On the second day after arriving at Xinduqiao, the cross-country tribal line survey team temporarily slowed down. We chose to drive to Yaha Snow Mountain, from where we can overlook the “King of Shu Mountain” – Gongga. It is said that the straight-line distance from the top of Yaha Mountain to Gongga Snow Mountain is only 30 kilometers. On the Sichuan-Tibet line, this distance is basically within reach.
On the way to Mount Yaha, pass through the largest calcified beach in Asia – the Yalonggou calcified beach
Unfortunately, after several hours of turbulence, we climbed to the top of Yaha Mountain at an altitude of 4,718 meters, and the Gongga Snow Mountain in the distance was still hidden in the clouds and mist under the clear sky. In my eyes, this is not a kind of miss. If you regard it as a gesture of inviting you to come again, this kind of open-mindedness and open-mindedness is a bit like a real traveler.
The top of the mountain, the prayer flags, the blue sky and white clouds, and the Gongga Snow Mountain hidden behind the clouds
it doesn’t matter what you see
What matters is what you have witnessed
So, our convoy set off again, along the plateau valley with tall pine forests, and passed through Yajiang County, the hometown of matsutake. Many people know about matsutake only after watching “A Bite of China”, and I am no exception. The quality and output of matsutake in Yajiang are the highest in the country, and now it is the end of August, the best matsutake picking season is coming to an end, the local people should still be busy, waiting for the last shift to work.
Let me be naughty here
It’s not matsutake, it’s some wild mushroom the size of a mobile phone
It is said that after the nuclear explosion in Hiroshima, Japan, the first fungus to recover was matsutake. This kind of tenacious little thing can’t be cultivated artificially so far, even with the title of “King of All Germs”, it still does its own way. This is very similar to the cows and horses we saw along the way. The convoy passed by them, and they flicked their tails leisurely, and everything in the world has nothing to do with them.
you go your way
we eat ours
The golden barley on both sides of the road and the local people harvesting the barley
But artificial also has artificial grandeur. From Yajiang to Litang, you will encounter Jianziwan Mountain at an altitude of 4,659 meters. National Highway 318 winds and circles here, forming the most beautiful “Eighteen Bends of Heavenly Road”. The cross-country tribe’s convoy crossed the cloud-shrouded mountain road and slowly ascended. The scenery on the top of the mountain suddenly changed like a slide show. Looking down from a high place, I thought I had already flown to the clouds.
Ni is clothes, wind is horses
Kings of the clouds come and go
Next, we entered the “Sky City” – Litang. This is part of the alpine grassland in western Sichuan, with an average altitude of about 4,000 meters, and there is no distance between the sky and the earth. Perhaps it is because it is closer to the sun, which makes Litang a city of sunshine. Where the sun shines, people are in a very happy mood. As a necessary place on the Sichuan-Tibet Road, everyone is willing to rest here.
The weather is so good that I have to spread some wild
Where there are people, there are stories. In the book “The Dream of Wild Dust”, which tells about Chen Quzhen’s own experience in Tibet, Litang is the place where he first tried his skills. Here he suppressed several local leaders who refused to obey orders. But for the poet Tsangyang Gyatso, Litang is the end of beauty. He said: “Pure white crane, please lend me your wings. You don’t have to fly too far, just go to Litang and return.” Just this month, Litang has also newly opened a micro-museum of the sound of the Himalayas, where you can hear the sounds of cow bells, horse bells, mandolin, strings, eagle bone flutes, Zha Nian, string bells, dulcimer, etc. Behind each sound is A piece of life and memories.
Where there are people, there are stories
Decades-old handmade ghee barrels
Has now been replaced by mechanical ghee barrels
Tea drinkers, butter tea and butter
Cooking utensils in ordinary Tibetan homes, as well as air-dried Tibetan pigs and snow lotus
We continued walking, watching the yaks sprinkled like sesame seeds on the green cloth made of the grassland in the clouds. There are boulders scattered all over the valley and meadow. I don’t know which glaciers under my feet are the footprints left by the migration of glaciers in ancient times. After regaining consciousness, the line survey team bid farewell to the stories of the past and rushed to Daocheng, which is undoubtedly more popular in this era.
As a place with a Tibetan population of more than 96%, Daocheng has a strong local Tibetan Buddhist atmosphere, and Gongga Langjiling Temple is the largest Yellow Sect (Gelug Sect) monastery in the area. The Gelug Sect itself is a relatively late sect in Tibetan Buddhism, but it pays equal attention to learning and practice, and does not believe in such things as “sudden enlightenment” for no reason, which is now unacceptable in Tibetan Buddhism. The most influential denomination of controversy. It seems that if most people want to reach their goals, they always have to go through a necessary process, which is arduous, complicated and sometimes futile. As in practice, so in life.
A group of off-road tribes made a special trip to visit Richun Rinpoche Living Buddha of Langjiling Monastery in Gonggar. Following the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, we offer some food to the monks here. The monks also gave us some water and drinks in return, and put on white Hada for us to pray for blessings.
I am not very familiar with Buddhism, but I have heard the name of Richun Rinpoche Living Buddha before. He manages two temples, and the other one was once the filming location of the movie “Passing Through Your World”. We walked into the temple under the leadership of the lama, visited the exquisite murals in the temple, and learned about their daily life in the temple. Gongga Langjiling Temple was built in the early Ming Dynasty. Since then, it has gone through wars and the test of the times.
Borrowing the name “Passing Through Your World”, Gongga Langjiling Monastery and its monks have passed by for six hundred years, but they still have not changed their original intentions.
Living Buddha Richun Rinpoche sat with us and chatted. He was born and raised in Daocheng. He began to practice Buddhism in 1983. He was ordained as a monk in 1985. He went to India to practice and later spread Buddhism in Taiwan. Until now, he has insisted on finishing his daily homework in the morning and evening before doing other things. The teachings of the Gelug Sect have become one of his living habits. However, when talking about our itinerary and plans for this line survey, the Living Buddha, like other people we met on the road, suddenly became interested in the off-road tribe’s customized off-road vehicles, and even specially chanted scriptures and prayed beside the vehicle. His off-road vehicle was also hung with a diamond knot that he personally tied.
Vajra, a Dharma Tool of Tibetan Buddhism (Part 1)
And the tools used to do the “Dago Enlightenment” ceremony (below)
“Daigo” is the oil condensed on the cheese
Some people also refer to it as “sweets obtained from repeatedly refining milk”
But in any case, the taste of “enlightenment”
is sweet
Richun Rinpoche Living Buddha tied the diamond knot for us
Master Tudeng: After finishing homework, go for a wild ride, great
Curiosity is an instinct, it can take you far away, and it can also take you back to your hometown. As long as you have curiosity and kindness towards the world, no matter if you are a Buddhist monk or a passing visitor, you will always have a common heart, so sincere and honest.
