Lost Cyclist Finds Wonder in the Tibetan Grasslands

It's September 2nd, a cold morning in the Tibetan plateau. Although it's the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, at an altitude of 3000 meters, the mornings and evenings are always cold year-round.

The early morning in Jaoerge County is wide and bright, with eight or nine o'clock in the morning, the sun shining on the reddish-brown Tibetan buildings, adding golden warmth. The street is sparsely populated, road builders are busy, and the farmers' market is bustling, with taxis lined up waiting for passengers, mostly off-road vehicles and dual-purpose vehicles. By the way, the brother who picked me up yesterday also drives a taxi.

Morning farmers' market in Jaoerge

Unique Tibetan taxis

The men and women on the street were wearing long robes or skirts, adjusted by tying or loosening the waistbands according to the weather or time of day. They could be worn as clothing or as blankets. They wore long leather boots and wrapped their heads with scarves to protect their skin from ultraviolet radiation or keep warm.

From a distance, the Tibetan men and women are tall and straight, with broad robes and wraps that cannot hinder their majesty and ruggedness, but add to their mystery and charm.

Today's plan is to go to Tangke Town, where the Yellow River originates from Qinghai's Zhalin Lake, Eling Lake, enters Sichuan's Tangke via the southeast, passes over Aniemaqin Mountain, turns westward to Gansu's Maqu County, continues northward and again returns to Qinghai, then enters Gansu via Cinwa, winding and looping through Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, and flows into Bohai Bay in Shandong. Jaoerge Tangke Town's first bend of the Yellow River is the first bend formed when the Yellow River was blocked by Aniemaqin Mountain.

Saying goodbye to the hotel owner, feeling a little lost, asked several passersby, and found the Red River Road fork, and set foot on the grassland road from there.

Just started riding, a passing monk attracted my attention, he was muscular, stood tall, wore a red monk robe, dark skin, black sunglasses, a white mobile phone, and a music player. He was a fashionable monk, really cool! This was another visual and psychological impact from the Tibetan people.

The early morning temperature on the grassland is about ten degrees, hands exposed froze, motorcycles roared past, pastoralists drove motorcycles, wearing full protective gear, wearing sheep wool robes from neck to feet, wearing scarves or hats, only revealing black and white eyes. When they passed by, they raised their long sleeves and waved, and the wind blew away. I love them, their outgoing personality and sincere nature. I'm stepping into the Tibetan homeland step by step.

The grassland motorcycle is fast, it's September 2nd, wearing this.

In early September, the grassland has a light yellow color, still a beautiful time. The sunshine shines brightly, the blue sky is very pure, and there are all kinds of white clouds at the intersection of mountains and sky, like flowing mercury and rolling waves, sometimes light and elegant, sometimes dark and intense, these are white piles, highlighting the intensity.

The pastoral grassland is divided into plots by iron fences, and black yaks graze and eat green grass, some eat full and jump into the roadside water pits to bask in the sun, and some are lazy and happy. In the distance, white sheep graze, and occasionally a few horses stand gracefully, looking into the distance.

This is Jaoerge's wetland, high altitude, but there are water pools and rivers everywhere.

From a distance, there's a good pasture facing the wind, with cattle and sheep grazing happily, white tents are the homes of the shepherds, including a car—a minibus or sedan, tied with chains, a couple of fierce Tibetan mastiffs used for driving cattle and sheep, a few horses for riding, and three healthy children playing in the mud. Blue smoke rises from the yurts, and the sky is vast, the land is wide, there are many cattle and sheep, and few people. I love you, my home, my grassland.

Pastoral families

This is the scenery of the grassland, from childhood reading the poems 'Idle Thoughts of Paper Boats' and 'Grass in the Breeze' to the grassland music and the deep religious sincerity of Tibetan Buddhism, all impressions are embedded in my heart and woven into a dream, attracting me to rush to the distant homeland, my dream homeland, to search for my ancestral origins.

Today, finally, I arrived, my heart is open, my soul is free, riding on the grassland road, I really feel like flying!

Along the road, there's a grassy slope without fences, bathed in warm sunshine, people are happy and ecstatic, stopped the car, stepped onto the grass, I sat, I lay, I crawled, I reclined, completely integrated my body and limbs into the grass, I looked at the blue sky and white clouds, I ate grass, I basked in the sun, and my body and soul were all integrated into nature. Now, I'm really smiling.

Enjoying the vast and spacious comfort.

I had a dream, when the setting sun dyed the western sky with clouds, the cattle and sheep returned to the enclosure, three or five sturdy, dark-skinned Tibetan youths or a couple of Tibetan women rode horses to drink, sing and talk, until the moon rose over the Dongshan peak, shining brightly, the cold intensified, they returned to the grassland with dew.

Along the road, there's a family washing clothes by the bridge, washing them and then drying them on the bridge railing. They are a grandmother, mother and granddaughter. I was curious, stopped to take a look at how they washed their clothes in the grassland river. They were also curious about me, stopped their work and climbed up to the bridge. The young mother spoke limited Chinese, but she invited me to her home to eat tsampa, I understood, and the grandmother was very strong, with rosy cheeks like her granddaughter. I lifted the child to try the feeling of riding a bicycle, the little girl was shy and didn't dare to look at people directly, but I couldn't forget it. We exchanged greetings in Tibetan and said goodbye, farewell, child, goodbye, Tibetan family.

A Tibetan girl is riding on my car.

There's a cattle crossing the road, a cowboy rode a horse to drive the cattle, a loyal dog helped humans, rushed to maintain the order and formation, not biting, but intimidation and warning.

The grassland road is sparsely populated, sometimes a car, off-road vehicle, a truck transporting yaks, and motorcycles passed by. Only I was riding a bicycle.

Yaks cross the road.

From Han Chang to Ning Qiang to Wen County to Jiuzhaigou to Jaoerge, I am a solitary cyclist, not encountered with anyone, lonely? No, I'm happy. The sun burns my skin, rain chills my heart, climbing slopes strains my muscles, and the setting sun has no place to stay, but I've never felt like being on the road is painful. I like the feeling on the road, I like the unfamiliar people and scenery, I like to change day by day, not to be stagnant. From the forest to the high-altitude grassland, crossing Sichuan's Jiuzhaigou and La Maqin Mountain, a solitary journey.

I walk my own way, not lonely.

Under the blue sky and white clouds, a jeep passed by from behind, the windows were open, several guns pointed at me, 'Pop, pop, pop, pop' sounded, 'Oh, oh, oh, oh!!!'

Haha, I didn't fall down, not because of being robbed, but because I became a photographer's target, the long gun and short gun found good material, couldn't help but click the shutter quickly, 'Oh, oh, oh, oh!!!' I smiled and waved, the car stopped, four self-driving outdoor enthusiasts from Shaanxi, came from Xi'an, specializing in grassland scenery, but our travel methods are different. A man from Henan, a group of Shaanxi people, old classmates, same interests, meeting strangers in foreign lands is a joy! Friends insisted on letting me ride my bicycle to experience grassland cycling, also for taking photos to commemorate, well, high-altitude and flowing water, knowing friends are hard to find, being admired feels great, no need to be modest, my heart is already happy.

Along the road, a self-driving enthusiast from Xi'an passed by, looking at the scenery and taking pictures.

I walk my own way, life, travel, what is the best choice, only I know best. Crowded roads are not necessarily smooth, and rarely visited places often hide the most beautiful scenery. I walk my way, I believe in myself.

Waiting for you to see: Encountered a Tibetan wedding, stayed at the monk's headmaster's residence.