a cultural relic and an important site built during the reign of Guangxu Emperor with donations collected from Chen family members living in 72 counties in the Guangdong Province. It is also known as Chen Clan Academy, located at the Zhongshan Road. Miss Li Ping told us that the legend that during the late Qing Dynasty, a man called Chen stood third in the most important imperial examination. This provided him with a very distinguished office title, making the Chen family very well known in the area. Later someone suggested that all family members should raise money for building a temple for sacrificing to their ancestors as well as encouraging their children to study hard. We had no way to examine this legend but we were impressed by the legend. I couldn’t help thinking of the policy that scholars were well respected in the feudal society.

Later we walked along Shangxiajiu Pedestrain Street before lunch. The street was crowded with many shops and people, walking on the street, we were overwhelmed with a strong historical and traditional sense. That was the old lifestyle of old Guangzhou.
Day 3 and day 4
I was some kind of tired with the flight, because of I had to spent a whole day or half day to get some rest to recover. We flied to Lhasa for the third day. Even though I was eager to visit some places, but the other members of our team were so tired after the flight, and were anxious to have a rest. Thus, we stayed in the hotel to have a rest. The next day, we finally saw Potala Palace. Everyone who went to Lhasa would certainly visit Potala Palace because Potala Palace is a mark building of Lhasa and a huge treasure house of ancient materials and articles of Tibetan history, religion, culture, and arts. We got to the famous Jokhang Temple. The temple was built with Princess Wencheng’s suggestion in Tang Dynasty and constructed by Songsten Gampo. Princess Wencheng was a great woman who had contributed to the peaceful of Tang Dynasty and Lhasa. She brought with her a 12 year old, life-sized statue of Sakyamuni to Lhasa. We had lunch in a Tibetan-style restaurant in the afternoon. We bought Tibetan carpet, butter sculptures in Barkhor Street.
Day 5 and day 6
We were curious about how the monks live, so we visited someplace named “Drepung Monastery”, where used to be home of Dalai Lamas. Walking along the west stairs of Drepung Monastery, we found a 3-storied palace with flowered windows, which indicated the famous Ganden Potrang. Later, we went to Norbuilgka, the summer palace of the Tibet. The schedule of our tour was not include visiting the Tibetan family, but we were so curious about the life of Tibetan people, so our guide changed her mind and took us to knock a Tibetan’s door.

We left Lhasa for the next day. I didn’t want to leave but I had to, for I didn’t have a life there. Before I left, I looked at the blue sky and as far as I could see. I wanted to remember everything I saw and everyone I met. The flight took us home, but my heart still in Lhasa. Time can take away our age, but can’t take away memories that is deep in our mind.