Tibetan Madonna
Yushou, China…Quinghai Provence
It had been a festival day in Yushou. It was supposed to be the highlight of our trip. As is often when you visit third world countries, things didn’t work out the way we had hoped. The festival went off as scheduled but it was a regimented affair done mainly for the officials who sat on a dais and surveyed the Tibetans as they performed choreographed versions of traditional dances.
We were far from the performers and although I had a long lens, most of my photos are uninteresting. I did have a few good ones, I think, but lost my case of memory cards when I drank some yak butter tea at a concession stand. You can bet I was quite perturbed when I discovered that little fact. To look on the bright side, I did enjoy the yak butter tea. It tasted like chicken soup to me.
Otherwise the day was, for me, almost a total loss. The communists had changed the venue for the archery and outlawed the wrestling. The horsemen did perform, but can you believe it? I missed them entirely. Some of the others on the tour did see them. I was stumbling around the “fairgrounds” trying to find the photograph.
Afterwords, we were set free in the town of Yushou. The Tibetans were enjoying meeting each other and catching up on news. They were dressed like this young woman…hair in braids, robes trimmed with fur and silk, turquoise jewelry dangling. Lovely. The men wore western clothes for the most part, but they did wear fedoras or cowboy hats or the traditional Kampa hairstyle of long braided hair with a red tassel. Tomorrow.