0:00:02 > 0:00:04Hmm.
0:00:57 > 0:01:02Well, Everest as we know it, or Chomolungma, as the Tibetans have known it for much longer,
0:01:02 > 0:01:07has been very good to us, but now it's time for me to head to the heartland of Tibet.
0:01:07 > 0:01:09I'm going to take the high road to Lhasa.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35'The Tibetan Plateau, shielded by the Himalaya from the monsoon rains to the south,
0:01:35 > 0:01:40'is a virtual desert, nearly three miles above sea level.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43'We shall cross it via Shigatse and Lhasa to Yushu,
0:01:43 > 0:01:46'the northernmost point of our journey.
0:02:17 > 0:02:22'Shigatse boasts the country's second biggest monastery, Tashilunpo,
0:02:22 > 0:02:27'home to the second most powerful monk in Tibet, the Panchen Lama.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30'In contrast to the hard, dry hills around,
0:02:30 > 0:02:36'the lush decoration is evidence that religion is not just important, it's at the heart of Tibetan life.'
0:02:36 > 0:02:38It's an amazing place here.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42I mean, is that the biggest monastery in Tibet?
0:02:42 > 0:02:44I suppose Lhasa's got bigger.
0:02:44 > 0:02:50'I visit Tashilunpo on a cold bright morning with Tibetan guide, Migma.'
0:02:50 > 0:02:52This is belong to...
0:02:52 > 0:02:56how can I say, Gelugpa order, Gelugpa sect.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03There are 800 monks here.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05New ones seem to be joining all the time.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09It's an honour for a family to send their sons to Tashilunpo.
0:03:11 > 0:03:16Monasteries are usually like a college or a university
0:03:16 > 0:03:22and the monks can study Tibetan medicine and philosophy, history,
0:03:22 > 0:03:26something like that, Tibetan culture, also astrology,
0:03:26 > 0:03:32so Tibetan most famous master or doctor graduated usually monastery.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36Yes, I see, I see. So the top professional people in Tibet
0:03:36 > 0:03:39would be from a monastery, would have been monastery educated.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41Exactly, yes, graduated from monastery.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43This makes Shigatse...
0:03:44 > 0:03:48..very important. Was it an important city, anyway?
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Yes, in this city there has 500 years old.
0:03:51 > 0:03:52500 years old.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56It is the second biggest city in Tibet.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Why was it so important?
0:03:58 > 0:04:01Because this is the Panchen Lama's residence.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04The Panchen Lama, who is the second spiritual leader.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08There are two highest spiritual teachers here.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11One is the Dalai Lama and one is Panchen Lama.
0:04:11 > 0:04:17The Dalai Lama, he is living in Lhasa, it is Central Tibet, and this is belong to Western Tibet.
0:04:17 > 0:04:23- At what age do the boys get sent away to be monks?- To the monastery? - Yeah.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26It is...most of them six years old.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28- Six?- Yes.- Six.- Yes, six years old.
0:04:28 > 0:04:34So, they leave home and they, do they, are they allowed to go back home?
0:04:34 > 0:04:36Just one time one year.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43'Religion dictates everything here, including the colour scheme.'
0:04:43 > 0:04:47Why is, why is that there, when everything else is white?
0:04:47 > 0:04:49- Why is that colour there? - The red colour?
0:04:49 > 0:04:54- Yeah, the red colour.- The red colour is to symbolise the temple -
0:04:54 > 0:04:56important Buddha inside.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00- Yes.- Only the white colours, there are no Buddha, just a dormitory for the monks.
0:05:00 > 0:05:05- Yeah, yeah, I see. I see, so this... The temple only would be painted.- Yes.
0:05:07 > 0:05:14'This Buddha is 80 feet high and reputedly the biggest gilded copper statue in the world.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17'It attracts pilgrims from all over Tibet.'
0:05:20 > 0:05:25Is it one of those things in Buddhism, where you get better Karma the more you come here?
0:05:25 > 0:05:29- Yes.- The more you come here, the better your next life will be?
0:05:29 > 0:05:31- Or, is that...- Yes.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34From the Buddha they get some power or wisdom,
0:05:34 > 0:05:37and for their next life is better.
0:05:44 > 0:05:50'Lamps, signifying the light of wisdom and purification, are fed with yak butter.'
0:05:50 > 0:05:56So this statue, it's 27 metres high and 11 metres wide,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59and it's made from copper ore.
0:06:03 > 0:06:09Is it very...? So it's very important, the act of pilgrimage in Tibet still?
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Yeah, pilgrims usually come every day,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15because the monastery's very close to their home town.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18- Oh, the local people come every day. - Yeah, every day.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21'Pilgrims are kept to two of the staircases.
0:06:21 > 0:06:26'The middle one can only be used by the Dalai Lama or the Panchen Lama.
0:06:26 > 0:06:33'This may be his home, but after a disputed succession, no-one knows where the new Panchen Lama is.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36'The Dalai Lama's candidate mysteriously disappeared,
0:06:36 > 0:06:39'and a rival Chinese candidate is hardly ever seen.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46'Heading east out of Shigatse,
0:06:46 > 0:06:50'we go to Gyantse - a town which grew rich from the wool trade with India...
0:06:51 > 0:06:57'..and remains one of the best preserved of all the old Tibetan cities.
0:06:57 > 0:07:03'100 years ago, Tibetans gathered on these walls to repel an invasion...
0:07:03 > 0:07:06'not by the Chinese, but by the British.
0:07:06 > 0:07:13'The Viceroy of India, irritated by having a "closed country" so near his northern border,
0:07:13 > 0:07:16'sent an army in to open it up.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20'Francis Younghusband crossed the mountains with 10,000 men.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26'After fierce fighting on the plain below, the fortress fell,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29'allowing the British to take Gyantse and move on to Lhasa,
0:07:29 > 0:07:33'puncturing Tibetan pride and ending their isolation.'
0:07:33 > 0:07:35Ooh-ah.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40A tea bar and a ball of string.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43It's the old...
0:07:43 > 0:07:45the markets of Gyantse.
0:07:45 > 0:07:51Is there still a wool trade... of clothing or anything here?
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Well, now today it's a...
0:07:53 > 0:07:55most of the wool is carried to Lhasa.
0:07:55 > 0:08:01- So now we can see no wool.- So it doesn't...?- Just some clothes we can buy here.- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:08:01 > 0:08:08I read an amazing thing in a guide book which said that before they made synthetic materials,
0:08:08 > 0:08:15- all the beards for the Santa Clauses in the American department stores were made of yak fur!- Exactly.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20It doesn't seem to be a particularly big, thriving city.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24I mean, it's busy here, but the city seems to be quieter now.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28Yes, because from Nepal to Lhasa, the main way, is not here.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32It's changed, after nearly 20 years. It's changed.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36'I leave Gyantse with some regret.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41'There is a real sense of history here - of the days when Tibetans were monks, merchants and warriors.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48'Tibet is not a cosy country.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51'The centres of population are few and far between,
0:08:51 > 0:08:57'and separated by hundreds of miles of wild and astonishingly beautiful landscape.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07'Tibetans have great respect for their surroundings.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10'Mountains are goddesses and lakes are sacred.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34'My first sight of Lhasa, once called the Forbidden City,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37'suggests very little is forbidden any longer.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40'Chinese communism has created a capitalist paradise
0:09:40 > 0:09:44'and Lhasa's now about as dark and mysterious as Disneyland.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51'But all is not lost.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56'Astride a rocky outcrop in the city is one of the most charismatic buildings in the world.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00'13 storeys high, it looms over Lhasa like a giant Buddha.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04'Chairman Mao wanted to blow it up, and I can see why.
0:10:04 > 0:10:10'If a nation could be symbolised by a single structure, Tibet was the Potala Palace.'
0:10:12 > 0:10:18I remember seeing this extraordinary building in photos in my encyclopaedia when I was young,
0:10:18 > 0:10:22quite unlike anything else I'd seen - the essence of foreignness.
0:10:22 > 0:10:28I never expected to see it, because at that time Tibet was closed and there was no chance of seeing it.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Now I can come here, Tibet's open again,
0:10:31 > 0:10:36but sadly the Dalai Lama whose palace it was...has gone, and it's now just a museum.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42'The Potala Palace was completed in the 17th century,
0:10:42 > 0:10:46'and no expense was spared to make it a home fit for a god-king.
0:11:00 > 0:11:06'Before the advent of skyscrapers, the Potala Palace was the tallest building in the world.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11'It had no running water and everything had to be carried up these endless stairs.
0:11:14 > 0:11:20'If you make it to the roof, you'll find the most enchanting of all the palace's 1,000 rooms -
0:11:20 > 0:11:23'the Eastern Sunshine Apartment.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25'This was the Dalai Lama's bedroom,
0:11:25 > 0:11:30'and from here he could be the first in Lhasa to catch the rays of the morning sun.
0:11:33 > 0:11:37'If ever there was a place to feel monarch of all you survey, this was surely it.
0:11:40 > 0:11:45'It's almost half a century since the present Dalai Lama, the 14th,
0:11:45 > 0:11:48'looked out over his city for the last time.
0:11:48 > 0:11:51'He'd probably recognise very little of it now -
0:11:51 > 0:11:56'only the heart of the old city has so far staved off the encircling concrete.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03'The Barkor, the traditional market area of old Lhasa,
0:12:03 > 0:12:07'remains the most important meeting place for Tibetans.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13'But now they're outnumbered in their own city by Chinese immigrants
0:12:13 > 0:12:16'and things will never be quite the same again.'
0:12:17 > 0:12:20During the past 20 years...
0:12:20 > 0:12:24the Barkor has already changed, completely changed, I'm sure.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27That's because we can see there are so many...
0:12:27 > 0:12:32businesses, shops here, around Barkor.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37All shops, there are no families living, just the second floor, just people living...
0:12:37 > 0:12:43Oh, I see, so there are fewer Tibetan families here, more businesses...owned by Chinese?
0:12:43 > 0:12:52Um, there are, there are Tibetan also, some of Muslim people. Also, how can I say? Han people.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56- Han Chinese, so the Chinese have put money in here too.- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:12:57 > 0:13:02'The Chinese authorities have failed in the half century they've been here
0:13:02 > 0:13:05'to curb the Tibetans' devotion to their religion.
0:13:05 > 0:13:10'Pilgrims still come to prostrate themselves in front of the Jokhang, the most sacred temple in Tibet,
0:13:10 > 0:13:13or do the kora - the traditional walk around it.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17So why are so many people here, at this particular spot, Migma?
0:13:17 > 0:13:21Because it is the most holiest palace in Tibet because of this temple.
0:13:21 > 0:13:26This temple, we call it Jokhang, is Buddha's house, that means Buddha's house.
0:13:26 > 0:13:32'They say a third of all Tibet's dairy produce once went into the creation of butter lamps.
0:13:32 > 0:13:37'The Chinese, anxious to drag Tibet into the modern world, banned their use.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41'Now they've relaxed the rules and butter's back in a big way.'
0:13:41 > 0:13:45These people who are doing the kora here, they...
0:13:45 > 0:13:49they look like they're out of town? They've come from the countryside?
0:13:49 > 0:13:53Yes, exactly. Most of them from Kham area, eastern part of Tibet.
0:13:53 > 0:13:59And at this time, in eastern part of Tibet, leaving...
0:13:59 > 0:14:04- nomads area. So, winter time there are no more work.- No more work.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08'The pilgrims' progress can take many different forms.
0:14:08 > 0:14:14'Prostration is seen as an important way of gaining merit and some spend years dragging themselves to Lhasa.'
0:14:45 > 0:14:49Tell me about the significance of the juniper and those incense burners.
0:14:49 > 0:14:57So the smoke next to the sky and the earth, so the Buddha believes that that smoke comes down to earth.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Oh, so it makes a route between earth and sky.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04- Ah, right.- So this is from Tibetan native traditions not Buddhism customs.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07- So, that's before Buddhism. - Yes, before Buddhism.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09I like the idea of that -
0:15:09 > 0:15:13- you put in some juniper and create this roadway.- Yes.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17'Migma and I break our kora at a cafe.
0:15:17 > 0:15:25'This was the haunt of Tsangyang Gyatso, the sixth and naughtiest Dalai Lama,
0:15:25 > 0:15:27'from whom a Western traveller noted,
0:15:27 > 0:15:31'"no girl, married woman or good-looking person of either sex, was safe."'
0:15:31 > 0:15:35He stayed with girlfriend...wrote several books about love stories.
0:15:35 > 0:15:40- Ah, this was his place for romantic trysts. Ah.- Yes.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43- Wow. Did he have any children?- No. THEY LAUGH
0:15:43 > 0:15:47- It was platonic. They just read books.- Yes.
0:15:47 > 0:15:52Because maybe it's for his writing, maybe he's need some idea from girl.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54So he wrote poetry, or...?
0:15:54 > 0:15:56- Yeah.- Have you read it?
0:15:56 > 0:15:58- Yes, I read it.- What's it like?
0:15:58 > 0:16:03Er, actually he's a very clever and a very funny...
0:16:03 > 0:16:07yes...Dalai Lama.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10Well, Dalai Lamas don't have girlfriends any more, do they?
0:16:10 > 0:16:13Er, the sixth Dalai Lama, especially.
0:16:16 > 0:16:21'Potala Square, a windswept open space of the sort beloved by the Chinese,
0:16:21 > 0:16:26'was created to mark the 13th anniversary of the day Tibet officially ceased to exist,
0:16:26 > 0:16:30'and became instead the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35'30 years in which a deeply conservative, religious society
0:16:35 > 0:16:37'was rudely forced to confront the modern world.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46'For an insider's view of these traumatic years,
0:16:46 > 0:16:50'I've been given official permission to talk to Taschi Tsering.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53'Once imprisoned by the Chinese, he's remained here in Tibet,
0:16:53 > 0:16:58'and became the first professor of English at Lhasa University.'
0:16:58 > 0:17:03I am at the right place. How do you do? How do you do, Taschi? I'm very, very pleased to meet you.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05- Oh, thank you. - Honoured to meet you.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11When I was in Lhasa...
0:17:11 > 0:17:15in the early '50s, the Chinese Revolution Army arrived.
0:17:15 > 0:17:21When they first came I was so curious...
0:17:21 > 0:17:23and shocked and curious.
0:17:23 > 0:17:31And then also they started building roads and establishing some small clinics,
0:17:31 > 0:17:37and then also at the same time they were propagating all kind of "isms",
0:17:37 > 0:17:41like feudalism, capitalism, socialism, communism,
0:17:41 > 0:17:46all these 'isms' which I have never heard of before,
0:17:46 > 0:17:50and made me even more curious,
0:17:50 > 0:17:56and, er, started to think that definitely...
0:17:56 > 0:18:03Tibet, the Tibetans, the life, bound to be changed.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05The peasants of Tibet who lived like animals
0:18:05 > 0:18:08through countless generations of serfdom have stood up.
0:18:08 > 0:18:13The joyful days which they have long dreamed about are here at last.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15The serfs are now free!
0:18:15 > 0:18:19The government issues seeds to the peasants as interest-free loans.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22These are truly the seeds of happiness.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28'But the seeds were to bear a bitter fruit.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32'After the Chinese invasion, the Dalai Lama, then a 16-year-old god-king,
0:18:32 > 0:18:39'was effectively stripped of his political power as Mao made no secret of his dislike for religion.
0:18:43 > 0:18:49'The Dalai Lama met Chairman Mao in Beijing to discuss how Tibet should be reformed.
0:18:49 > 0:18:54'It seemed amicable enough for a while, but in 1959, things came to a head.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58'A Tibetan uprising began and was brutally suppressed.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07'It was the end to any pretence of Tibetan independence.
0:19:14 > 0:19:20'The Dalai Lama, facing imprisonment or death if he stayed in Lhasa, fled his palace.
0:19:20 > 0:19:26'Heavily disguised, he and a few trusted followers made their escape across the plateau
0:19:26 > 0:19:28'and through the Himalaya to the safety of India.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37'The Dalai Lama never returned.
0:19:37 > 0:19:43'Taschi Tsering, then being educated in India, was asked to work with him, but he had other ideas.'
0:19:43 > 0:19:49A lot of Tibetan exiles were either staying away or leaving Tibet.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53You chose to come back in 1964. Why was that?
0:19:53 > 0:19:57I...began to think about...
0:19:57 > 0:20:04accepting the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party,
0:20:04 > 0:20:11and after some time I was... I was thinking to take the socialist road.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13For what?
0:20:13 > 0:20:17For coming back to Tibet, to co-operate with them,
0:20:17 > 0:20:22to modernise Tibet, to raise the living standards of the Tibetans.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26When I came back and suddenly I ran into the Cultural Revolution,
0:20:26 > 0:20:30and at the end of that I was labelled an American spy
0:20:30 > 0:20:35and an advocator for Tibetan independence...OK?
0:20:35 > 0:20:43And then I was thrown into prison and, you know, for a few years until Deng Xiaoping...
0:20:43 > 0:20:45the rise of Deng Xiaoping's power.
0:20:45 > 0:20:51So, since then, now over 20 years, more than 20 years,
0:20:51 > 0:20:57I'm glad that this government, even though it did not trust me,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00however, they are not bothering me.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04'Nor it seems, are they bothering the Buddhists.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06'Politically and economically secure,
0:21:06 > 0:21:10'the Chinese government is now happy to keep Tibet's monasteries open.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14'This walled garden is in Sera Monastery.'
0:21:17 > 0:21:19That is amazing!
0:21:19 > 0:21:22'If you want a good argument, you've come to the right place.'
0:21:22 > 0:21:25Mass debating!
0:21:25 > 0:21:30'The Buddha was insistent that his word should never be accepted without question,
0:21:30 > 0:21:36'so the monks developed a sort of verbal martial art, trading propositions instead of punches.'
0:21:36 > 0:21:39Who is debating what? And what do all the gestures mean?
0:21:39 > 0:21:45- So, this is the debating Buddhism philosophy. They are debating about this.- Philosophy, yeah.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48Monks, sitting monks usually give the answer.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51Oh, the sitting monk asks the questions, yeah, yeah.
0:21:51 > 0:21:58- So, the sitting monk gives the answer.- Yeah.- So, do this - this means that you are wrong.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01- Oh, right, yeah. - My answer is correct.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14So, the more points you can make the better,
0:22:14 > 0:22:19- because you demolish this man's argument - you say, "what about that?"- Yeah.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27'The great thing about this school of argument
0:22:27 > 0:22:31'is that if you get really worked up, you punch yourself!
0:22:41 > 0:22:47'My time in the capital is nearly over and looking for a last chance to taste the city's delights,
0:22:47 > 0:22:50'Migma and I head for Lhasa's top nightclub.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01'Beers are bought in slabs of 12.
0:23:01 > 0:23:06'The audience is treated to Tibetan culture as seen through a showbiz filter.
0:23:26 > 0:23:33'A little later on it gets truly weird and I find myself experiencing profound feelings of deja-vu!
0:23:33 > 0:23:37'Oh, no! Oh, my God! It's the Eurovision Song Contest!'
0:23:37 > 0:23:39THUMPING DANCE BEAT
0:23:45 > 0:23:49'Migma tells me she's 19 and studying architecture.
0:24:03 > 0:24:09'Early in the morning of my final day in Lhasa, I'm up in the hills above the city.
0:24:09 > 0:24:16'This is Nechung, once the home of the State Oracle, the third most important monk in Tibet.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19'He fled to India along with the Dalai Lama and now his monastery,
0:24:19 > 0:24:23'destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, is being restored.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27'The work is all done by hand...
0:24:27 > 0:24:29'and sometimes foot as well.
0:24:33 > 0:24:39'Here a work team flattens out a clay floor with a sort of restoration line dance.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45'They even have people here on work experience.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01'The walls at Nechung are like libraries,
0:25:01 > 0:25:05'covered in images intended to teach as well as decorate.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25'It's more than a monastery that's being preserved at Nechung,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28'it's a culture and a history which, thanks to Chinese communism,
0:25:28 > 0:25:32'at one time seemed dangerously close to extinction.
0:25:36 > 0:25:41'Leaving Lhasa we pass works that will have profound implications for the future of Tibet -
0:25:41 > 0:25:47'the foundations of a 700-mile railway across the high plateau.
0:25:55 > 0:26:00'From 2008, the year of the Beijing Olympics, high-speed trains will,
0:26:00 > 0:26:05'for the first time, connect Lhasa with the Chinese rail network...
0:26:05 > 0:26:09'for the benefit, says the poster, "of all the peoples of China."
0:26:14 > 0:26:18'As one ethnic group, the Han, makes up 91% of all Chinese,
0:26:18 > 0:26:22'it's clear who'll benefit most from this impressive engineering.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29'About 100 miles north of Lhasa, amidst swirling steam,
0:26:29 > 0:26:33'I discover a totally unexpected Nirvana.'
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Oh, phew!
0:26:41 > 0:26:43Oh, wonderful!
0:26:43 > 0:26:47The problem with Tibet is, it's a very big place and very difficult to heat.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51This is the first time I've been warm in two weeks in Tibet,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54and I've had to come to this Olympic-sized swimming pool,
0:26:54 > 0:27:00north of Lhasa at about 14,000 feet, to really be warm, and it's lovely!
0:27:00 > 0:27:04Who needs clothes when you've got the hot springs?
0:27:04 > 0:27:06Ah, ha-ha-ha! Ho-ho-ho!
0:27:24 > 0:27:28'Not all the water on the plateau is as friendly.
0:27:33 > 0:27:38'These are the icy shores of Namtso Lake, 15,000 feet -
0:27:38 > 0:27:42'4,700 metres above sea level.
0:27:51 > 0:27:58'Namtso, Tibet's largest salt water lake is a very cold, very holy, very busy place.'
0:28:00 > 0:28:06Well, it really says something for the dedication of and devotion of Tibetan pilgrims
0:28:06 > 0:28:08that here on the edge of Namtso Lake,
0:28:08 > 0:28:15on the onset of winter, when it's really cold and windy out here that they've all turned out,
0:28:15 > 0:28:20because it's a very important lake, this is a very important year, the Year of the Sheep.
0:28:20 > 0:28:26It's a very auspicious year for people to come to the lake and walk round and do the kora -
0:28:26 > 0:28:32the devotional walk - and there's so many of them there must something in it, so I'll join in and see.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56'Namtso is one of the four sacred lakes of Tibet
0:28:56 > 0:29:01'and great merit is gained from braving the ferocious elements to come here.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31'There's one circuit around the rocks for day trippers,
0:29:31 > 0:29:37'but the truly dedicated can attempt a circuit of the lake itself - that's an 18-day walk.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13'Having walked with people in this numbing cold,
0:30:13 > 0:30:18'I found myself puzzled and perhaps a little envious of the degree of devotion
0:30:18 > 0:30:22'that can turn such a remote and unforgiving lake shore into a sanctuary.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36'The only other signs of life around Namtso Lake are the herds of yak
0:30:36 > 0:30:39'for whom extreme cold is a perfect environment.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49'I'd been warned to be wary of yaks.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53'They look docile, but can get dangerously perky.
0:30:55 > 0:31:00'In return for a bit of help with the herding, Ganden, the local cattle baron,
0:31:00 > 0:31:05'invites me in for yak snack of butter tea and a slice of dried thigh.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10'And that luxury of luxuries, a fire.
0:31:10 > 0:31:16'Yaks, he says, are a man's best friend and provide him and his family with wool, milk, cheese.
0:31:16 > 0:31:21'He's a nomad, not a farmer, and life is very hard.
0:31:21 > 0:31:25'Most of the year they live outside in extreme weather - cold and snow.
0:31:25 > 0:31:30'Luckily, he tells me, the Communist Party of China
0:31:30 > 0:31:35'helps him overcome all these hardships, and he's very grateful.
0:31:35 > 0:31:38'I think I've just walked into a commercial!
0:31:44 > 0:31:48'400 miles north-east of Lhasa, summer has arrived on the plateau
0:31:48 > 0:31:50'and the yak are fattening themselves up.
0:32:02 > 0:32:08'Sonam and his brother are moving their herd to make the best of the fresh pasture.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39'The easy way to do it is on the family motorbike.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42'Sonam's wife prefers the traditional herding methods -
0:32:42 > 0:32:45'a whistle and a clod of earth on the side of the head.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52'I just pretend I'm a tour guide!
0:33:02 > 0:33:09'I'm not a natural farm boy, but being a busy time of year, I offer them what limited skills I have.'
0:33:10 > 0:33:13Well, nothing seems to be happening.
0:33:13 > 0:33:18I'm totally unqualified for any milking of any kind, let alone yak milking!
0:33:18 > 0:33:20Come on, then. Come on.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24There you go. There you go.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27Come on. Come on.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30Just a drop, just a drop.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33Sonam says I must be much firmer with the udders.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36Which ones shall I...?
0:33:36 > 0:33:38There's so many!
0:33:38 > 0:33:41OK, all right? Yeah.
0:33:52 > 0:33:57I'm not milking a yak, of course, because a yak is actually a male,
0:33:57 > 0:34:01so this is a drey - a drey is what you milk.
0:34:05 > 0:34:07There we go.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12We'll soon have enough for a cappuccino!
0:34:25 > 0:34:28'He's a bit of an enigma is Sonam.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31'Does he always wear a suit or is it just because we're here?
0:34:50 > 0:34:56'The relationship between man and yak seems almost embarrassingly one-sided.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59Yaks provide milk, cheese, butter, meat,
0:34:59 > 0:35:06fuel, fur, rope, skins and transport and in return they get a bell round the neck and a very silly haircut.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20Ah, thank you.
0:35:23 > 0:35:28It's a bit warmer in here than out there on the high plateau. ..Hello.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31Hello, little ones. I'm Michael.
0:35:31 > 0:35:36'The tent that is their summer home is predictably yak dependent.
0:35:36 > 0:35:41'It's made from their hair and heated by their droppings.'
0:35:41 > 0:35:43I've come in with the yaks
0:35:43 > 0:35:46from the winter pasture to the summer pasture,
0:35:46 > 0:35:50which you only spend about three months of the year, yeah?
0:35:50 > 0:35:52And I got a bit of yak herding practice,
0:35:52 > 0:35:58and a bit of milking practice and this is incredible, this is a tent, a yak-hair tent.
0:35:58 > 0:36:03Everything you see here, there's cupboards, sideboards, and these big pots,
0:36:03 > 0:36:08everything is brought on the back of a yak and it's all carried in by yak.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12Um...and, um... and this is where you spend,
0:36:12 > 0:36:17this is where you spend your summer with your family, out on the fields there.
0:36:20 > 0:36:27It may look warm, but actually it was quite chilly this morning, so I could use this hot tea.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41We've not known each other for long, Sonam,
0:36:41 > 0:36:45but somehow although we can't speak each other's language,
0:36:45 > 0:36:47we somehow know what we're on about -
0:36:47 > 0:36:52eating, sharing food, children... Children are always the same, aren't they?
0:36:52 > 0:36:57Always one of them's looking very happy, and the other one's going "Wa-ah-ah!"
0:36:57 > 0:37:01It's the same in England, it's the same in Tibet, wherever you are.
0:37:01 > 0:37:03Funny thing that, isn't it?
0:37:04 > 0:37:07Who needs phrase books?
0:37:07 > 0:37:09Hello. Hello.
0:37:18 > 0:37:22'I like to think my help can give the family a bit of a breather,
0:37:22 > 0:37:25'even if I do feel a bit like the au pair.'
0:37:29 > 0:37:32The whole pace of life, sort of, changes...
0:37:32 > 0:37:35up here.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38Most of the things they do, most of the movements,
0:37:38 > 0:37:43most of the time spent, is doing something fairly leisurely like this, making cheese.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46There's no great rush.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53Gossiping goes on, of course, outside.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55But those of us stuck in the kitchen
0:37:55 > 0:37:59get into this rather gentle rhythm of life, and it's awfully pleasant.
0:38:03 > 0:38:09This would probably be the major occupation of the day for somebody.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14It beats presenting!
0:38:33 > 0:38:35Hey!
0:38:35 > 0:38:37I saw that. I saw that!
0:38:37 > 0:38:40That's what happens when I leave it.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43If you don't stir it, it just gets a mind of its own. ..Oi!
0:38:43 > 0:38:45Cheese, in the bowl.
0:38:45 > 0:38:49I saw that and your friend, all right? I'm a reasonable... Eh!
0:38:49 > 0:38:51Right over.
0:38:51 > 0:38:53It wants to be stirred, you see?
0:38:53 > 0:38:57Stir me, stir me. OK, I understand your point of view.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00It's you three over here, you're the trouble makers.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02This side, absolutely fine. Oi!
0:39:02 > 0:39:05That one there, you're a new one. You're a stroppy one!
0:39:05 > 0:39:08I'm not having you in my cheese, so there!
0:39:45 > 0:39:47Hello, again.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50Don't look so sad, I've come here to work.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54Must be making butter in there.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56How does that work?
0:39:56 > 0:40:01Oh, yeah, yeah. No, I haven't done. This is one I haven't done.
0:40:01 > 0:40:02Excuse me.
0:40:02 > 0:40:07So just...push it down.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09You show me, you show me.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13Right down...and then up.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19Good manly plunge.
0:40:21 > 0:40:23Hmm.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27I wonder how long you have to do this for?
0:40:27 > 0:40:29A long time?
0:40:29 > 0:40:31An hour? Two hours?
0:40:32 > 0:40:35She says, "Yes!"
0:40:35 > 0:40:38At the end of it, it's really delicious butter.
0:41:10 > 0:41:17'When the time comes, I somewhat reluctantly tear myself away from the warm bosom of Sonam's family.
0:41:17 > 0:41:22'He's agreed to give me a ride to the horse fair in the nearby town of Yushu.'
0:41:22 > 0:41:24OK.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30'We don't bother waiting for the bus.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08'After days on the sparsely-populated plateau,
0:42:08 > 0:42:11'the metropolis of Yushu comes as something of a culture shock.
0:42:13 > 0:42:20'The town, springing fully formed out of nowhere, alive and buzzing with shops, restaurants and hotels.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27'And right next door, another town is taking shape.
0:42:29 > 0:42:33'The week-long horse fair that fills the valley outside Yushu
0:42:33 > 0:42:36'is the biggest gathering on the Tibetan Plateau.
0:42:39 > 0:42:44'Few people can make a living from the harsh conditions on the Roof of the World,
0:42:44 > 0:42:50'but those that do have come here, often from hundreds of miles away, to meet and celebrate.
0:42:57 > 0:43:01'Nomads bring their tents and their families here
0:43:01 > 0:43:06'to meet other nomads they'll probably never see for the rest of the year.
0:43:07 > 0:43:12'The atmosphere is a mixture of home comforts, holiday camp jollity,
0:43:12 > 0:43:16'and highland games, with the yaks joining in...
0:43:17 > 0:43:19'..not always happily.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36'There are retail opportunities,
0:43:36 > 0:43:41'with a constantly expanding high street of cafes, stalls, businesses and side shows.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44'Elaborately decorated tents go up around the camp,
0:43:44 > 0:43:48'creating a bizarre mix of Henley Regatta and the Wild West.
0:43:52 > 0:43:55'Much of the time is just spent hanging out.
0:43:55 > 0:43:59'A local woman has moved her cafe from Yushu to the fairground,
0:43:59 > 0:44:03'and it's here that I meet Sonam's English-speaking friend Duker,
0:44:03 > 0:44:07'from whom I learn more about the secret life of a yak herder.'
0:44:07 > 0:44:11Later on when he was a teenager, did he come here to meet girls?
0:44:13 > 0:44:15For instance!
0:44:16 > 0:44:18DUKER INTERPRETS THE QUESTION
0:44:22 > 0:44:25Yeah, he met lots of girls!
0:44:25 > 0:44:31Did he fall in love with any of these girls, or were these just girls he met at the festival?
0:44:31 > 0:44:34DUKER INTERPRETS THE QUESTION
0:44:35 > 0:44:37He did fall in love. Ah.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40Did she find the love of her life here?
0:44:42 > 0:44:44DUKER INTERPRETS THE QUESTION
0:44:55 > 0:44:58She said that is her privacy.
0:44:58 > 0:45:01Oh, OK. Well, that's absolutely fair enough.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03Let's talk about politics!
0:45:03 > 0:45:05THEY LAUGH
0:45:09 > 0:45:12The opening ceremony is all about politics
0:45:12 > 0:45:17as local administrators join with high-ranking members of the People's Liberation Army
0:45:17 > 0:45:23to mark the achievements of the Chinese government in opening up the wilderness of the west
0:45:23 > 0:45:28and providing a brighter future for the people of this benighted land.
0:45:28 > 0:45:31CHINESE NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS
0:46:10 > 0:46:14As the last chords of the Chinese national anthem die away,
0:46:14 > 0:46:20a good old socialist drive-past begins, which could as well be in Red Square or Tiananmen Square.
0:46:25 > 0:46:31Whilst massed tractors and farm vehicles roll by, the commentary in Chinese and Tibetan
0:46:31 > 0:46:35extols the miracles that modernisation has wrought here
0:46:35 > 0:46:37and the promise of even better days ahead.
0:47:00 > 0:47:05The children seem to be having a ball, but the discreet presence of authority
0:47:05 > 0:47:09seems to inhibit some of the older participants.
0:47:09 > 0:47:11These horsemen are Khampa people,
0:47:11 > 0:47:16the only Tibetans to put up any serious resistance to the Chinese liberation.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21I wonder what Sonam makes of all this?
0:47:21 > 0:47:23What's he love best about it?
0:47:23 > 0:47:26DUKER INTERPRETS THE QUESTION
0:47:32 > 0:47:37- The horses.- The horses. Ah, right. Yeah, well, of course...
0:47:37 > 0:47:39Cos you have your yaks and all that.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42Is he a horseman, as well?
0:47:42 > 0:47:45- Yes.- Ah, yeah. Does he do the musket?
0:47:45 > 0:47:47Do you do the firing?
0:47:50 > 0:47:54- No, never. Dangerous. - That's dangerous.
0:47:59 > 0:48:04It's a bit dangerous. He's got a wife and family. He can't be doing things like that!
0:48:06 > 0:48:10'But there are plenty of people who will do it, with impressive results.
0:48:16 > 0:48:21'The gathering up of the scarves on the other hand, gives the horsemen a few problems.'
0:49:02 > 0:49:05OK, where are we going now - to get chilled?
0:49:05 > 0:49:08We're going to see some coral.
0:49:08 > 0:49:10- What?- Cor-al.
0:49:10 > 0:49:12- Coral.- Coral.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15Coral. I know what coral is.
0:49:16 > 0:49:22'As we both feel the need of a break from the fair, Duker takes me shopping in town.'
0:49:22 > 0:49:27It's motorbike land. It's kind of like the Wild West without the horses, and motorbikes instead.
0:49:29 > 0:49:31Oh, look at this one.
0:49:31 > 0:49:32Ah, right.
0:49:34 > 0:49:35Hello.
0:49:35 > 0:49:39Yeah, and these... Do you wear these, do you?
0:49:39 > 0:49:43- Do you wear them?- Yes, it's for decoration - a necklace.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46- Oh, right. So, like an amulet, sort of thing, yeah.- Mm-hm.
0:49:46 > 0:49:53And for example, this coral, the dark red - very expensive - and this is the real "zu".
0:49:53 > 0:50:00- Is it real?- Yeah.- This is zu. - Zu? What's it called?- Zu.
0:50:00 > 0:50:02Zu. It's called a zu.
0:50:02 > 0:50:07And if you have a zu touch your body, this can protect you.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10Oh, right, if it touches your body. How much are they?
0:50:11 > 0:50:13HE INTERPRETS
0:50:13 > 0:50:17- Er, 30,000 yuan.- 30,000 yuan?
0:50:17 > 0:50:23Wow, so, ten to a dollar, that's about 3,000 dol... 3,000?!
0:50:23 > 0:50:2530,000 yuan is more than 3,000.
0:50:25 > 0:50:3030,000 yuan, divided by ten, that would be 3,000, wouldn't it?
0:50:30 > 0:50:34Am I right, please?! I always get this sort of thing wrong!
0:50:34 > 0:50:36Much nodding from the financial department.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38Can we afford one?
0:50:38 > 0:50:40No. I thought not! Half?
0:50:40 > 0:50:45You should be sitting in a bank, you know, you've got so much money around your neck!
0:50:45 > 0:50:49You should have security guys around. Maybe they ARE.
0:50:49 > 0:50:51Well, I don't think I want a "zu"...
0:50:51 > 0:50:54I wouldn't mind a "zzz", but not a "zu".
0:50:57 > 0:51:01By now, we've caught the attention of the Men In Hats. It's time to move on.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05What sort of things are they buying and selling? What's in there?
0:51:05 > 0:51:08- Well, it's called caterpillar fungus. - Caterpillar fungus?
0:51:08 > 0:51:11- Yeah, it's a very, very expensive.. - Can we see it?
0:51:14 > 0:51:19- It's a very expensive herb medicine. - Oh, right. Can I touch it?
0:51:23 > 0:51:27- You see it's an insect, actually. - Yes, oh, yes, there's the head.
0:51:27 > 0:51:32And then six feet here, you'll notice some feet, and this is...
0:51:32 > 0:51:35And that's... What is so good? What's this?
0:51:35 > 0:51:39- The caterpillar's tail? Is that...? - No, this part is.
0:51:39 > 0:51:44- What is that, then?- Grass. - Grass, I see, yes.
0:51:44 > 0:51:49- It comes out like this.- Oh, I see. What's it used for? Why is it so valuable?
0:51:49 > 0:51:51It's a medicine. Herbal medicine.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54- What does it cure? - It cure everything.- Cure everything?!
0:51:54 > 0:51:56Well, no wonder it's so good!
0:51:56 > 0:52:01Will it cure filming sickness brought on by deep fatigue?!
0:52:01 > 0:52:04- Yeah, you can...- No, only joking. We love it.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12- Can I have 30s' worth? - How much is that?
0:52:12 > 0:52:18'The caterpillar fungus, or cordyceps sinensis, sets me back a pound a shot.
0:52:18 > 0:52:20'Still, if it cures everything...!'
0:52:23 > 0:52:25Thank you. That's very precious.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29I'll go and sell them to somebody else now. These are high currency.
0:52:29 > 0:52:31Ah-hah-hah-hah! Eh-heh-heh-heh!
0:52:31 > 0:52:34Let's go now.
0:52:38 > 0:52:43Back at the fairground, in the glamorous world of parasols and international photographers,
0:52:43 > 0:52:46there's still plenty going on.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50Stimulated by the heady scent of burning juniper,
0:52:50 > 0:52:55Duker and I investigate one of Tibet's less well-known pastimes - hoopla.
0:52:55 > 0:52:59- One yuan each, five yuan for six. - OK, let's have three each.
0:52:59 > 0:53:01Good, six.
0:53:01 > 0:53:07Every prize is a pack of cigarettes, which for a non-smoker like me is a bit of a bummer.
0:53:07 > 0:53:09Go, go, go!
0:53:11 > 0:53:14- Hey!- Ah, do you smoke?- No, so...
0:53:14 > 0:53:18Useless. We've found the only tobacco hoopla.
0:53:18 > 0:53:24Is there any sort of luncheon meat or smoked oysters down here?
0:53:24 > 0:53:27- Cigarette, cigarette, please, please! - Ah, no!
0:53:27 > 0:53:32What with this, and things like karaoke, there are quite a number of outside influences
0:53:32 > 0:53:38on what is essentially a Tibetan festival and I wonder if Duker has problems with this.
0:53:38 > 0:53:43Do you think there's a danger that you'll lose the Tibetan culture
0:53:43 > 0:53:49if people all speak Chinese as well? Tibetan will become less important?
0:53:49 > 0:53:55Yeah, probably. I mean, if you do only speak Chinese, or Tibetans only speak Chinese and English,
0:53:55 > 0:54:02then of course we will lose. But now we are learning Chinese and Tibetan both,
0:54:02 > 0:54:08so, yeah, we are still keeping our culture and actually we're trying.
0:54:08 > 0:54:13So the Chinese and the Tibetans - do they mix quite happily?
0:54:13 > 0:54:16Happily? You mean...harmony?
0:54:16 > 0:54:20- Yeah, in harmony. - Yes, it's fine now. It's really fine.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23- Was it difficult to get that harmony?- No...
0:54:23 > 0:54:27- I mean was it always like that? - Yeah, it's fine.
0:54:27 > 0:54:32For me, I mean, I didn't really feel any, just like tension or...
0:54:32 > 0:54:37It's just quite getting along well.
0:54:37 > 0:54:42So, your son, in 50 years' time, he will be as Tibetan as you were
0:54:42 > 0:54:45and as Tibetan as your father was, is that right?
0:54:45 > 0:54:50My son - if I have chance, I will let him to get best education.
0:54:50 > 0:54:55That mean he have to learn Tibetan, Chinese and English also,
0:54:55 > 0:55:00and if possible I will send him the best university in Peking -
0:55:00 > 0:55:03- er, Oxford.- OK.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06So...that's right. If he goes off to be a big businessman
0:55:06 > 0:55:10owning a multinational in Shanghai and London, you wouldn't mind?
0:55:10 > 0:55:14No, never mind where he... If he had a better life, it's fine.
0:55:14 > 0:55:19- But you wouldn't like it if he forgot how to speak Tibetan, would you?- No. He would not,
0:55:19 > 0:55:25because I will let him have a very deep feeling about Tibet when he's...childhood.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29- Yeah, well...- In his childhood.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32You see, I liked being up on the plateau, I enjoyed that.
0:55:32 > 0:55:37That was really nice. That was much better than being in noisy London, or anything like that.
0:55:37 > 0:55:40We can't all have everything we want.
0:55:52 > 0:55:58I never thought Tibet would ever remind me of my summer holidays, but it kind of does.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02There's a very similar atmosphere here to going away to Norfolk
0:56:02 > 0:56:05like we used to do and picking a beach hut, and people next door...
0:56:05 > 0:56:09"Who's coming this year?" "Oh, hello, it's those people again."
0:56:09 > 0:56:13There's very much that same feeling here, of people letting their hair down for a few days
0:56:13 > 0:56:17and it's not just that it's picnics and it's tents,
0:56:17 > 0:56:20it's also sort of people dressed to the nines,
0:56:20 > 0:56:23the parades and all that sort of thing that go on here.
0:56:23 > 0:56:28I think what I sense here is an extra intensity of the enjoyment,
0:56:28 > 0:56:34because for eight months of the year, this is such a severe life here on the top of the plateau,
0:56:34 > 0:56:39that when they do get together, it really is a party and they obviously know to party!
0:58:01 > 0:58:04These are the headwaters of the Yangtse River,
0:58:04 > 0:58:08where it gathers momentum for a 4,000-mile journey from here to the sea.
0:58:08 > 0:58:13This place where we've just seen the horse fair is the furthest north I shall go on the Tibetan Plateau,
0:58:13 > 0:58:19and then I'll be following the Yangtse south until it reaches the very eastern edge of the Himalaya.
0:58:19 > 0:58:24Next time on Himalaya - I brave the whirlpools of the Yangtse,
0:58:24 > 0:58:26walk the Tiger-Leaping Gorge,
0:58:26 > 0:58:28see what the doctor orders,
0:58:28 > 0:58:31learn seduction techniques
0:58:31 > 0:58:34and join a Chinese hoedown.
0:58:34 > 0:58:36Back in India I take a train,
0:58:36 > 0:58:39show my stomach to a head hunter,
0:58:39 > 0:58:42search for the perfect cut of tea,
0:58:42 > 0:58:45see boys playing girls,
0:58:45 > 0:58:48watch dancing drummers
0:58:48 > 0:58:50and give an elephant a bath.
0:58:50 > 0:58:54Himalaya - the highest form of entertainment!