Tibet Travelogue (3) —— Gongbu Jiangda County, Nyingchi

About 5 kilometers southeast of Nyingchi city, there is a 20-hectare King Cypress Garden, which contains many ancient cypresses that are over a thousand years old. The largest one is more than 3,200 years old, 50 meters tall, and has a circumference of 15 meters. Unfortunately, the garden was closed for renovation, and we missed the chance to see it in person. Another 5 kilometers to the southeast is the Gala Peach Garden, which is open to the public for free. However, the season had passed, and the peach blossoms had all fallen, leaving a lush green landscape. To appreciate the peach blossoms of Nyingchi, one should visit in late March when the garden must be a captivating sight of spring. Our next destination was the thousand-year-old castle in Xiuba Village, Bahetown, Gongbu Jiangda County, about 90 kilometers from the Gala Peach Garden. There is a fairly large parking lot next to the G318 national highway outside Xiuba Village, which offers free parking but was completely empty. A yellow cow was wandering around the lot and approached us curiously when we arrived. At the exit stands a multi-tiered square prayer tower with a prayer wheel inside that is 4 to 5 meters tall, said to be the largest in Tibet. On the hillside inside the parking lot, there are terraced houses with the golden characters 'Xiuba Thousand-Year-Old Castle' in both Chinese and Tibetan hanging prominently on the base wall. Climbing the stone steps leads up to the building. Xiuba Village is located on the mountaintop behind the ancient castle. To the west of the prayer tower, there is an asphalt road leading to Xiuba Village, and at the intersection, there is a ticket booth where people over the age of 60 get half-price tickets for 20 yuan, and one can drive up the mountain into the village. Once in the village, you can see the thousand-year-old castle of Xiuba, which are towers on the mountain. Originally there were seven, said to be arranged in the pattern of the Big Dipper, but now only five remain, with a history of 1,600 years, standing as an architectural marvel. The towers are 20 to 30 meters high conical columns, with convex-shaped fronts on all sides. The walls are built of slab stones, about 2 meters thick, and the interior was originally divided into nine floors with wooden boards, all of which have decayed. There is no written record of who built the towers or why, but it may be related to ancient wars or religious prayers. After visiting the Xiuba Thousand-Year-Old Castle, we took the provincial road S504 to the Basong Lake scenic area, located northeast of Xiuba Village, in the canyon upstream of the Cuogu Langge River, about 43 kilometers from the road. Basong Lake is a sacred place for the Red Sect (Nyingma) of Tibetan Buddhism with a long history. Tickets for the scenic area, including the sightseeing bus, cost 105 yuan per person for those over 60 years old. The sightseeing bus has three stops: the viewing platform, the heart of the lake island, and Jieba Village. We first took the bus to Jieba Village deep in the scenic area, about 11 kilometers from the entrance. 'Jieba' in Tibetan means 'forgotten' and is not related to the Chinese term for stuttering. Legend has it that it was the place where a devout pilgrim who circled the lake to worship Buddha lost and then found his saddle. When asked the name of the place, he laughed and said 'Jieba,' and that's how it got its name. Jieba Village is a local eco-tourism demonstration village, surrounded by snow-capped mountains, lakes, and forests, with wild Tibetan pigs roaming the hills, houses in the style of the Gongbu Tibetan people, and more than 80 simple and sincere Tibetan residents, known as a forgotten paradise. If not for the tight schedule, this would be a place to stay and savor. Leaving Jieba Village by bus and traveling about 7 kilometers towards the entrance of the scenic area, we arrived at the main attraction of the Basong Lake scenic area, the heart of the lake island. According to mythology, beneath the island is the palace of the Basong Lake Dragon Princess, and one can only hope she still resides there in peace. The heart of the lake island is a few dozen meters from the shore, and two floating bridges have been built for the convenience of visitors, which have also become popular photo spots. The Tsokung Garba Monastery on the island is a thousand-year-old ancient monastery of the Nyingma sect. It is not very large, but it contains ancient murals that are still recognizable, and in front of the monastery stands a tall prayer flag pole. The island is home to many thousand-year-old oak trees with twisted branches and dragon-like claws, which have a unique appearance and seem different from the same species elsewhere. On the island, one can also learn about the cultural customs of fertility worship and sky burial. Around 5 p.m., the sky was filled with thick clouds, and it was getting dark on the ground. We were reluctant to leave, so we took the bus to the viewing platform between the heart of the lake island and the entrance to the scenic area. The viewing platform is not on flat ground but requires climbing two or three hundred steps. From the high platform, one can see the clouds hanging low, the snow-capped mountains towering, the highland lake setting off the heart of the lake island, and the dense forest all in view. However, the strong mountain wind made it difficult to stand still, and the cold was piercing, so we had to hurry down from the viewing platform and end our visit to the Basong Lake scenic area.