This is the second post of a weeklong series recapping my August trip to the western Chinese provinces of Gansu and Qinghai. See the first post in the series here.
As seen from the car window
Our taxi clung to the gravel road as it ascended from switchback to switchback with uncomfortable speed. It felt as if we were climbing into the sky, with no clear end — or destination — in sight. But eventually we began to see people, and then dwellings, and finally we were in the village of Taktser, high in the mountains outside Xining.
Taktser is where, in 1935, the current Dalai Lama was born. It is an isolated village high above the mountains, almost three hours from the city and probably quite inaccessible in winter. It is hard to imagine that a child from this village would become one of the most famous religious leaders in the world. But so it was.
We were there to visit the Dalai Lama’s birthplace, now a pilgrimage site for Tibetan Buddhists. We stepped out of the car at the gate, which was bedecked in ceremonial white scarves. A visiting monk stood outside, struggling with an uncooperative video camera. Our aid was to no avail, and we all entered the birthplace compound together. We weren’t more than 10 steps in when a man came rushing towards us, yelling incomprehensibly in Chinese.
As he pushed us back toward the gate, he mumbled rapidly, repeatedly, fearfully that we were not allowed to be there. Although he didn’t say it explicitly, it was clear that the reason was our white skin and round eyes. Once were safely outside the gate, he paused to explain that it wasn’t his doing. If it were up to him, we would be most welcome — but it wasn’t up to him. Furthermore, we were to get back in our cab and leave, as quickly as possible. If we didn’t, someone would make a phone call. And who knows what would happen then?
Shaken, we got back in the cab and left by the same road by which we had just come in. Living and traveling in China, the arbitrary political rules can become just a few of the ordinary annoyances of life. (“Of course I can’t Google “dalai lama” — how silly of me even to try.”) Our experience in Taktser was a necessary reminder that what is irritating for a foreigner is a matter of real fear for many Chinese.
Check back every day this week for more tales from the trip. If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my RSS feed for more tips and stories about traveling in China.
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