Northwest Sichuan I 

cctv.com 10-26-2005 12:00

Beautiful mountains, beautiful rivers, and beautiful people... that's where we are at now. It鈥檚 said that everyone who can speak can sing and everyone who can walk can also dance. In the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture鈥攖he place where we will explore Tibetan culture in the next few days.

	The Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is located in northwest Sichuan

The Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is located in northwest Sichuan, and has attracted explorers, pilgrims, and traders for ages. The most common path is by flight into Chengdu airport, followed by a long car ride to Danba, then heading to Daofu, Ganzi, and finally Dege.

It is a strenuous route fit only for the travel enthusiast. The road trip is almost 1000km, but for those who can make the journey, the path provides a stunning glimpse of Tibetan lifestyle.

From afar, Danba County seems like a kingdom of mystical castles, with watchtowers built hundreds of years ago. This mountain valley is 383 km from Chengdu.

Yin: Oh, God, it鈥檚 dark and creepy in here. No lights. Can you imagine fighting a battle in this watchtower? The last rung.

	watchtowers

The watchtowers and are built entirely of stone materials and vary in height from 16 to 36 meters. The watchtowers were originally built for defensive purposes. The villagers say that there are both male and female towers, the females being the ones that had horizontal lines, like the flaps of a girl鈥檚 dress.

Another belief is that after a family has a son, the family should build a watchtower to protect him from evil spirits. The family would add one floor to the watchtower until it was 18 stories high.

Can you imagine sitting in this watchtower for hours, or days on end getting ready for battle?

Outside the landscape is varying, from towering mountains with an altitude of over 5000 meters to river valleys as low as 1700 meters. The weather is mild and inhabitants are farmers that live in typical Tibetan residences on the mountains and by the Dadu River.

The houses are built in harmony with the mountainous landscape, simple yet inviting.

I couldn鈥檛鈥help but want to visit one village銆

	The typical house is three floors. And on top the roof is corn.

The typical house is three floors. The first floor for raising pigs and chickens, second floor is where inhabitants live, and the third is for prayer and worship. On top the roof is corn, one of the crops the farmers commonly plant.

Wow, spectacular view, even from these small windows. These windows are a characteristic of these mountains, since we are high up in the mountains and the winds are strong. The small windows keep us warm. It鈥檚 also the same with the thick walls.