A Taste of Tibet: Tai Chi Group Tibet Tour 2011 Golden Lion Academy

When Tai Chi Sifu Chrisee asked me to write an article for the newsletter about our amazing Golden Lion trip to China and Tibet, I realised that our group of 21 enthusiastic travellers, ranging in age from Caleb, in his early teens, to Barbara, at 82 years young, had experienced enough to write a book, so instead of trying to cover everything, I decided to write about the part of the trip which I think most of us would say was the highlight - and that was Tibet.

Wow! Where do I start? The beautiful, gentle, devout people? The fascinating history? The wild, un-touched scenery? The fabulous, spicy food? The religious sights? Let me tell you some of my wonderful memories, more personal than historical – you can always read about that on the net.

I can certainly tell you that the altitude was a rather vital part of our trip. Our first taste of high altitude and to see how we would cope with it, was a couple of days before flying into Tibet, at Emei Mountain. Bumping along precariously narrow and curving mountain roads in our not-so-modern bus, our driver was content to steer one-handed whilst chatting on his mobile phone, happy to overtake the occasional motor bike carrying dad, puffing on a cigarette, with mum sitting side-saddle nursing a couple of kids, a few bunches of bok choy and possibly a string bag of squawking chickens; not one helmet between them! Never a boring moment on Chinese roads!

Exclaims of excitement greeted our first sight of snow, before we jumped into a cable car to take us up one section of the mountain. This was followed by a struggling climb up some very slippery, uneven steps, through heavy mist until we were high above the cloud line at over 3000 metres above sea level. For everyone the climb was laborious and our hearts were beating ten-to-the-dozen due to the lack of oxygen, but some of our group were already suffering more than others, so were reasonably easily coaxed into being ceremoniously carried in sedan-style chairs. Nervous squeals were emitted from beneath the copious layers of jackets, beanies and scarves, as they were carted up (and I think probably more frighteningly, down) at a rapid and bumpy rate of knots, whilst lounging in their makeshift seats strapped onto bamboo poles on the shoulders of 2 willing and able sherpas. Fortunately for the anxious passengers, those fit and wiry sherpas were as sure-footed as mountain goats and a good deal more confident on the slippery steps than the rest of us.

Back down the mountain we visited the pandas at Chendu, another wonderful highlight of our trip, but that’s for another story another day, because the next morning saw us on the flight to the highest airport in the world, Lhasa, capital of Tibet, home of the Potala Palace, which was the residence of the Dalai Lama, and 3650 metres above sea level.

As the biggest single group of tourists to enter Tibet, we were greeted by a wonderfully friendly smile and ‘ta she talek’ (hello) from our Tibetan guide, Tsewang, who, in a traditional welcome to Tibet, draped a white silk scarf around each of our necks, followed by a double-fisted bow and a few gentle and personal words of welcome. Tsewang warned us to move very slowly to keep the effects of altitude sickness to a minimum.

However, despite a restful evening and slowly walking the seemingly endless corridors to our rooms, like post-operative-ward patients, more than half our group were soon feeling the uncomfortable effects of high altitude – headaches, breathlessness, dizziness, tightness in the chest, tingling in the fingers and toes, and general aches and pains.

But the magic of opening the curtains the next morning to a fresh fall of snow on the Himalayan mountains surrounding our hotel, sun shining from a clear blue sky on the imposing, 7th century, Potala Palace, majestically perched on the side of the mountain high above the clouds, was enough to warm each and every heart. Despite any discomforts, we excitedly set off for the day, bundled up in thermals and layers, later to be discarded piece by piece as the day became hotter and hotter.

Sucking on our drink bottles (several litres of water a day to help ease altitude sickness is a bucket load to put away) we puffed our way up the steps of the stately, (annually whitewashed) Palace and despite our shaking muscles and quaking knees, we were enthralled by the outside and inside alike. A maze of glorious room after peaceful, colourful and elaborately embellished room, containing beautiful buddhas; boxes of prayer sheets; murals; burning yak-butter candles; prayer flags; rich, ethnic arts and cultural treasures; the rooms being used by the most recent and prior Dalai Lamas to receive guests and to pray.

Whilst walking back down outside, we were shocked by the sight of local women carrying large rocks to be used for building, roped to their backs, readily climbing the steep steps that we had earlier laboured up carrying little more than a drink bottle and camera. We vowed to never complain about hard or heavy work ever again. These women, like all the women in Lhasa, gazed shyly at us with their twinkling, curious eyes, faces covered from the nose down, not due to pollution as the air was crisp and clear, but to stop the fierce, burning sun from browning their skin as pale skin is seen by Tibetans to be beautiful.

Swarthy, leather-skinned, Incan-featured nomads - dark, beardless men with hair in long plaits and mothers carrying babies in bundles, all heavily clad in rustically coloured, natural fibres of woven layers or animal pelts, had spent days and weeks, living on dried yak, (yes, we tried yak too, chewing our way through various delicious, spicey recipes, washed down with tepid, unusually-aromatic yak-milk tea) made their way as pilgrims to the Palace to pay their respects and pray.

Later we were to see the extensive and very fit, gentle-faced, elderly population of Lhasa circling the Palace multiple times, approximately 8 kilometres a day, always in a clockwise direction, spinning prayer wheels and working through their prayer beads, to later meet up with their friends for a leisurely coffee and lunch before retiring for an afternoon nap.

Needless to say, our group of intrepid explorers not only enjoyed the opportunity of mixing with the locals and admiring the religious and culinary delights of Tibet but also were equally enthusiastic shoppers. At Barkhor Street we were all anxious to bargain for our own souvenir prayer wheels, and prayer flags; singing bowls; woven scarves; stones and beads threaded on silver or leather thongs; ornate and elaborately handcrafted bangles and necklaces; ethnic dolls and turquoise and coral jewellery.

Unfortunately, due to the political situation between China and Tibet, there is a high army presence around Lhasa. Young, fresh-faced Chinese soldiers, undoubtedly conscripted and in occupation, cruise the streets, bearing kalashnikovs and belts of bullets, and are a sad reflection on the treatment of Tibet’s beautiful, peaceful, kind and friendly, deeply devout people. How comforting to see the Tibetans determidly retaining their culture both in their dress and in their attitude to life and religion.

Outside the 15th century Sera Monastery the following day we heard raucous and excitable voices – inside were about 50 or more gentle-faced Sera monks, bare feet in leather sandals, with their clearly well-nourished bodies swathed in russet-red robes, ‘debating’. In the morning they had attended philosophy classes and at this noisy session in the afternoon the enthusiastic seniors were coaxing and questioning the often-reluctant juniors as to what they had learned. Stepping back to take a run-up, the senior monks would slide their rosary-like beads up one arm then rather comically launch themselves forward and with a special, palm-smarting slap of the hands, would point at one of the students, and expect an instant answer. If correct, another question would be fired, perhaps directed at a different monk, or if the answer was incorrect then the back of the hand was slapped into the palm until finally the correct answer was made. Scary stuff for the student who had dozed off during morning class!

Praying is an intrinsic way of life for the Buddhist population of Tibet. Our guide, Tsewang, would ‘Postulate’ 3 times each morning – clasping the hands in a prayer position, they then lay completely prostrate on the rough ground, then up again to repeat this twice more. Others, locals or pilgrims, often repeat the Postulation hundreds of times. We were very touched when Tsewang told us that Buddhists don’t pray just for themselves, but firstly for others all around the world, for peace and harmony for all creatures, and last of all they pray for themselves. To a Buddhist, all major religious traditions carry basically the same message and are likened to climbing different roads up the same mountain, all taking individual paths but with the same aim - that is love, compassion and forgiveness, all of which form part of the daily life of a Buddhist.

The Dalai Lama said, “This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness”

The kind and gentle atmosphere of Tibet had certainly worked its magic on all of us. I think we were all rather overwhelmed with emotion to be leaving this amazing country. We had seen and experienced so much in our 3 short days in Tibet, so were sad and reluctant to bid a fond farewell to our delightful Tsewang.

We were to spend the next 22 or so hours crossing Tibet into China by train, through snow-capped Himalayan mountains, across vast and arid plains, past enormous glass-like lakes and glaciers, the occasional yurt (homes made from circular, domed tents), yak and horses often guarded by lone herdsmen, climbing to over 5000 metres above sea level, before descending towards the next step in our adventure.

From all of us on the Golden Lion tai chi tibet trip, heartfelt thanks (or ‘too she she’ in Tibetan) go to Tai Chi Si Gung Charles, Master Tang, Sifu Di, and Sifu Chrisee for giving us the chance to take a little sip from what I suspect is a huge bowl, and maybe one day we may be lucky enough to return for a bigger taste of peaceful, wild, dramatic and untouched Tibet.

For more pictures of the tai chi tibet tour trip go to our academy's main website www.goldenlion.com.au

Thanks to Tai Chi Accredited Instructor Liz Simpson for this contribution

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