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| 西藏游记 Traveling to Tibet |
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| 时间：2005-8-11 15:21:30 来源：竞学听力 |
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下载Traveling to Tibet
Roof-top of the world, Shangri-la, the Land of the Snows, Tibet has many names as it is the land locked away in the mountains of the Tibetan Plateau. Tibet or Xizang in Chinese is one of the last untouched lands from the dirty hand of industrialization and modernization. It really does live up to its name of the western treasure house. As I landed in Lhasa there was not much of a descent as in a usual landing, I couldn’t help myself from being dazzled by the blue skies and breath taking mountains. After living in Beijing for four months I had forgotten how blue the sky could get. The area was much browner and desert like, as we decelerated down the running way as the sandy mountains on both sides of the valley, in which the airport was located, whizzed by. After disembarking we were greeted by our two jovial Tibetan guides. Decked out in a North Face jacket and leather cow boy hat, a set of prayer beads and white scarves ready to hand out to us, they were both the typical Tibetan tour guides I had imagined. They both are well versed in Tibetan culture as well as the Buddhist religion as we came to know over the course of the trip.
To my surprise the airport is not located directly next to Lhasa. It is about a two hour drive along the Brahma Putra River around the mountains to Lhasa. A short cut through the mountains is in the process of being built; however, which will take about an hour off the drive. I for one did not mind the drive at all as I remained glued to the window eating up the beautiful land kilometer by kilometer. The blue of the sky was reflected in the blue of the river as it was the cleanest water I think I have ever seen. Every turn presented an even more beautiful backdrop where the mountains and sky were duplicated in the reflection of the river as small bushes holding sticks of purple flowers lined the shores of the lazy Brahma Putra River.
As we approached Lhasa, we entered the city from the more modern section which resembles that of any other Chinese city. Several storied buildings holding restaurants, hardware stores, door shops, tire shops, tea shops, and drug stores along the street, while offices or apartments occupy the ascending floors. We approached the center of town when the famous Potala Palace rose towards the heavens on our left. The palace, which is the most famous religious site known all around Tibet, was the former residence and seat of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government. The palace itself is an architectural feat and was much larger than I had imagined from pictures I had seen of it in the likes of National Geographic and such. The Palace, which is pictured on the back of the 50 kuai bill, is 14 stories and contains thousands of rooms. When we visited it, we only got to see about 20 of these rooms where the different lamas once studied, prayed, slept, and governed. Currently, the temple is only inhabited by a small number of monks and it is solely a tourist attraction.
Upon our arrival into the old part or (Bakhor) part of the city, we were not only greeted by the palace but throngs of pilgrims. The streets were lined with monks, families and very old pilgrims from different areas of Tibet as these people had all travelled long distances to celebrate the Saga Dawa festival in the regions capital. The Saga Dawa Festival or Sakyamuni’s Enlightenment, is one of the many Tibetan festivals that always takes place on the 15th of the fourth lunar month and it is an occasion for outdoor operas and the gathering of a large number of pilgrims at the Jokhang Temple and on the Barkhor circuit. Some pilgrims had traveled as long as two years to get to Lhasa where they would walk or prostrate around the Potala Palace and the Jokhang Temple along the Barkhor circuit. This circuit is only done clock wise so one always had to consider this when navigating around the Barkhor area of the city.
Prostrating is a practice done by all believers of Buddha. In my mind it takes much devotion to one’s Buddhist spirituality because it takes much strength and endurance, but people of all ages, young and old alike, were seen doing this. Prostrating is a series of actions done in a flowing sequence and then repeated over and over and over again. First, one begins standing straight, flat footed with both toes faced forward while holding their hands in a prayer position at the chest. This is then followed by a sweeping motion down to all fours (on your hands and knees) and then the hands slide forward along the ground as one ends up face down and completely sprawled out on the ground. The arms are swept down and around to the prostrators side and they push themselves back up into a standing position. The action is then repeated in a stationary position or along the circuit while the prostrater takes 3 steps between each prostrate in order to travel along the Barkhor circuit. It is an extremely tedious practice but the pilgrims diligently prostrated all day as well as the following days from sun up to sun down with much stamina. Some pilgrims wore pads on their knees and others had special gloves or just enlisted the help of two pieces of cardboard to protect their hands from undetectably sharp objects hiding along the ground. Others who viewed themselves as tough I guess practiced their prostrating with no such protective gear.
Despite, the extra population around the Jokhang Temple, the area is rather lively. The temple is surrounded by a cobbled stone circular street which is lined with vendors selling distinctly Tibetan made goods. The stands were full of anything from silver and beaded jewelry, to silver prayer bowls, yak hair jackets, and even peacock feathered fans. In the front of the temple the pedestrian street opens up into a large square that is lined with shops and vendors as well. This is where we met the diversity of Tibet all in one. The square is filled with vendors that hail from all parts of Tibet displaying the treasures they have made and brought from their respective regions. Additionally, the square is a meeting ground for locals, monks, pilgrims, and tourists (Chinese and Western) displaying the variety of people attracted to the land of the snows.
I was very much surprised by the number of western tourists we saw in Lhasa. Tibet is more of a popular tourist site for non-Chinese than I thought. However, the old part of the city has found a way to exploit this while maintaining the spiritual charm of the old city. Many of the streets coming off and surrounding the Jokhang Temple contain Western tasting restaurants that offer a friendly Tibetan staff and a large menu of Tibetan, Indian, Nepalese, and Western dishes. Many of the dishes cater to the western taste bud and they create a comfortable atmosphere to retreat to after a long day of hiking or roaming through the cities many monasteries. Despite the western tilt, the traditional Tibetan meat of yak is featured in all the varieties of dishes as this Tibetan taste comes highly recommended.
The yak is extremely strong within the Tibetan culture as every part of the animal is used. Yak is the preferred meat as we came to find. One of our tours guides Bimba told us defiantly that he never eats chicken, beef, or any other type of meat besides yak meat. The market is a prime place to see all the uses of yak. There are yak fur coats and hats, yak bone incense holders, yak bone jewelry, and yak bone prayer beads. Nothing of this precious animal goes to waste in Tibet.
The end of our first day in Lhasa finished with a very special experience at the Jokang temple. Due to the fact that it was the most important day of the Saga Dawa festival we got the opportunity to witness the ceremony for protection against natural disaster put on by the head lama and monks of the temple. After much preparation in the outer square of the temple the monks of the temple filed out and sat across the square where a fire pit and large throne had been made for the head lama. Then, the head lama of the temple was escorted out to his place across the square where he sat in his maroon robes and yellow tasseled hat. The ceremony was well attended as the outer perimeter of the square was jam packed with pilgrims and tourists. Many of the Western tourists, along with myself, gathered around the roof edge of the second floor where we watched the ceremony from above. The ceremony commenced with several minutes of chanting from the monks and the lighting of the fire. Then the participants and crowd watched as the head lama made symbolic gestures by throwing different substances that had been put into bowls and lined up on a table a few feet away from him. One bowl looked like rice, another, barely, and another maybe sugar. Since the yak is so important to the Tibetan Buddhist culture it was not to be forgotten in the ceremony as the lama melted some yak butter in a small iron container and then released the liquid into the fire. The ceremony went on like this for about an hour as all the participants and on lookers watched intently. As the fire burned, the smoke spiraled up past the second floor and off over the city. I watched it until it disappeared and looked out across the city to the Potala Palace where I felt a great sense of peace come over me as if the smoke created a reassuring blanket of protection from all the worlds’ evils. I don’t know if it’s the ubiquitous Buddhist spirituality or the gorgeous scenery, but I had a great sense of calm and peace of mind that I had never experience in Beijing while in Tibet and inLhasa especially. |
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