Northwest Sichuan II --- Dege 

cctv.com 11-02-2005 10:50

Yin was here. Hey, welcome to Travelogue. I鈥檓 Yin. Right now, I鈥檓 5000 meters above sea level. That explains why I鈥檓 out of breath, my head hurts, and it鈥檚 freezing cold. But, this is the highest point along the journey from Sichuan to Tibet. Today, we continue our journey to Dege, which is one of the chief centers of Tibetan culture. Whew... give me a moment to catch my breath. This is an epic journey you definitely don鈥檛 want to miss.

Our journey started from Chengdu in Sichuan, making our way west to the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. In this episode, we continue on the Sichuan-Tibet Highway to Dege, which means land of benevolence in Tibetan. Although a small county, Dege, together with Lhasa in Tibet and Xiahe of Gansu, was one of the three ancient centers of Tibetan culture.

The Sichuan-Tibet Highway starts from Chengdu and ends at Lhasa. It stretches over 2,000 kilometers long, passing perhaps the harshest of terrain. The northern path is particularly difficult to cross, weathering extreme conditions. However, the reward is the remarkable scenery.

	People on their pilgrimage to Lhasa

We traveled by car, but some choose a unique way to get to Llasa. They raise their hands towards heaven and drop to their knees, laying their bodies forward onto the ground, repeating this process all day long. It takes them months to reach Llasa on their pilgrimage.

These spiritual practices that bring them closer to enlightenment.

In Dege, perhaps the most famous sight is the Scripture Printing House. The printing house, built in 1729. Locals walk around the building an uncountable number of times each day. It marks the beginning of the day as religion is molded into every aspect of their lives.

It is estimated that materials stored at Dege make up 70 percent of Tibetan literary heritage. Inside the dark halls are the engraving blocks, which serve as the blueprints for the printings.

	Dark engraving blocks

Wow, this is amazing. This place contains the largest and most comprehensive collection of scriptures in this area. It鈥檚 so dark, I wish I could see better. There are books here about arts, sciences, mathematics, and topics unrelated to religion. Ah, this could be it. Here, the blueprint. How to deal with high altitude sickness. That鈥檚 the one.

There are two legends about the site. One is that one day at sunset when Denba Tsering, a ruler, heard some boys chanting outside his house and thus decided he should print some books for the children to read. Another is that a man, while transporting printing plates on the back of a yak, halfway during the journey, had his load spilled to the ground. The printing house was built at that very spot.