Things to See:

Soaring directly from the east of Cawarong, the holy Kawa Karpo (6740M) is the third most sacred mountain of Tibetan Buddhism. Situated on the halfway of Kawa Karpo Kora (also called Meili Snow Mountain Kora), Cawarong becomes a major supply point to the pilgrims. During the autumn Kora season ten to hundred thousands of Tibetan pilgrims pass through Cawarong to fulfil the circuit of Kawa Karpo.

The town of Cawarong is made up of two parts- a newer commercial?part with grocery stores, a couple of restaurants and hotels while the older part make up of beautiful huge Tibetan houses and farms. The buildings in the commercial section are still Tibetan architecture and have a rural feel- unlike some of the newer Chinese towns. Walking into the village feels like walking into one of those cowboy towns in Western movies!

Covered by flea bits, we arrived in Cawarong after a three-day trek from Bingzhongluo in the early May 2005. There was no power supply, no phone, no toilet, no water supply system in the new town, depite the brand new building of the local government. The county head told me proudly how they spent hundreds of thousands of Yuan in building it, with all the materials being carried into the town by horse caravans. But what we need was a place to wash up. Unfortunately people still have to walk far away to fetch water. We could do nothing but carry the happy fleas in our clothes and tent further north.

On the contrary, the vivid Tibetan part has its water channel passing through every house. From the finely carved and painted windows, children peered at us curiously. Horses, mules, pigs and cows, returning from their daily outing, stood outside the house, waited patiently for the door to be opened. We ventured into some of these huge Tibetan houses whose hosts were very hospitable. Their big flat roof used to dry crops is the best place to observe the surrounding houses, golden terraced fields as well as splendid mountain landscapes enlightened by sacred praying flags.

In Cawarong nearly every speck of arable land is used. Due to the isolation and land scarcity, local families still practice polyandry: several brothers sharing one wife. They live harmoniously in their big, almost palace-size home. Such a lifestyle maintains the birth rate at a lower level and prevents a family from being broken up by the marriage of each brother. It reduces conflict on splitting the land between various families.

Tsilie, our next trek guide comes from such a family. He is 33-year-old, lives with his brother Tibu (36-year-old), their wife Zhoma (33-year-old) and three children. The elder son Nima is 18-year-old. See below their family photo and their house.