Children's Day in Shambala
Trip Start
Mar 21, 2005
1
11
354
Trip End
Ongoing
Zhongdian,
China
Wednesday, June 1, 2005
Shasitong sits in the northern reaches of a place called Shambala, if you prefer myths and legends, or the Dequin Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, if you prefer political boundaries. The Yangtze, known in its higher reaches as the Jinsha Jiang, the Golden River, flows through the heart of this country as it leaves the Tibetan Plateau. The Mekong and the Salween also carve their way through the deep gorges of Shambala. Bear, Wolf, Snow Leopard, and over 100 other mammals prowl the mountains, which rise to over 22,000 feet, well above the rivers at 6,000 feet. Yunnan Province is also home to the rare Black-necked Crane, Peregrine Falcon, Northern Harrier, and over 800 other bird species
Dancing Under the Snow Mountains
. Hundreds of endemic plants live in habitats ranging from desert cliffs to deep evergreen forests and mountain crags. This may be my home for a while, too. Time will tell...
The World Wildlife Federation wants me to work with them on an ecology and education project here in Shambala. Although we haven't come up with a work plan yet, my job would consist of several facets. First, I'd be training two communities in developing and managing Community Nature Reserves, each approximately 20,000 acres in size. I'd also be working closely with the Baimashuishan Preserve, a government reserve totaling over 600,000 acres. Finally, they are interested in having me develop films and poster about the ecosystems, communities, and WWF projects, for use in education and fund raising.
By chance or fate, I arrived in Zhongdian in the middle of a WWF-China gathering. Staff from all over China were meeting for a week. I joined them on field trips throughout the area, where local villagers greeted us with open arms, heaping plates of food, traditional dancing, Dali Beer, Hong He cigarettes, and Haojiu distilled barley wine--WWF is very popular here. There is good reason for their popularity: they are making a difference in people's lives out here, and they're good people. All over, WWF is setting up Community Learning Centers, building schools, providing solar and biogas to villagers, planting walnut and other trees, working with community leaders to regain traditional Tibetan knowledge, and making sure that environmental education reaches all 200 million Chinese students--a gargantuan task, no doubt
Girl in Traditional Dancing Dress
. On these field trips, I met some of my new compadres.Lui Yunhua is the Education Program Director for China based in Beijing. Prior to joining WWF eight years ago, she taught Chinese in America, read many books, and speaks excellent English. In the manner she looks through her large glasses with her wizened eyes, anyone can tell that she deeply cares about people and ecology. Shambala, it seems, energizes her spirit, and she is currently writing a large grant to continue the building of schools, Community Learning Centers, solar projects, and countless other great things that ultimately will transform communities so that they will be empowered to democratize the land management process. She is full of ideas and energy and is a true visionary.
Wende Gomba will be my on-the-ground partner. He is from Qinhai province, once part of Tibet before China's government split them apart. Tibetan culture is still strong and alive in Qinhai, although once-nomadic people are now settling in cities as part of an urbanization program. For Gomba, Tibetan culture and ecology are essential parts of his life as he works on a magazine for Tibetan children that focuses on Tibetan history, ecology, and culture. A few years out of Shanghai college, where he studied Tibetan, Chinese, and English, Gomba returned to his small village to set up solar cookers for homes. This meant that villagers no longer had to spend hours gathering firewood, and the trees and shrubs would remain for the wildlife. In a dry land such as Tibet, sunlight is plentiful yet wood can be scarce or, if found, unsustainably harvested. Gomba was lucky; when he began school in the 1980s, China was beginning its reforms and he was allowed to become educated. His older brothers were not given that chance
Line Dancing
. Now he feels blessed to be working with WWF-China.Xiao Lin is the leader of the Baimashuishan Preserve, tracker, excellent Tibetan singer, and a partner with WWF. Along with Chen Jinhui, our cool Chinese driver and administrator of the Shambala program, and Gomba, we set off up winding narrow dirt roads of the Yangtze valley for Shasitong village in the WWF Toyota Landcruiser. We drove past pine forests with understories of scrub oaks, snow mountains, and small Tibetan villages, their amber wheat fields ready for harvest. Three hours later, my innards sufficiently pounded to a pulp by the road conditions, we arrived at Shasitong late in the evening, just in time for a night of traditional drinking. Not much is said, yet all is said during these events. Talk focuses on toasts of all kinds: toasts between individuals, toasts with groups, small sips, and gambei--which means chug your small glass of Dali Beer or down your shot of Haojiu. Its also traditional for the guest to sing a song, so I obliged and sang a few verses of "All Along the Watchtower," the tune most on the tip of my tongue at that spur-of-the-moment. In China, this is a part of the job--building connections and opening doors, known here as Guangxi.
I woke up, groggy and blinded by the early light rising over the mountains--June 1, Children's Day
The Camo Two Step
. Today, the children showed off, played, danced, and sang, and the adults watched. By the end of the day, I think most adults wanted to be children again. This was an auspicious first Children's Day for Shasitong. Before, the school and town did not exist. They lived higher up in the forests, where life was particularly difficult. Thanks to a Chinese subsidy, the mountain families came together and built this small town of several hundred people. The construction continues as the finishing touches are put on homes.
Early in the morning, Gomba and I put the finishing touches on a small treasure hunt/riddle/drawing game for the children as part of their day, which consisted of tug-of-war, basketball, racing, guessing games, and parading around, all in their outdoor courtyards. The communist children wore their red scarves and yellow hats, and stood out from the other non-uniformed children.
After dinner and a few games of pool (pool tables were everywhere in this town), Gomba and I headed down to the school for the dancing and singing celebration. The children wore their best hbutsars and bilas ornamented with beads, leopard skin, flowing white fabric, and hats of all kinds--fur, pink, turquoise, and magenta. After the village elder recited a long poem celebrating life in all its forms over a make-shift PA system, the "somewhat" choreographed dancing prompted applause and laughter from the townspeople under the light of three incandescent bulbs hung over the basketball court. As respected guests, once again we all sang, this time over the old PA system. Gomba and Xiao Lin sang Tibetan folk songs, and I sang "Melissa" by the Allman Brothers. The night ended with one last dance as the children sang to traditional flute playing and the three incandescent lights faded to black.
Here's to WWF and Children's Day!
