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People of Tibet
The Tibetan tribal people occupy a vast
high attitude and cold land. In general
the land is not suitable for
agriculture. The Tibetan tribal people
make a living by raising animals and
farming many small plots in the valleys.
The land is sparsely populated. For the
last 800 years, the Tibetan tribal
people outside the Tibet Autonomous
Region have been ruled loosely by the
central governments of China . In Qing
dynasty, the northern Tibet tribes was
put under the direct rule of the Qing
Governor of Tibet (Tzu Zang Da Chen or
Amban). The land, which is 2/3 of the
land of Tibet Autonomous Region , was
conquered by the Tibet Government in
1914-1916 after the collapse of Qing
dynasty in 1911.
The Tibetan Buddhism and Bonism are both
influential in the western Tibet , the
northern Tibet , the eastern Tibet ,
Qinghai and Sichuan Tibetan areas. There
are Bonism monasteries, Bonism Tulkus/Living
Buddhas in these areas. For instance,
the Hor Kings were believers and
protectors of Bonism. Labrang in Gansu
and Ku-bum (Taer in Mongolian) in
Qinghai are two important Ge-lug pa
monasteries. Labrang Monastery owns five
tribes, Ku-bum Monastery owns six
tribes.
Culture
In the modern Tibet , some people wear
the Western dresses as Han people do.
Some Tibetan cadets wear the standard
Chinese cadet's dresses. In the Tibet
Autonomous Region, 95 percent of the
populations are Tibetans, the rests are
Hans, Moslems, Menbas, Lobas, Drungs,
Xiaerbas and others. In this short
article we will describe the traditional
Tibetan dresses. A typical Tibetan
clothes is made of sheepskin or wool. It
is usually home-made by man. In the
agriculture area the wool will be made `pulu'
first. Then the `pulu' or sheepskin will
be made into a gown with cloth or silk
exterior cover called `qugba". In the
grassland, sheepskin is common. A
sheepskin will be sun baked and then
cleaned. It will be soaked for a few
days in the liquid of milk after butter
is extracted. Then it is ready for men
to tailor.
The Tibetan robes, which serve as
blankets at night, are very long and are
worn down to the knees with the extra
length tucked and held up by a waistband
or belt. The robe produces two large
pockets, one in front and another at the
back, for people to carry things,
including baby. When it is hot in the
daytime, Tibetans will undress the right
arms to disperse heat. If it is even
hotter, then one may undress both arms
and tie the sleeves around the waist.
For a good clothes, the collar and hem
are made of special materials. For man,
the collar is sometimes made of leopard
belt, fox belt. For woman, the collar is
made of red cloth or several strips of
bright coloured cloths or corduroies.
For hem, otter belt and silk will do. It
is necessary to have belt to tie up the
Tibetan dress. Usually the belt is made
of red, yellow or light green (young
female may use pink) silk.
Wildlife
The remote valleys and mountains of
Tibet are home to a rich variety of
wildlife. There is the Himalayan black
bear which is present but rarely seen by
the public eye. The giant Tibetan brown
bear however searching for food in the
alpine meadows is a much more common
site. Snow leopards in the craggy
heights and the common spotted leopard
in eastern Tibet are occasionally
spotted by alert trekkers.
Less discouraging but no less
spectacular are the ungulates of Tibet ,
which include several species of deer,
wild yaks, antelopes, gazelles, blue
sheep and the argali, the largest
species of wild sheep in the world.
Smaller mammals, a panoply of birds, and
numerous reptiles and amphibians can be
seen while trekking. Generally, large
predatory animals are not attracted to
camp sites and stay well away from
humans.
Flora & Fauna
The mountain slopes of Tibet are home to
many dozens of plants and flowers,but
you should resist the temptation to pick
them. On the south slope of Middle
Himalayas and southeast Tibet , the
abundance centre of Tibetan flower
plants extends from 3500m alt. to the
alpine zone. Many forms of flowers
ornamentize the background of meadows,
thickets and dark coniferous forests.
The typical species are; Primula
cawdoriana, bluish purple; P.
sinoplantagines var. fengxiangiana,
purple; Cyananthus lobatus, blue-violet;
Saxifraga spp., yellow; Polygonum
griffithii; Meconopsis horridula var.
racemosa, bluish; M. Integrifolia,
yellow; Pedicularis bella, rddish
purple; P. fletcherii, white.
The distribution of Tibet 's wild
flowers is rather extensive. They are in
different positions and environments
which the following changes are
identified: the series of moisture from
arid and semiarid to semimoist and
moist; the series of temperature from
alpine frigid zone and frigid-temperate
zone to warm-temperate zone and mountain
tropical zone; the vegetation types from
semimoist coniferous and broadleaved
deciduous forests to rain forests, from
frigid-temperate coniferous forests to
tropical forests, and from scrubs and
steppes to meadows and wetlands; as well
as the landforms of glacier, desert,
dune, highland, valley and gorge. When
you see Incarvillea and Iris on the
barren, the multi-colored rhododendrons
in the forest or on the slope, and the
beautiful orchids-epiphytic or
terrestrial, you will be surprised by
the powerful potential of life and
nature.
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