Animaqing Snow Mountain in Ice and Snow Ranch

First, add a family to graze on the glacier snowfield all the year round, because party member should play a leading role and be assigned to the highest pasture, which is only 5-6 meters away from the main peak of Animaqing Snow Mountain at an altitude of 6,282 meters. During an interview in maduo county, the source of the Yellow River in Qinghai, I met party member Xianzeng, who rarely went down the mountain to purchase necessities of life. First, he was prolific and generous. After two sentences, he treated me as a friend and insisted that I drink the highland barley wine he carried with him. I later learned that the first family would graze on the glacier snowfield all the year round, because party member should play a leading role and be assigned to the highest pasture, which is only 5 to 6 meters away from the main peak of Animaqing Snow Mountain at an altitude of 6,282 meters. I racked my brains to speculate on the lifestyle of Xianzeng's family, but Xianzeng was very moved and invited me to visit his house.

The disciple of the Mountain

first increased his horse and went home to do some work. Two days later, I followed the route he told me and headed for Animaqing. The jeep went out of Maduo, turned east through Huashi Gorge, climbed several ridges, and the mountain covered with snow suddenly stood in front of me in the distance. In Tibetan, Animaqing means "the highest waiter in front of the Living Buddha". As the largest mountain at the source of the Yellow River, it has always been regarded as a sacred mountain by Tibetan compatriots. Every year, a large number of pilgrims climb mountains, wade in water, sleep in the wind and go to worship. Looking from a distance, against the blue sky, the snowy peak with bright sunshine and silver light is like a crystal jade sculpture, which makes people forget the worldly troubles at first sight.

Snow Mountain seems to be just ahead, but the car has been turning for hours, and it is always out of reach. Fortunately, the scenery along the way is very enjoyable. At this time, it was summer, and the grass was covered with yellow, yellow, green and green along the way, lined with red, yellow, blue and white flowers, which seemed to be covered with a carpet. The shepherd is driving his sheep on the carpet, but he sees a long white line moving on the endless yellow and green grass. People and sheep are like but a sand-snipe in the wide, wide world!, very small.

Before sunset, my guide and I arrived at Xueshan Township and stayed here for one night. The car couldn't go any further, so we changed horses and headed for Maqing Gangri, the main peak of Animaqing. We rode horses up the Qumu River, and after half an hour, we came to the "Quaina" God Land. "Qu 'aina" in Tibetan means "a river flowing with white water", because the water flowing down from the snow-capped mountains contains limestone, and the river is always milky and very quiet. At this time, I saw the herdsmen in twos and threes worshipping around the square stone piles made of stones. It turns out that this stone pile with white prayer flags was piled up by Tibetans and called "Obo", which represents the official residence of the mountain god and naturally becomes a platform for offering sacrifices to the gods of Tibetans. The rule of turning the mountain is this: after worshipping in front of the altar, go around the mountain to show piety. We met Geza, a Tibetan here. In order to eliminate disasters and pray for blessings, he led his 8-year-old mother, his wife and four children, and used yak to carry ghee, highland barley fried noodles and other daily necessities, and began to turn around the mountain from the altar. Lao Li said that it usually takes a week to turn around the mountain, but devout Tibetans often walk around the mountain step by step, like Geza dragging his family and taking a full 35 days before returning to the altar. After hearing what he said, I couldn't help wondering: How can an 8-year-old woman spend these 3 days in such a high altitude and freezing cold? If there is no deep faith, it seems very difficult to do it.

Tibetans in the vicinity of Mount Animaqen still maintain the ancient custom of worshipping mountains and stones. They believe that Mount Animaqen is the fourth mountain god among the 21 mountain gods in Tibet and one of the 9 creation gods in the world, and its status is very respected. Party member, a Tibetan place like Zengduo, often turns to the mountains, because it is a Buddha in mind, and it is not a painful thing to live alone under the snowy peaks and graze daily.

Farewell to the Geza family. We rocked on horseback. The closer we got to the snow-capped mountains, the thinner the air became. Symptoms such as chest tightness, head swelling and dyspnea appeared one after another, and even the horses were panting.

After passing through one valley after another, on the cliff at the corner, a blue-black skyscraper stands in front of us. In front of the boulder is another altar. Smoke rises from the altar, and the smell of burnt ghee and highland barley comes to the nose. What is going on? I leaned forward to have a look, only to see the Tibetans mumbling and smearing thick ghee on the stone wall. On the high stone wall, golden barley grains are arranged in Tibetan shapes, and among the crisp grease layers, red, yellow, blue and green glittering "stones" are exposed. When you look closer, you find that they are not stones at all, but real pearls, agates and jade! I was dumbfounded. Tibetans brought such precious things all the way as sacrifices, showing their piety to the mountain gods.

Snow Pasturing on the Plateau

After a whole day's walk, we finally reached the foot of the main peak at dusk. At this time, the altitude has reached 58-6 meters. I saw a large group of golden yellow sheep crawling on the white snow. The sight was very different from the white sheep on the green and yellow grassland I had seen on the way, and the black tent of the family stood beside it. It is close at hand from the main peak of Animaqing, which is 6282 meters.

the host first added a family of five and lived in the mountains around here. It was dark when we arrived, so we were worried about an accident on our way and stood outside the tent waiting for us. As soon as she saw us, the hostess, Zhu Zi, came to help the horse and stirrup, asked us to dismount, and then the host led us into the tent. According to Tibetan rules, we sit on the floor with men and women.

I was shivering with cold outside, but as soon as I entered the tent, I gradually warmed up. Gezhu handed me a steaming bowl of milk tea, and then we were filled with Ciba, Qula and yogurt. After riding a horse for more than 1 hours, my lips are already dry and my stomach is "purring". At this moment, I am chewing Baba and drinking milk tea, which is particularly sweet.

It was only when I had a bottom in my stomach that I noticed that Zhuo Ma, the daughter of Xianzeng, was hiding her face beside the pillar, dodging her fingers from time to time and secretly looking at me as a strange guest. I teased her to talk, while looking at the furnace, the burning cow dung in the furnace gave out a little flame from time to time in generate, and the pot with a big belly "clicked" with hot air, and everyone slowly became acquainted.

Soon, a pot of steaming mutton was cooked. Gezhu put the tender sheep's tail in front of me with a silver Tibetan knife on it. It is the highest courtesy of Tibetans to entertain guests with sheep's tail. I quickly thanked them, cut the sheep's tail according to the rules, cut off a piece and chewed it, which made me feel crisp, tender and smooth, fat but not greasy. After the banquet, I stood up first, holding a wine bowl in my left hand, lifting a wine bottle in my right hand, swinging my right arm lightly, turning my body around, singing tibetan songs in a hoarse and high voice, and frequently urging me to drink. Tibetans are used to "singing to wine". Although I don't drink at ordinary times, I really can't resist the hospitality that first increased like fire, and I keep drinking. The family members of Xianzeng appreciate my doing as the Romans do, and the young and old take the place of Xianzeng and take turns to persuade the drinkers. I don't know how much wine I drank in the sound of singing and the collision of wine bowls. The alcohol was so exciting that I couldn't speak. I just laughed with a wine bowl. Finally, I couldn't even hold the bowl, and I vaguely felt that I was helped to the thick carpet next to me and fell asleep.

wine is really a sharp weapon to deal with bitter cold. At night, although I vaguely hear the sound of cattle and sheep and the sound of people drinking, my eyelids are so heavy that I just can't wake up. The next morning, I was awakened by the sound of knocking on the tent in my sleep. When I opened my eyes, I found that I was the only one left in the tent. I hurried to get dressed and look outside the tent. It turned out that Gezhu was cleaning the snow on the roof. Animaqing had a high altitude and the weather was like a child's face. If the snow is not cleared, it will overwhelm the tent.

Back in the tent, Gezhu handed a cup of hot milk tea. I chatted with her over a drink and asked her what happened last night. "A few wolves went down the mountain to grab sheep. Fortunately, they found it early and drove it for a long time with sticks." Gezhu has an air of calm and clear clouds, and doesn't care about several wolves at all. Later, I learned that although there are often wild wolves on the snow-capped mountains, they generally don't harass herders. It's just that there is heavy snow, and they are forced to survive. When they really can't find food, they will only think about herders' sheep. Gezhu is only in her thirties, but years of hard work make her look much older than her actual age. Every day before dawn, she has to go to the glacier a mile away to carry back the melted ice water, then milk, make a fire and burn milk tea. When the problem of food and clothing is solved, they don't care about the hard work and the bad living environment, and the family is always happy.

After drinking milk tea, I accidentally looked out of my tent. I froze. It was snowing heavily! It's a vast expanse of whiteness, and I can't tell which is the sky and which is the ground anymore. Cattle and sheep are buried in the snowdrift one by one. First, one family is added to catch up and untie the ropes for the cattle and sheep. Before leaving, please help me put on the cold-proof clothes and snow-proof hat, and especially ask me to wear sunglasses to prevent snow blindness. I wrapped the photographic equipment and put it in the camera bag, put on a tarpaulin outside, first put the bag on my shoulder, walked out of the tent, coaxed up the cattle and sheep and started grazing for a day.

Xian Zeng and his eldest son are driving more than 4 sheep and more than 1 yaks on the road, and the color of the sheep is mixed with the white between heaven and earth, which makes my eyes dizzy. In addition to the coat, I also added a down vest, still shivering with cold. Yukikaze mixed with snow particles and hit his face with pain. Xianzeng is the same as last night, wearing only a Tibetan robe, laughing and laughing. I walked with one foot deep and one foot shallow, and I don't know when my boots were wet with snow. First, I saw that I was walking too hard, so I pulled a yak and let me ride it, but it was not necessarily comfortable on the back of the yak. I just wonder in my heart: what can cows and sheep eat with the heavy snow?

I slowly feel the scene of a family's life on the snow. Have people living in the city ever seen such a pasture that runs between heaven and earth? At this time, Zeng came to my side to interrupt my reverie and remind me that I should wear sunglasses to prevent snow blindness. But I was born excited. I took pictures and forgot everything. I don't know when my glasses have disappeared. First, I stopped the cattle and sheep and took me back from the original road to find my glasses. For more than half an hour, I couldn't find my glasses. First, I leaned closer to comfort me and said, "It's hard to find in the snow. If the snow melts on a sunny day, I'm sure I can find it." While speaking, he took off his sunglasses and put them on me, and then took out a piece of white gauze from his Tibetan robe and covered his eyes.

The snow is getting smaller and smaller. When the whistle is added first, the cattle and sheep suddenly stop and push away the snow with their mouths. The wet grass exposed on the ground becomes their delicious food. Animals on the plateau have their own ability to adapt to nature. June, July and August of each year are the most lush seasons for grass growth on the plateau, and also the busiest time for herders. Herders drive their cattle and sheep from the mountain (low altitude) to the mountain (high altitude) step by step, and move from one hill to another to find the greenest grassland. By the end of August and the beginning of September, the temperature on the mountain dropped, the grass turned yellow and withered, and the herdsmen rushed their cattle and sheep from the mountain to the mountain. They repeated the nomadic life year after year, so their home was also called "riding on the back of yak". The first generation of ancestors has also been thriving in the snowy peaks and grasslands.

Xianzeng speaks Chinese very well. Besides grazing, he occasionally serves as a guide for mountaineering teams at home and abroad. In his spare time of grazing, he often tells me legends and Tibetan customs here. In my opinion, their life is rather monotonous and hard, but they are very satisfied. It is said that once a Tibetan woman married a Suzhou man and was taken to the city, but after a month, the woman came back. She couldn't get used to life in the city at all, and she was bored, but missed the snow-capped mountains and meadows.

It's about the time when the sun goes down, and grazing is over. My whole body ached with cold, and I couldn't wait to rush into the tent to take off my wet shoes and bake them by the fire. I accidentally found that the first increase was not very good-looking, and I wondered in my heart, so I had to ask Zhuo Ma quietly. I just know that Tibetans, out of reverence for the sacred mountain, think that baking shoes by the fire pond will give off a stench and blaspheme. I was taken aback and quickly apologized to Xianzeng. If I didn't know, I wouldn't be guilty, and he was immediately relieved.

We haven't eaten anything for 1 hours while grazing outside. Because we often move in the grassland, I am used to having two meals on the grassland. Those dairy products, beef and mutton and fried flour are very hungry.

Going deep into the hinterland of the glacier

On the fourth day, the snow stopped, which was a fine day. The sky is particularly blue, the snow on the ground has melted, and the green grass is exposed (green grass is only a relative concept in alpine pasture). The outline of the distant peaks is clear and clear, which is very different from the scene of the previous three days.

With a happy mood, we got on horses and set out for the hinterland of the glacier where the Lama worships Buddha.

The horses were running happily. Soon, we broke into a stone group area ―― the huge stones standing upright extended to the side of the mountain, which was a completely deserted sight. There was a magnificent sound of running water in my ears, but I looked around at the world of snow and ice. I listened carefully and quietly, only to find that the sound of running water was originally the sound of underground ice movement or undercurrent in snow.

"Snow Lotus! Snow lotus! " Snow lotus with yellow petals was exposed between the rocks, and we cried with joy. In this extremely cold world, the fragrance was refreshing.

We crossed a glacier, climbed a steep cliff, got into an ice cave with a height of 7 or 8 meters, and looked out. Ice hung on the hole and hung down from the floor, forming a natural ice curtain. Through the ice curtain, we could see the clear blue sky, and the sunlight transformed the ice curtain into colorful colors. This is also where Gezhu takes water every day. Coming out of the ice cave and passing through an ice crack, a "natural ice sculpture painting" suddenly appeared in front of us. The shapes of the ice sculptures were varied: standing ice pagodas rose into the blue sky, and there were also crystal peaks connected with clouds. It is said that the old glaciers have not melted for many years, and new glaciers have formed. The glacier I see now is just the tip of the iceberg in Anima Qing Glacier. Many well-known mountaineers at home and abroad have been sleeping here forever in order to find the beauty of the glaciers in Animaqing or to climb the Maqing Gangri.

We went through the ice cliff, having a good time, but we were breathless. Suddenly, we saw a Tibetan walking alone towards the mountain. He looked solemn and didn't look at us when he passed by. I heard that he was a believer who went to the high glacier to worship the mountain god, and I suddenly understood the heartfelt belief of Tibetans.