Wolfgang's photos with the keyword: Zhongdiang

Dukezong before the worst fire disaster. A blaze in January 2014 has destroyed most of a 1,300-year-old Tibetan town in the historic village which also was called Shangri-la. Hundreds of buildings, including one with monument status dating to the early 17th century, were destroyed in the fire which began early yesterday in Dukezong Ancient Town.

Being the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan, Songzanlin Monastery, also known as Guihua Monastery, is one of the famous monasteries in the Kang region. Its also called The Little Potala.

Construction of the monastery began in 1679 and was completed two years later. The monastery seems like a group of ancient castles and is composed of two lamaseries, Zhacang and Jikang. The gilded copper roof endows the monastery with strong Tibetan features and the 108 (an auspicious number in Buddhism) columns downstairs also feature the monastery with characteristics of Han nationality. The main halls in the monastery are magnificent, and on both the left and the right sides are wonderful frescos, depicting Buddhist tales and legends. The inside-halls are exquisite with cloisters running through. The cloisters are all decorated with beautiful sculptures and consummate frescos.

it was unbeliveable that inside the monastery we discovered two oversized pictures of the Highnes The 14th Dalaih Lama and many pilgrims took meditation and respect gestures in front of the pictures. An other picture shows the last Punchen Lama who also is banned and a taboo in China. The Holy leaders of Tibet cannot be banned - and never in Tibet! (It wasn't possible to take a photo inside the monastery)

Between 700 to 800 Tibetan inhabitants now living in this monastery complex

interested to see us foreigners who seldom come to his village

in heavy weather conditions torward Kunming

The formerly territory of Tibet now is bounded in the province of Yunnan.

The prefecture of Tibet in Yunnan has an area of 23,870 square kilometers and a population of 374,500 with 126,620 of them origin Tibetans.

After destroying most of the Tibetan culture by the Chinese annexation and its culture revolution, the Chinese rebuild many of the cultural assets for international tourism and its business.

The monastery is full of treasures. There are a lot of golden figures of Buddha josses, golden lamps, Tibetan lections, silver censers and so on. All of these are wonderful collections accumulated from each dynasty. They are precious productions made by people of both Tibet nationality and Han nationality.

Most of the Tibetan villages aren't supplied much by Chinese authorities. Tibetan citizen are the minority group in the whole Chinese rural population.

As the highest lake in Yunnan Province, Bitahai Lake lies in the east of Shangri-La County of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and is over 3500 meters above sea level. Covering an area of about 159 hectares with an average depth of 20 meters, Bitahai Lake is famous for its limpid water and its beautiful scenery which is set against the mountains and forests surrounding it. Bitahai Lake is widely recognized as 'A Pearl on the Plateau' and the most attractive lake in Shangri-La. Legend has it that a goddess dropped her mirror carelessly to the earth when she was making up. The mirror was broken into pieces and they became lakes on the plateau. Among these pieces, the most beautiful piece with green jade turned into today's Bitahai Lake.