Tibetans are mainly divided into three major regions: Tsang, Kham, and Amdo. Gannan in Gansu and Huangnan in Qinghai, which I have visited, both belong to Amdo. Their cultural differences from Tsang and Kham are largely shaped by their unique geographical environments. Amdo region is primarily pastoral, featuring vast nomadic cultures and folk activities. Moreover, each place within the Amdo area has its own distinctive festivals, reflected in their diverse intangible cultural heritage.
The Hidden Land of Ganjia is about 30–40 kilometers from Labrang Monastery. It is home to the famous Baishiya Monastery (White Cliff Monastery), a Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Gelug school. This monastery was once the seat of the Gongri Cang female Living Buddha, one of only three reincarnated female Living Buddhas in the entire Tibetan region—an extremely rare phenomenon in Tibetan Buddhism, which is predominantly dominated by male Living Buddhas.
In Summer 2024, I visited the Tibetan communities in Huangnan, Qinghai. I started to realize that Tibetan inGannan, Gansu which I met in 2022, are like two brothers born of the same mother. Their broad cultural framework is consistent, but their little ‘personal touches’ in dress and their unique ‘signature skills’ differ from one another. Together, they form the vibrant tapestry of Ando Tibetan culture.
In the summer of 2022, we came to a pure land cut off from the pandemic—Sihe Township in Daliangshan, Sichuan—to carry out public welfare poverty alleviation. This is a nationally renowned poor mountainous area. Although it is not far from Xichang, the mountain roads are narrow, making it almost impossible for large vehicles to pass each other. Along the way, we saw Yi women carrying goods on their backs in baskets, and the view was filled with clusters of rammed-earth houses.
In 2022, we visited an ancient Naxi village in Lijiang, Yunnan. Their most distinctive characteristic is that they have created and preserved a complete classical civilization system, with the Dongba religion as its core belief and living pictographic characters .
Dongba culture is an organic whole composed of beliefs, writing, rituals, and art. It not only records the historical memory of the Naxi people but also embodies the ancient wisdom of living in harmony between humans and nature.
Departing from Xide of Daliangshan we came to Muli Tibetan Autonomous County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. This village is not predominantly Yi but rather a Tibetan village. It is very remote, and the children have to go to the county town two hours away to attend school, so most of them board in school.
Labrang Monastery is the most famous Buddhist monastery in Gannan, located in Xiahe County. This Tibetan Buddhist institution of learning with a history of over 300 years. It is not only a magnificent monastery complex but also a complete Buddhist ‘university’ in its institutional framework, widely recognized as the ‘World’s Premier Institute of Tibetan Studies.
Bon is the indigenous religion of the Tibetan people, having spread across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau even before Buddhism. In Gannan, Bon not only survived but continues to exist in a remarkably vibrant form to this day. However, with the deeper spread of Tibetan Buddhism, especially after the Qing Dynasty implemented suppression policies against Bon, many Bon monasteries converted to Buddhism.
