Relocated Enda
About 100 kilometers north of Qamdo, Enda is linked to Lhasa in the north via the county seat of Riwoge. The exceptional geographical location made the village an important commercial hub and a strategic military fortress along the Ancient Tea-Horse Trail. Now, modern vehicles pass it as they roll along National Highways 214 and 317.
Enda is slightly elevated compared to the surrounding land, so it’s particularly visible. Flanking both sides of the 5-meter-wide, 100-meter-long stretch of highway are rows upon rows of typical Tibetan-style two-story houses, and at the village’s public square, various exercise equipment has been erected to serve residents. The square is also where villagers gather for guozhuang (a Tibetan bonfire dance).
However, the village was previously located on a riverbed, and in years past, residences were scattered across the mountainside in small clusters, lacking water, electricity, and roads. In 2004, before Tibet officially launched the Comfortable Housing Project, aimed at moving farmers and herders into more livable houses, the prefectural government of Qamdo convinced the villagers to relocate to their current homes adjacent to the highway. The price tag of new houses averaged 60,000 yuan, but each family received a government subsidy ranging from 10,000 to 25,000 yuan. Nowadays, villagers stay in the new houses during winter, accompanied by yak and sheep pens nearby, and in summer they lead their livestock up the mountain to a different abode near water. It is a place for trekking and hiking for your China tour.
“The mountains here are fragile and landslides are frequent,” reveals Xu Chengcang, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Qamdo Prefecture. “Facing such an unfriendly habitat, we realized that relocating the village as a whole was a necessity. This way, villagers can live in safer and more comfortable homes, and their production conditions will improve.”
Compared to other villages under the jurisdiction of Riwoqe County, Enda is moderately developed. Villagers primarily subsist through farming and animal husbandry, with additional income available through gathering Cordyceps sinensis. Cordyceps sinensis, known as “winter worm, summer grass” in Chinese and colloquially as “caterpillar fungus” in English, is a valued medicinal mushroom considered effective in curing digestive maladies and improving the immune system. It grows in alpine shrubs at 3,000 to 5,000 meters above sea level, and because of its low yield and difficulty to harvest, the fungus is extremely expensive, nearly as valuable as gold.
I came across Nangkya, who was collecting caterpillar fungus from the village. Each year, he buys a large quantity of it from villagers and resells it to clients in the county seat or transports it to Qinghai and Yunnan himself. One 54-year-old villager, Nagbgyi, earned 6,000 yuan for the single sale of 160 pieces of Cordyceps sinensis to Nangkya. Nagbgyi and his four family members make a living digging for Cordyceps sinensis in the mountain, and they can earn as much as 70,000 yuan during the two-month harvest season.
During the peak season for Cordyceps sinensis, May and June, travelers on Tibet’s highways frequently see locals riding motorcycles loaded with prepared food into the mountains. Some even camp at the foot of the mountains to ensure as much time as possible to dig for Cordyceps sinensis.
According to experts, Riwoqe is annually home to about 7,500 kilograms of Cordyceps sinensis, of which more than 3,000 kilograms are collected. The geographically-specific resource is distributed throughout the county, so heavy demand means that any of the county’s 40,000 residents need only a 200-yuan license to take up the trade. In May and June each year, the Riwoqe mountains welcome about 20,000 caterpillar fungus harvesters, and funds collected from the license fee are allocated towards grass restoration in the wake of digging season.
Unforgettable Chatikam
After departing Qamdo, I stumbled across Nyingchi, a beautiful prefecture embracing the magnificent Yarlung Zangbo River and Kaqin Glacier. Medog, the last county in China to be linked by highway, remains a mysterious edge of the prefecture. From Bayi Township, at the heart of Nyingchi, a journey of 80 kilometers north along National Highway 318 took me to Runang, which means “a place where home is forgotten” in Tibetan.
Chatikam Village, adjacent to National Highway 318 in Runang Township, merged with Zhongmai Village in 2004 to become a single tourism-based village, and after the merger, Chatikam’s name managed to stick with locals. Since then, the village, home to a population of only 274 spread throughout 55 families, has attracted global attention, which has led to visits by numerous backpackers and other travelers who later enthusiastically shared their Chatikam experiences with Chinese netizens.
Uncle Pingtso’s home inn is neither the oldest nor the largest lodging in the village, but is the most famous. Last March, Pingtso was even invited to appear on a CCTV (China Central Television) show to relate stories about his inn.
In 2002, when Runang was designated Nyingchi Prefecture’s pilot township for tourism development, Uncle Pingtso began by renting horses to tourists. One day, after a thrilling equestrian experience, several tourists from Guangdong Province tried to stay in the village, but couldn’t find a hotel, so hospitable Pingtso invited them to his own house. The next day, the guests paid him not only for the horse riding, but also for the accommodation.
Inspired by the unexpected income, Pingtso secured a loan to refurbish his old spare house and opened a home-based hotel in 2004. Back then, he had only seven beds, yet his first-year profits exceeded 20,000 yuan. In 2008, Pingtso improved the inn with facilities such as toilets. In 2009, with help from preferential policies related to the Comfortable Housing Project, he constructed a two-story building in his courtyard, increasing his inn’s beds to 24. Last year, Pingtso’s inn welcomed 2,500 guests from all over, who left him income exceeding 100,000 yuan.
“Many people visited my place after learning of me from internet or television,” smiles Pingtso, as he shows off an impressive collection of business cards and bank notes preserved under glass on his living room tables. “They came from around the world, and they invited me to their cities and countries.”
A new disinfecting cabinet, refrigerator and other facilities have brought modern comforts to the inn, contrasting the vintage Tibetan atmosphere created by walls decorated with crafts and prayer wheels, a massive stone wok, preserved meat hanging from beams, and small sacks of highland barley.
Ordinarily, Pingtso takes tourists on grassland horse rides or to pick mushrooms in the mountain, while his wife cooks at home and his son handles herding. When former guests call looking for local specialty products such as Gastrodia elata, Pingtso’s family is always happy to lend a hand.
“Every Chatikam villager is now somehow involved with tourism,” claims Wei Hong, director of the Information Office of Nyingchi County. “They primarily provide such services as Tibetan archery, horse riding, Tibetan cooking, and accommodations. Pingtso competes with 20 home inns, which combine to produce total annual income of 800,000 yuan. Tourists from around the country not only increased locals’ incomes, but also broadened their horizons.”
Prosperous Bagyi
Also just off National Highway 318, Bagyi, about three kilometers from Bayi Township, is the wealthiest village in Nyingchi Prefecture. Of 93 households in the village, five have assets worth over 10 million yuan. In 2010, the village’s revenue topped 7.76 million yuan, with per capita net income of 10,360 yuan. Bagyi is one of the 20 villages in Tibet where per capita net income exceeds 10,000 yuan.
Bagyi’s prosperity should be mainly attributed to its advantageous location bordering Bayi Township. In the early 1990s, the village already provided dozens of automobiles to transport lumber from Bayi to Bome, Shigatse, and Lhasa which can be considered to included in your AFFORDABLE China travel packages. Later, after logging was banned, villagers shifted their focus to building construction, which turned out to be even more prosperous. In 2005, the village’s united machinery team was established.
Gesam Wangjug, 40, is a member of the machinery team. In 1992, he spent 50,000 yuan to buy a truck for transportation, and the next year, he bought two dump trucks after securing a loan. Now, he has not only repaid every loan, but even acquired capital in the millions of yuan and purchased a two-story building.
Buying a dump truck or a loader costs 400,000 to 500,000 yuan, and an excavator is priced at 4 to 5 million yuan. The villagers’ expensive investments would have been impossible without loan support. To encourage Tibetan farmers to start businesses, the Agricultural Bank of China issues gold, silver, and copper credit cards, which provide credit lines of 30,000, 20,000, and 10,000 yuan, respectively, in addition to diamond cards, which provide credit up to 200,000 yuan. Many Bagyi villagers have benefited from the loans.
“In some other villages, teenagers still herd, but in our village, children go to kindergarten when they turn three,” explains Sangyai, the village’s leader since 1998. According to him, Bagyi residents all enjoy the nine-year compulsory education, and a new rural cooperative medical care system now covers all residents. “Our next goal is to establish a building materials market larger than others in the prefecture.”
It is an off-beaten-track travel places like Silk Road travel.
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