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