Northwest Sichuan I 

Can you imagine yourself relaxing on sofa, watching TV, and listening to music?

Oh, but don鈥檛 forget to watch your favorite show travelogue, right? And now for a TV news break. Hello, I鈥檓 Yin and welcome to travelogue. Today we鈥檙e in Sichuan in a Tibetan household. I鈥檓 a little hungry; let鈥檚 see what鈥檚 cooking in kitchen.

In the kitchen, the women are busily preparing the meal, cooking in an enormous wok and starting up the wooden fire. The hearty meal includes potatoes, local bread, and vegetables.

	The special room is reserved only for men.

At the same time, the man of the house is in a special room. The room is reserved only for men so I could not enter, but our cameraman got a peek inside. This is the worship room and Doiji is lighting up candles and worshipping the Buddha.

Come on in, the food is ready.

We came just in time to celebrate the child鈥檚 birthday.

Although the food was not grand, it was a real homemade meal. There, I felt truly at home amongst hospitable family members. A great way to end an amazing day.

The road to Ganzi County is 170 km and it is here we start experiencing a real rise in altitude, which varies from over 3,000 to 5,000meters above sea level. It is sometimes called the 鈥渟unny town鈥because of the intense sunlight.

Running through the county is the famous Chama Road, which translates into the tea and horse road. This is an ancient commercial passage treaded by human feet and horse hoofs, bridging Sichuan and Yunnan with Tibet.

Along the 4,000 km road, tea, salt and sugar crossed into Tibet. It served as a channel of communication, and can be thought of as the Southern Silk Road.

The Chama path was long and strenuous, so oftentimes the passengers would pass along and rest. This is a famous temple called the Dajin temple. At this temple, a lot of traders would engage in trade, and rest, and let their horses rest.

The Dajin temple was built during the reign of Emperor Kangxi in 1662. Traders, but also pilgrims would stop by on their way to pay respect to the deities of Buddhism.

Nay. Honey I鈥檓 home. It鈥檚 dark inside, nobody here.

As I headed for the center of the city, I walked along the old street and found children having fun. In my part of the world, children get around on their bikes, but here, it鈥檚 just as common to see a boy on his donkey.

Along the streets, you鈥檒l also find local shops selling local delicacies.

So here we have alcohol and fresh yogurt and my favorite, the bread. Nice and round, almost like a pizza, with no sauce and no cheese. Would you like a piece? I guess I鈥檒l try by myself. Very chewy, great with a dish or sauce, like yogurt. Excellent!