July 21 - Burned, Bombed, But...

The only tourist attraction in tiny Xiangcheng County Town is the lamasery of Sangpeili. This institution houses around 800 lamas and novice monks and sits on the mountainside overlooking Xiancheng from the west. But it wasn't always this way. The original Sangpeili was located in the heart of town and was among the most important religious institutions in Kham. It was for that reason that Chinese troops under Zhao Erfeng torched Sangpeili during their rampage through Kham in the early years of the 20th century. Zhao was sent by the Qing government in Beijing to bring the Tibetan lands to heel and combat British and Russian efforts to lure Tibet into their sphere of influence. His methods earned him the nickname "Butcher Zhao", as well as the approval of various foreign missionaries who followed his troops into Kham. Zhao established schools throughout the region to educate the Tibetans in Chinese imperial ways; he also aped the US government's land grant scheme to attract Han Chinese peasants to settle the agricultural land around Batang （unsuccessfully - the land turned out to be useless and the immigrant Han soon gave up）.

The new Sangpeili Lamasery.

Sangpeili was established in the 17th century. This thangka is part of the collection held in the only part of the original Sangpeili still standing - a single, squat building a few meters up the hill from Xiangcheng's main street. The current lamasery was built with donations about 20 years ago - but it wasn't Zhao Erfeng who finished off the old building. His troops did minimal damage compared to that inflicted by the Chinese Air Force in 1956. That year, the Xiangcheng government compound was surrounded by rebels and the Chinese central government once again targeted Sangpeili to put the frighteners on the locals. The bombers destroyed most of Sangpeili and traumatised the populace - so much so that one young local government official told us that when helicopters passed over the town recently during a reforestation project, some old residents were reduced to tears of terror.

Twenty years earlier, the lamas of Sangpeili got on much better with the Chinese Communists. This is the most remarkable Long March relic I have seen in nearly five years of marching - the original banner presented to Sangpeili by the leaders of the Red 6th Army Group in May 1936. I had no idea this even existed, and I doubt many people outside Xiangcheng have ever seen it, as it is kept rolled up in the Files Bureau. It is signed by General Xiao Ke, Political Commissar Wang Zhen （later to be Vice President of China） and Political Department Chief Zhang Ziyi （no, not THAT Zhang Ziyi）, and wishes "independent liberation" to the Tibetan people.

During the 1980s the leaders of Xiangcheng unfurled their precious relic and took it to Beijing to show Xiao Ke （second from left）. Xiao is still alive, 99 this year and the last general of the Red Army.

This gentleman's father was with Xiao Ke in 1936, but fell ill with diarrhea and also suffered snow blindness crossing Big Snow Mountain, which stands between Shangri-la and Xiangcheng. He thus became one of three Red soldiers to be left behind in Xiangcheng, where he eventually married into a Tibetan family. Nima, above, told us his father was in the government building in 1956 and was made responsible for defending the main gate. His actions earned him a trip to Beijing to see Chairman Mao - who sadly was absent when Nima's dad got there, so he had to make do with Zhou Enlai, instead.

Nima's father, Zhou Yingchang, joined the Red Army in Bijie, Guizhou, during the Long March. He was 14. He didn't return to Bijie until 1957 - his mother wouldn't open the door to him until he recounted several details from his childhood to convince her that her son was really alive and had come home.

Zhou Yingchang's new family. Nima is bottom right. I asked him if he thought of himself as Han or Tibetan. He laughed and said when he was at school he felt Han - all the teachers were Han and they taught in Chinese, but after he grew up he came to think of himself as Tibetan.

This village sits just below the county town on the far side of the Shuoqu River. You can see our road east towards Daocheng turning a corner in the center of the picture. As well as bandits, Xiangcheng is also famous for its white houses. This is the only Tibetan area （I think） in which this style is prevalent.

This was the first day out of Xiangcheng, the hottest day of the journey. Huami illustrates just how thirsty we all got...

...while Shajima grabs a bite of whatever he can reach - there was no grass in the river valley for more than 30 kilometers, so it's a good thing the mules are a lot tougher than Khampa.

This is part of the Seven Lakes area, which is reached via a 40 km diversion from the Daocheng road. At present, the only way in is on foot, but a road is scheduled to be finished next year, at which point Xiangcheng will have its first offical  'scenic attraction' open to mass tourism.

More than 4,000 meters up Nameless Mountain, which straddles the Xiangcheng-Daocheng border, Yang Xiao and Shajima ford a freezing stream in search of a grassy campsite.

Guess what this is all about. Answers to the usual address!

At the pass over Nameless Mountain, 4,723 meters above sea level.

That pass over Nameless Mountain again.

Over the top...

...and into Daocheng, the most popular tourist destination in Ganzi prefecture.

Yang Xiao showed a steady hand to take this night shot. As I slipped a disc only six weeks before we started Long March 6, YX has taken on all the heavy lifting and mule-wrangling, while I look after the kitchen.

Lunch break on the last leg to Daocheng County Town, during a rare interruption in the rain. Last year we saw hardly any rain, but this year it has poured almost every day since leaving Shangri-la.

Night! More news when we get to Litang in a week.