Wei Jie

AN early-morning start from Daofu gets us by sundown to Ganzi, a major town, before we begin to cross the 6,168-meter-high Que’er Mountain, known as Chola Mountain in Tibetan, to reach Dege.

Daofu has traditional Tibetan-style houses, which are usually built along rivers. The square-shaped Tibetan houses are often painted white outside and dark red inside. Cement columns resembling yak’s horns stand in each of the four corners of every house, a departure from houses seen in the early part of this road trip.

Along the way we pass a lake some 20 kilometers from Luhuo County. The Kasha Lake, listed as a provincial-level nature reserve in 1999, is an important habitat for plateau water birds in Tibet.

Mountains, houses, clouds and the blue sky are reflected on the tranquil surface of the lake, forming a beautiful ink painting on the water. Occasionally some water birds are seen swimming in the lake: These give the water painting some soul.

However, the water level in the lake is dangerously low, making it one of the dying lakes of China. It would be heart-breaking for travelers and nature lovers if such a breathtakingly beautiful lake vanished because of climate changes caused by global warming.

At the foot of Chola Mountain and surrounded by snow-capped mountain ranges is another plateau lake named Xinluhai. Xinluhai Lake, or Yulong Lake, is 4,040 meters above sea level.

It is said that the beautiful lake, whose name means “new road to the lake,” was not accessible till recently as it was surrounded by bushes and shrubs. Soldiers building the Sichuan-Tibet Road first spotted the lake and then spent months paving a new path leading to the lake, hence the name Xinluhai.

Xinluhai Lake is part of Dege County, the birthplace of the legendary King Gesar who ruled the Kingdom of Ling.

The lake is called Yilhun Lhatso (Loving Heart Lake) in Tibetan, and this name originates from a local legend. In the “Epic of King Gesar,” the king’s beloved concubine Zhumu fell in love with the lake for its beauty and tranquility. Her heart fell into the lake when she was heading back to the king’s palace, and so the locals named the lake Yilhun Lhatso in memory of Zhumu.

Dege, which in Tibetan means land of mercy, serves as one of the three ancient centers of Tibetan culture and Buddhism in China (the other two are Lhasa in Tibet and Xiahe in Gansu Province) and the seat of modern printing technology. Two attractions in this little mountainous county are the Dege Scriptures Printing House and the Gengqing Monastery.

The foundation stone of the printing house was laid in 1729, and construction took 21 years. The main structure is a four-story building with more than 30 rooms. The first floor consists of several sutra halls where the Buddha and the ancestors of the Dege clan are worshipped. The second and third floors have rooms for proofreading, engraving blocks, printing and binding, as well as administrative offices. The fourth floor is used to air the printed pages.

The printing house has 217,000 engraved blocks in its archives, including classics from different sects of Tibetan Buddhism. It has 100,000 blocks for books on Tibetan culture, science and technology, history, biographies, medicine, mathematics, language, and various other topics.

It is estimated that materials stored in Dege make up 70 percent of Tibet’s literary heritage. Because of its role in preserving Tibetan culture, Dege ranks together with the Sakya Monastery and the Potala Palace in Lhasa in historic and cultural significance.

Block-cutting and printing of Tibetan classics have constituted the most important work of the printing house, and these began even before the establishment of the house.

Tibetan pilgrims from the county and surrounding areas pay their respects to Dege at least once in their lifetime by circumambulating the printing house 1,001 times while chanting.

Many legends about Gesar still circulate in Dege. During work breaks and in the evenings, locals enjoy telling stories about Gesar. The epic, “Gesar,” is the greatest work of Tibetan literature. Gesar’s story has developed over several centuries, and is based on the religious beliefs of the Tibetans.

During weddings and birthday celebrations balladeers are invited to sing verses from “Gesar,” with the shorter pieces lasting hours and longer pieces lasting several days. A balladeer needs an excellent memory to recite the scores of chapters. With the number of balladeers having reduced of late, the singing of “Gesar” has been listed as by CCTV as one of the nation’s intangible cultural heritages on the verge of extinction.