The long road south

Hi friends,

Bonding

The long road south was actually another 15 hour rail ride, this time in a small 4-bed sleeper with 2 Chinese fellows. Despite the floor being soggy, the smell of sewerage and the often unbearable cigarette smoke (China lacks the legislation to restrict smoking in confined spaces), we arrived safely and made our way to a groovy little backpackers with a cozy atmosphere.

Chengdu is a large city and one of only three gateways into Tibet that can officially be crossed with a little money and bribing of Chinese officials. Many hostels and agents do all the work for you. We are currently waiting around to recieve our entry permit.

For those of you who do not understand the 'Tibet problem,' I will fill you in. Tibet was once an independent nation with a self-government (Tibet's political leaders were also their spiritual leaders - Dalai Lama as the head). However, the Chinese communist revolution of the 1940's and 50's heralded massive change for Tibet, beginning with an invasion. The Chinese government had big plans for Tibet, namely the desire to command the country's natural resources such as minerals, hydro-electricity and, as always, land). After a series of negotiations between the governments, including discussions between communist leader Mao Zedong and the Dalai Lama were unsuccessful, the Dalai Lama and his government were forced to exile to India. They haven't stepped foot in their own country for over 40 years. Now, the Chinese government continues to condition Tibet to it's favour, setting up massive infrastructure that included a 10,000km elevated rail straight to Lhasa. The largest concern of the government in exile is the continued migration of Han Chinese from nearby provinces that is having a massive impact on the Tibetan culture, economics and other facets of Tibetan life. On a positive, they are experimenting with sustainable energy. There are supposedly wind farms up on the northern Tibetan plateau and the country has one of the largest stores of thermo energy in the world. Tibetans, by the way, use dried yak dung as a fuel source.

Having a scratch

Back to Chengdu. If you have heard of this city it is probably because of the Giant Panda Breeding Conservation Centre. Here, scientists study the Panda's behaviours and life strategies, as well as breed both naturally and with artificial insemination. There is also a government-funded habitat restoration project. The breeding program looks as though it is more of an experiment at this stage and without direction as it does not appear to contribute to the strengthening of the endangered wild populations. The bred Panda's have much human contact and it isn't apparent that they are being conditioned for life in the wild. There is estimated to be only 1000 Panda's in the wild, all in China's southwest. We would like to see this program have more of an emphasis on supporting the survival of wild populations in the future. Did get to see many Great Panda's and Nepalese Red Panda's. They are amazing animals.

I love bamboo

Chat soon from Tibet,

Lina and Dame.

Nepalese Red Panda

Play time

Today's specials: bamboo and bamboo