Ganzi
It's amazing how quickly circumstances can change. A few days ago I felt so sick I wish I could have been teleported home. Then, after the magical work of a powerful antibiotic, and a positive change of weather, everything suddenly looks so much brighter.
Ganzi is a town of about 60.000 Tibetans and Chinese in a pleasant mix. The atmosphere is definitely Tibetan, but the Chinese make it come alive. Quite different from Yushu, which is almost the same size, Ganzi is very much alive after dark. Immediately when you enter town, it's apparent that this place is a very active trading place. Shops spill their goods onto the sidewalk, a produce market offering fruits, vegetables, and spices, many hotels and restaurants, several internet cafes, digital photo printing and many other services are offered. You can buy virtually everything here. What a change from the limited supply in the places I've visited before in Tibetan country. It probably has all to do with the Chinese business mentality, and the fact that this town is far more easy to access from the big cities, because there are no high passes to cross for the trucks carrying the goods.
Ganzi is situated in a long valley with green hills on one side, and a long range of snow-capped mountains on the other side. From many streets you have a fantastic view on these peaks, and they give the town a magical backdrop. The green velvet covered hills and the rugged, sharp peaks with glaciers and snowfields visible from the town with all its colors (bright orange is very prominent in all Tibetan towns) gives it a theatrical appearance. The river in the valley is fed by a small stream that flows through the town, coming from the green hills. The mountains are on the other side of the river, behind a farmed plain with many small villages.
On the first day in town, I met Shimon, the Israeli traveller whom I met in Manigango. He made it to Dege, but was dissapointed. It was nothing, he said. He also failed to get into Tibet from there, nobody was willing to take him across the border, as the locals can be heavily fined if they carry individual travelers across the border. Entry into Tibet is only allowed in groups organized by Chinese government approved travel agents. So, Shimon returned the same way he came, through Manigango to Ganzi. He arrived here the same day as me. While I was lying in bed sick in Manigango, he crossed the 5100m pass to Dege twice. We went out for food and beer, and afterward checked out a small Tibetan club in town. Not much bigger than my livingroom, with young Tibetans dancing in front of big mirrors to very loud Tibetan pop. Interestingly, there were also a couple of attached rooms where apparently you could be entertained by some girls. Three Chinese men stepped in and came out with expressionless faces half an hour later.
It was about midnight when we were back on the street, and there was still a lot of action, but we both went to our hotels, mine a bit more luxurious than his. I actually have a huge room (4 by 6m) with a double bed, and private, completely odourless toilet (imagine, a toilet that doesn't smell like a pig shed, I couldn't believe my luck!). Ok, it was still a hole in the ground, but a prefab ceramic one, with a working flushing system. In the same hotel are staying a 21 strong art class from Guangzhou, who are here for 10 days with their teacher to practice their drawing skills on the Tibetans. You see them on the street with their sketchbooks, drawing almost everyone in sight.
Another piece of entertainment was offered by a travelling circus of four girls aged 8 to 16 (my guess) who were doing a series of acrobatic tricks and just started over when the end of their program was reached. They continued to do this until nightfall. I headed out in the morning at about 11 for a short hike up a hill on the edge of town, to enjoy a better view of the mountains. It was absolutely worth the effort. Not only was the view superb, I found a very nice spot were I just sat for two hours, enjoying the sun and the scenery around me. A herd of grazing yaks passed close by, a falcon was circling above my head gaining altitude on the hot air, and some friendly local people greeted me and probably wondered what I was doing (I had brought my video camera with tripod to shoot alpine close-ups). When I had collected enough audio/visual material and my skin was turning slightly red, I walked back, and saw the Chinese circus at the same spot still performing the same acts. This time I took out my cameras and recorded as much as possible of both the amazing acrobatics (the youngest folding herself into a pipe, and the oldest juggling a table with her feet), and the audience. Among the audience were also the art students, drawing the audience.
Today, my third day in Ganzi, the weather is not so nice. It rained all day. Not hard, just wet. The mountains hidden by grey clouds. Good I went out yesterday! I bought a bus ticket for Kanding for tomorrow morning at 6:30. It's a long trip (12hrs), I need to move to a more developed area, since my 2000 Yuan I drew from an ATM in Xining are slowly running out. No ATMs in Tibetan country, probabbly also not in Kanding. I have still 400 Yuan left, so I can stay a day or two and then get on a bus to Leshan, which has an ATM for shure (it's listed in Lonely Planet). My European bank card only works in ATMs of the Bank of China, which is omnipresent all over China, except for this area.
Ganzi is a town of about 60.000 Tibetans and Chinese in a pleasant mix. The atmosphere is definitely Tibetan, but the Chinese make it come alive. Quite different from Yushu, which is almost the same size, Ganzi is very much alive after dark. Immediately when you enter town, it's apparent that this place is a very active trading place. Shops spill their goods onto the sidewalk, a produce market offering fruits, vegetables, and spices, many hotels and restaurants, several internet cafes, digital photo printing and many other services are offered. You can buy virtually everything here. What a change from the limited supply in the places I've visited before in Tibetan country. It probably has all to do with the Chinese business mentality, and the fact that this town is far more easy to access from the big cities, because there are no high passes to cross for the trucks carrying the goods.
Ganzi is situated in a long valley with green hills on one side, and a long range of snow-capped mountains on the other side. From many streets you have a fantastic view on these peaks, and they give the town a magical backdrop. The green velvet covered hills and the rugged, sharp peaks with glaciers and snowfields visible from the town with all its colors (bright orange is very prominent in all Tibetan towns) gives it a theatrical appearance. The river in the valley is fed by a small stream that flows through the town, coming from the green hills. The mountains are on the other side of the river, behind a farmed plain with many small villages.
On the first day in town, I met Shimon, the Israeli traveller whom I met in Manigango. He made it to Dege, but was dissapointed. It was nothing, he said. He also failed to get into Tibet from there, nobody was willing to take him across the border, as the locals can be heavily fined if they carry individual travelers across the border. Entry into Tibet is only allowed in groups organized by Chinese government approved travel agents. So, Shimon returned the same way he came, through Manigango to Ganzi. He arrived here the same day as me. While I was lying in bed sick in Manigango, he crossed the 5100m pass to Dege twice. We went out for food and beer, and afterward checked out a small Tibetan club in town. Not much bigger than my livingroom, with young Tibetans dancing in front of big mirrors to very loud Tibetan pop. Interestingly, there were also a couple of attached rooms where apparently you could be entertained by some girls. Three Chinese men stepped in and came out with expressionless faces half an hour later.
It was about midnight when we were back on the street, and there was still a lot of action, but we both went to our hotels, mine a bit more luxurious than his. I actually have a huge room (4 by 6m) with a double bed, and private, completely odourless toilet (imagine, a toilet that doesn't smell like a pig shed, I couldn't believe my luck!). Ok, it was still a hole in the ground, but a prefab ceramic one, with a working flushing system. In the same hotel are staying a 21 strong art class from Guangzhou, who are here for 10 days with their teacher to practice their drawing skills on the Tibetans. You see them on the street with their sketchbooks, drawing almost everyone in sight.
Another piece of entertainment was offered by a travelling circus of four girls aged 8 to 16 (my guess) who were doing a series of acrobatic tricks and just started over when the end of their program was reached. They continued to do this until nightfall. I headed out in the morning at about 11 for a short hike up a hill on the edge of town, to enjoy a better view of the mountains. It was absolutely worth the effort. Not only was the view superb, I found a very nice spot were I just sat for two hours, enjoying the sun and the scenery around me. A herd of grazing yaks passed close by, a falcon was circling above my head gaining altitude on the hot air, and some friendly local people greeted me and probably wondered what I was doing (I had brought my video camera with tripod to shoot alpine close-ups). When I had collected enough audio/visual material and my skin was turning slightly red, I walked back, and saw the Chinese circus at the same spot still performing the same acts. This time I took out my cameras and recorded as much as possible of both the amazing acrobatics (the youngest folding herself into a pipe, and the oldest juggling a table with her feet), and the audience. Among the audience were also the art students, drawing the audience.
Today, my third day in Ganzi, the weather is not so nice. It rained all day. Not hard, just wet. The mountains hidden by grey clouds. Good I went out yesterday! I bought a bus ticket for Kanding for tomorrow morning at 6:30. It's a long trip (12hrs), I need to move to a more developed area, since my 2000 Yuan I drew from an ATM in Xining are slowly running out. No ATMs in Tibetan country, probabbly also not in Kanding. I have still 400 Yuan left, so I can stay a day or two and then get on a bus to Leshan, which has an ATM for shure (it's listed in Lonely Planet). My European bank card only works in ATMs of the Bank of China, which is omnipresent all over China, except for this area.
posted by marc at 16:10
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