Just Beat It - Tibet in Yunnan

I know yall probably heard about the earthquake that occurred in an Tibetan area near Tibet Province. In fact, yall actually probably heard about it well before I did, since I was lost in a blizzard on another part of the Tibet's Everest foothills, fighting off hypothermia at the time the earthquake occurred. But I'll get that in a later email.

For the last week, I was in the very western part of the province of Yunnan with a friend from UGA, Shannon, and her friend Katherine. Historically and culturally, the place is actually the very Eastern part of Tibet. Tibet is not only the name of a province within China, but it also signifies the greater Tibetan region. Tibetans live not only in Tibet, but also throughout much of Qinghai (the province where the earthquake occurred), Western Sichuan and Western Yunnan (where I was).

The area that I went to used to be called Zhongdian, but, a few years ago, the Chinese government changed the name of the Tibetan area of Yunnan to "Shangri-la," claiming that they had discovered incontrovertible evidence that the area was the setting for James Hilton's entirely fictional Tibetan story, "Lost Horizons." Cynics suggested that renaming the county "Shangri-la" was actually just a cheesy attempt to boost tourist revenues. Either way.

As I was trying to think of where to start with this story of our journey in Shangri-la, I kept coming back to the night before we left for our four day hike through a remote part of "Shangri-la." We were eating in a kind-of touristy, Tibetan restaurant, chomping down on momo's, a traditional kind of Tibetan dumpling. We were talking about our upcoming journey, a hike through a series fairly unspoiled Tibetan mountain villages, and through the back door into a national park.

Then, all the sudden, Michel Jackson's "Beat It" started reverberating throughout the restaurant and the Tibetan restaurant owners jumped up from their seats and started dancing to it. "Beat it...beat it, no I won't be defeated! Show them how chunky and strong is your fight..." Though his lyrics were off, I was and always am struck by the globalization just suddenly pops its head up, even on the "Roof of the World."

But, as I thought more about it, the song was strangely appropriate for the Tibetan people, and the journey we would set off on. The song is a story about betting against the odds and coming out on top. On our trip, we had to face off against the Chinese government and the sometimes against the even more brutal forces of Nature. After both fights, we came out, worn but wiser.

We had wanted to go from Shangri-la to a small town on the edge of Tibet proper, Deqin, but we had found out that there was
construction on the road. Due to construction, the road was only open to traffic once every four days. @#$^ China!

We arrived at the Shangri-la bus station early one morning to buy tickets for the next day, the one day that the road was open. But at the ticket office, the lady rudely informed me that foreigners were not currently allowed on the bus. @%#@#@ China!

I should probably explain some background info. Foreigners are not allowed to enter Tibet without getting special permits, paying a fair amount of money and joining a tour group. However that does not normally prevent foreigners from going into Tibetan parts of other provinces like Yunnan or Sichuan. Well, they were not allowing foreigners onto the buses because the bus, due to construction, had to pass into parts of Tibet to get to Deqin. We could have taken a minivan, but that was crazy expensive. @#$&@ China!

Thinking up a way to beat the Chinese government, we meet up with an American named Kevin working in the area who happened to be going to another part of the county, where there was some good hiking. The plan was that he would drop us off at a small town, Luoji. From there, we would hike for two days, to a Tibetan village called Niru, and then hike into the backdoor of a national park (avoiding the US$30 entrance fee, again beating China). From there, we could get a bus back to Shangri-la and civilization.

So, despite all the road blocks China threw in our face, we still 'beat it.'

The next morning, we meet Kevin near the entrance to the touristy old town of Shangri-la and took off for Luoji in his Jeep. Blocked by construction at one point (they are doing construction throughout the county), he slipped it into four wheel drive instead of waiting for five minutes for them to let us pass. As the car leapt back onto the pavement, the gearbox made a strange crank and we noticed the smell of gasoline fumes filling the Jeep. "Yea," Kevin informed us, "its a great jeep, but a couple of weeks ago, a drunk Tibetan was driving it, and he drove it a hundred feet off a cliff and flipped it into a river. We pulled it out and got it repaired, but the gears are still a little funny and there's a bit of a gas leak. But hey, she's still beatin' it!"

As I said, this will be a story of fighting against China and nature, and, in the end, beating them both, if getting bruised along the way.

Beating it,
Lee

You're playin' with your life, this ain't no truth or dare
They'll kick you, then they beat you,
Then they'll tell you it's fair
So beat it, but you wanna be bad
- Micheal Jackson's 'Beat It'

Notice.
Persons attempting to find a political motive in the meaning of these lyrics will be prosecuted by the Chinese Government.