Kham ཁམས Lhagang

Tagong (Chinese: 塔公), also known as Lhagang (Tibetan: ལྷ་སྒང་) is a frontier town of about 8,000 people on the 2,142km-long Sichuan-Tibet Highway, about a quarter of the way to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. Formerly known as the Kham region of eastern Tibet. The Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture is roughly the size of Nepal and has a population of mainly Tibetans. The grasslands around Litang and Tagong offer a chance to see the fast-​disappearing Tibetan nomad culture. During the summer months, the Tagong Grassland (appx 3900m in elevation) will see semi-nomadic herder families travelling with their yaks across and live in tents.

These local youngsters came to the stupa for a short bike trip. They did not come to smoke or to drink. They did practice hardship, by a ritual of carrying heavy stone around this sacred place.We asked if we could join them, and they happily agreed. At last I took a photo for memory. Not much later, the guys left and we noticed a very different approach by another species. The Chinese tourists. They did not stay in this village like we did, just stopped on a bus . Took photos. Some girl asked me to pose her for a photo, which I did not appreciate. Angry refused Barbie then showed me to move away so she can take a click of the stupa. Then the Chinese bus left. The place was peaceful again.