Lhundrup Tsomo Loves Those Birds Flying All over Her Village

During the 1970s, just at the period of ＂learning from Dazai＂, the government of the TAR built a water reservoir at the bottom of the mountain shaped like the head of a tiger. Accordingly, people refer to this to as the ＂tiger-headed＂ water reservoir. Since water was avaiJable, various flocks of birds come to stay, including many bJack-necked cranes that have Jevel one national protection. This is what Lhundrup Tsomo and her fellow villagers refer to as ＂Kyung Kyung Dkar Nag＂ （Tibetan,refers to black-necked cranes） in Tibetan.     

Taking Pictures for the Villagers

The township sent out a notice that all villagers should be photographed as part of the datacollection effort for the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme （NCMS） and it was hoped that the work team could help carry this out. We all wanted to help, but knew that it would not be easy. It was during a busy farming season, so it was difficult to gather the villagers （most of whom were busy working in the fields）. First we set up a simple photography studio in the village committee. The only piece of equipment we owned was a tripod and we used the bare wall of the committee building as a backdrop for the photos. As the day drew to a close, the villagers came in twos and threes, most of them straight from the fields. Then facilities for villagers to freshen-up were provided, including a basin of water, towels, and comb for them to tidy up before the shoot. But the villagefolks were often too shy to wash up in front of us, and even after our gentle persuasion, they would just splash some water on their faces. Sometimes, we, the photographers, had to help them with their hair and general appearance. Fortunately, they were completely at ease with that.     

PLANTING TREES ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD

正In China,legend says that animals choose different trees to inhabit.In Nagqu,situated on the northern area of the Tibet Autonomous Region,trees are nowhere to be seen,and birds often share holes underground with mice and rabbits.Nagqu means"black river"in Tibetan.The place is situated     

New Duishie Songs That Namgyi Composed

From the point of view of Ngajor Namgyi, the original Duishie songs in Xigaze area are too simple to be called elegant and moving. He has composed many new Duishie songs building on a base of the original ones, and the new songs sound fairer and are more finger-snapping and enjoy a greater welcome from common residents and the people of the upper classes in Lhasa. The songs composed by Ngajor Namgyi include Listen to What Brother Says, Brother Soinam Dorje, Young Moon and seven others that are viewed as a treasure by people in Lhasa and in the entire Tibetan region. Others are as the follows:     

Tibetan Doctoral Graduates to change Tibet

At present,Tibetan PhD's are playing key roles in the advancement of Tibetan culture,medicine,science,technology,economy and society in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). According to survey results recently revealed by the Science and Technology Association of TAR,to date,over 60 Tibetan doctoral graduates are working at the frontier of production and research programs in TAR.The data reveals that an equal number of them are working in natural and social science.About one third of     

Tibetan Doctoral Graduates to change Tibet

At present,Tibetan PhD's are playing key roles in the advancement of Tibetan culture,medicine,science,technology,economy and society in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). According to survey results recently revealed by the Science and Technology Association of TAR,to date,over 60 Tibetan doctoral graduates are working at the frontier of production and research programs in TAR.The data reveals that an equal number of them are working in natural and social science.About one third of     

Restituting Church Buildings and Negotiating Church Factions： Missionary Mapmakers and the Making of Local Networks （1712-1716）

At the turn of the 18th century, the Kangxi emperor initiated a large project to map the vast territories of the Qing. The land surveys that ensued were executed by teams of Qing officials and European missionaries, most of them French Jesuits first sent to China in 1685 and actively supported by the French crown. Early 18th century Jesuit publications foster a much-heralded claim that these missionary-mapmakers drew on their status of imperial envoys during the surveys to locally advance the position of the Catholic church. This article strives to explore the format/on of such local networks by these missionaries as they passed through the cities and towns of the Chinese provinces. On the basis of archival material, details emerge of contacts with local Qing administrators and Chinese Christians, and of attempts to purchase and recover local churches. This is then discussed against the background of the Rites Controversy, in an attempt to evaluate how such local networks relate to the rivalry between missionaries of different orders. The article emphasizes that there was （and perhaps is） no such thing as ＂pure science＂ by underscoring that important technical achievements such as the Qing mapping project are often shaped by complex networks and historical contingencies.     

THE ORCHARD

Behind the Village Committee,there is an orchard with an area of about 6,666 square meters.Though it mainly belongs to the family of Shigyal and Chojor Jinpa,(the Village Secretary),some of the trees in it are allocated to other families.It is only one of the many orchards in the village.Since the orchard lies next to the Village committee where we are stationed,it is like our backyard garden.In the morning,it is full of birds.Each orchard,fenced by walls and thorns,is a quiet and slightly forbidding place in the name of different families.     

Black-necked Cranes in the Center of Nature Reserve

There are two roads in Lhunzhub County: the upper oneextends to Tiger Head Mountain Reservoir and the lower one toKarze Town. This time, we would go to Karze Town, which isthe center of the nature reserve for black-necked cranes inLhunzhub. The road is bad with many potholes, some largeenough for ducks to swim in.Zhugui Village is just beside the Karze reservoir. Black-necked cranes scattered over the surrounding farmland livealongside livestock such as cattle, pigs and goats. They espe-…     

News in Brief

Tibet to Hold ! ITH Mountaineering Assembly The llth Tibet Mountaineering Assembly is going to be held from Sep.26 to Oct.7. It is aimed to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Qomolangma by human beings. The organizers will also hold several mountaineering activities for amateurs to learn mountaineering skills. i,hasa Issued China＇s Firstlmrism Law Lhasa issued the offprint of the Tourism Law of the People＇s Republic of China in August, which is the country＇s first tourism law. Deliberated and approved by the 12th Standing Committee of the National People＇s Congress （NPC）, the law will be put into force on October 1, 2013. Overseas Chinese Painters X＇isited Tibet Nearly 20 overseas artists from 11 countries and areas including the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, France and Italy set out for the journey of ＂Famous Chinese Painters to Tibet＂ on August 16. In the next ten days in Tibet, they produced art works and had seminars with local artists. 2013 Tibetan Thangka Industrial Dexelnpment Forum Ileid in Lhasa The forum was held in the Mass Art Gallery in Lhasa on August 15, attracting the relative experts, scholars and painters in Tibet to have an in-depth discussion about Thangka＇s industrial development pattern and path, and the inheritance and protection in the new media age. Grand Tibetan Musical Yarluag Zangbo Premiered Musical Yarlung Zangbo premiered at the Yarlung Theatre in Lhoka Prefecture on August 15, 2013. The musical showed the time-honored history and culture of Lhoka and also highlighted the Yarlung Cultural Festival from August 15 to 21. Tibet Invests 100 Million Yuan to Build Sehool Bathrooms Almost 100 million Yuan has been invested in building bathrooms for primary and middle school students in Tibet since 2012. It is expected that 109 bathrooms, which make use of solar energy by installing solar power water heaters, will be finished until the end of 2013. Nachen Bridge, connecting the North Circular Road and the 318 National Highway after completion, has realized its closure of the main part structure and is expected to open to traffic within the year. The scenic zone Nanyigou, located in Nyingchi Prefecture, has adopted a tourist quota policy to allow a limit of up to 2,000 per day since August in order to support Chinas bid to build ecological shelter. The 2013 Shoton Festival of Tibet has wrapped up on August 12th. During the seven days＇ festival this year, a total number of 1.38 million tourists have visited Tibet, reaching an all-time high. The Xiahe Airport in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu Province opened on Aug. 19.     

Illustration of Two Paintings： Atra Leading an Elephant and a Mongolian Riding a Tiger

The images Atra Leading an Elephant and A Mongolian Riding a Tiger are paintingsloved by Tibetans. In old Tibet, the two images were seen most on both sides of the house gate of senior monks, or on both walls of the corridors to the shrines in some monasteries. They were less often found in secular buildings and almost never in the yards of common people. Therefore, we can infer that except for the injunction to avoid evil and make money, the images also stand for power and eminence.     

A Journey INTO Xiangtang

Xiangke Town, seat of Xiangtang County, sleeps in thebosom of emerald mountains skirted by the picturesque Duke River and the GarmaStream. The environment forms a beautiful picture that impresses visitors withsnow-capped mountains, sparklingrivers, and forests under a blue sky.Inside the town, with a population ofsome 9,000, there are two cementstreets in the shape of a "T" Flankingthe streets are buildings and stores. Atdusk, the town is lit up, and the localsbegin to enjoy their nightlif…     

Tibet's Last Caravan Charged with Transporting Salt(l)

The beasts charged with transporting salt (the herders call hem "kai") face two long journeys each year, carrying the alt back from the Salt Lake in spring and then going on to he farming area to exchange it for grain after the autumn arvest. At other times, they remain on the mountain, being riven back to the pen every day like other livestock. The men of the herder family, in turn every few weeks, go ound and inspect the beasts that will carry the salt. There are sually some who have straye…     

NEWS IN BRIEF

Road for Gonggar AirportThe Central Government has approved construction of the "two bridges and one tunnel" project which is expected to shorten the 98-km distance from Lhasa to Gonggar Airport to 53 km. As a result, the travel shall be shortened from 90 minutes to 50 minutes.Construction of the project shall consume 6.5 billion Yuan in investment.The two bridges refer to the 1,594-rneter-long Lhasa River Bridge and the 3,797-meter-long Yarlung Zangbo River Bridge. Both are of the extra large type in Tibet.The one tunnel refers to the Shierong Tunnel that cuts through the mountain by 2,426 meters.The new road will extend 13.282 km. It will be a second class one by the Chinese standard. It is expected to meet Tibet's need for economic construction in the 10-15-year period. It is expected to be built at the end of 2004.     

Painting and Photography in Foreigners' Construction of an Image of Qing Dynasty Law

In recent years,with the spread of the internet and the booming auction markets,combined with our new age of so-called "picture-reading," paintings and photographs concerning Qingjustice have overwhelmed our view.Scholars and nonscholars are attracted by them,and believe them to be showing real historical scenes.Pictures seemingly facilitate our grasp of the world more than mere facts do,but they actually demand readers' careful discrimination.The author of the present article has discovered that the initial British construction of a discourse about the cruelty of China's criminal punishments was related to this topic having been exposed by Chinese themselves.The seemingly real images or pictures have an unknown back story,and even contain a serious distortion of the truth.Such imagistic constructions by foreigners in fact directly or indirectly served the establishment and maintenance of foreign extraterritoriality in China.The living images recorded by foreigners' cameras not only constructed Western impressions of China and Chinese people as distant,thus strengthening contemporary Westerners' mental images of Chinese culture,but still urge us Chinese today to interpret the past in the light of such images.An icon of a blood-thirsty Qing legal system constructed through painting and photographic procedures became an objective fact,a collective consciousness that penetrated people's hearts and eventually led to modifications of those Qing laws.The mental construction of an icon influenced actual institutional movement.     

Lies Do Not Hold Water

Premier Wen Jiabao paid a visit to the four countries of South Asia, including India,in April. The visit was a success and received a widespread warm response.One result was that China and India established “relations of strategic partnership for peace and prosperity”, and established the political guidelines to be used on presently unresolved border issues. All people harboring good intentions and who love peace are happy to see the progress made by the two most populous countries in the world and believe it will help promote peace not only in Asia but in the world at large.