LEAF-go-VSO
Deqin
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Deqin |
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In February 2009 we teamed up with fellow VSO volunteer Noreen Walsh and headed up to Deqin (Diqing) in the far NW of Yunnan province, almost to the Tibet border. Like Zhongdian this is a mainly Tibetan area, with a plethora of temples, monasteries and holy mountains.
The 6 hour (185 km) bus journey from Zhongdian to Deqin was probably the most scenic we've undertaken in China. We dropped down into the Yangtze valley (2050m altitude) near Benzilan then climbed over the 5000m+ Baima Xueshan mountains by a 4300m pass. The road was paved for most of the journey but turned to cobbles for the higher sections. The winter dry season is the safest time to travel, despite the potential for heavy snowfalls. In summer, heavy rains make landslides a real risk. From Deqin (3320m) we hopped in a taxi for the 20 minute drive out to the village of Fei Lai Si (3450m).
This is the view everyone comes to see - dawn light on the Meli Xueshan range from the temple village of Fei Lai Si. The Tibetan border runs over the summits. We stayed in a small guesthouse with outstanding views of the mountains, even when lying in our beds! Fei Lai Si is popular with that rare (but increasing) breed, the Independent Chinese Traveller. Out here they can be identified by the pristine walking boots, full Goretex clobber, walking poles and perhaps a cowboy hat to top off the outfit...
Here's the terrace view from our guesthouse, "Keep Watch
6740". Maybe "Lookout" would be a better name? I sense a
translation error based on the phrases "look out for" and "keep
watch"! Still, despite the Chinglish, it was a nice place.
On the afternoon we arrived the clouds brewed up into a brief (and slightly worrying) snowstorm, so we didn't see the mountains properly until the next morning. Kawakarpo is the highest mountain in Yunnan, but it's also famous for having the lowest glacier in Asia. The Mingyong Glacier descends to 2700m. These huge differences in topography, from high mountain to semi-tropical river valley, plus the effects of wet summer monsoon winds pushing up the valleys of the Salween and Mekong, make NW Yunnan an area of incredible botanical diversity. This is what attracted British, French and American plant hunters here at the beginning of the 20th Century.
One of the highlights of our visit to Deqin was stumbling across the incredible white-washed pinnacles of the Shui Jing Ta (Rock Crystal Pagoda) temple. We had packed up our stuff and were just leaving the Fei Lai Si temple when Lesley got talking to a couple of Tibetan pilgrims who offered to show us the way down the hill (600m vertically down!) to this other temple. It was quite a hike on a steep and slippy trail with full packs and the girls. Lower down, the path side bushes were draped with weather-bleached discarded clothing and tied with prayer flags and small stones - offerings from the numerous pilgrims who pass this way. We were on a section of the main kora, the pilgrimage circuit around the Kawakarpo mountain range itself! The temple itself was incredible - two halls either side of a maze of white stalagmites (man-made we presumed), and a constant stream of mantra-humming, prayerwheel-spinning Tibetan pilgrims walking briskly round it. It was hard not to feel a sense of spirituality at this place. We joined the pilgrims for a couple of circuits, then hung around in the shade before arranging a lift back up the valley to Deqin.
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