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| 99.20 |
Dec. 31, 1999
Wong How Man |
MILLENNIUM TWILIGHT Mekong/Salween Watershed, China Wong rode his horse toward the mountain abode to spend the twilight of his Millennium, carrying with him a light heart and a heavy load. He looked back at his pack horses and felt as if they were carrying the exploration spirits of all his friends and supporters. Though they cannot be with him in person, may blessings of the mountain god of Karwakarpo reach out to all of them. |
| 99.19 |
Oct. 1, 1999
Wong How Man |
GRAVE LOOTING HORROR Weixin, Yunnan Wong and his team moved onward to visit the famous Hanging Coffins site at Matangba. It is listed as national level Cultural and Relics sites and are given protection accordingly since 1988. But when they got closer to the site, they saw almost all the coffins had their covers removed and swung to the side. Someone has looted the coffins. Two of the coffins that were suspended behind the front ones had totally collapsed. The most awesome coffins site is now in total chaos and shamble. |
| 99.18 | Sept. 29, 1999 Wong How Man |
GRAVE SITUATION OF THE BO COFFINS
Weixin, Yunnan Wong How Man led his team to conduct a project to preserve the Hanging Coffins of the Bo People. They reached Waishi, a tiny village at the border of Yunnan and Sichuan which is probably the least know Hanging Coffins site but one of the most important. The objective of this project is to assess seven coffins, their conditions, and how to prevent them from falling down. Over the next few months, they will implement a plan to raise these coffins from their dangerous holdings, restore and replace the support beams and secure the coffins for the foreseeable future. |
| 99.17 |
July 3, 1999
Wong How Man |
SHAHTOOSH BLOODPATH - CERS
RESEARCHERS UNDER SIEGE BY ANTELOPE POACHERS Hotan, Xinjiang Dr William Bleisch led his team inside the Arjin Shan Nature Reserve to study the calving ground of the Tibetan Antelope and discovered trails of poaching activities when they entered the calving ground on June 18. They quickly scouted the area and caught 5 poachers. During the night, one escaped and brought back a large corp of poachers who besieged his team's camp. Shots were exchanged and the poachers demanded release of the hostages. They had no choice but to let go of the poachers in face of danger. |
| 99.16 |
July 4, 1999
Wong How Man |
GUNBOATS ON THE ROOF OF THE
WORLD Hotan, Xinjiang At Pangong Lake, gunboat diplomacy was played out on the Roof of the World. But the boat which Wong & his team boarded, was a steel-hull boat taking tourists to Bird Island some ten kilometers from shore. Li Laoda is the Captain of the boat and also operates a hostel at the shore of the lake. The team were treated with the favorite Pangong fish at Li's restaurant. He told Wong that they harvested over 150 kilos of fish in one evening but would be laid to waste as there is no market for the catch. Tibetans rarely eat fish and Xinjiang is several days away. |
| 99.15 |
June 28, 1999
Wong How Man |
PILGRIMS AND TRADERS Ali, Tibet Wong & his team arrived Mount Kailash, the sacred twin lakes of Manasarova, and the border of India and Nepal with Pulan County in western Tibet. They interviewed a group of pilgrims from India as Kailash is the home of Lord Shiva and the lake can reflect images of all deities within their Hindu religion. Then the team left Kailash and Lake Manasarova area and were at the frontier town of Pulan. There they met Yogesh, a young and successful businessman from Nepal, telling CERS that his family has been conducting border trading between Nepal and Tibet for generations. |
| 99.14 |
June 18, 1999
Wong How Man |
NO PERMIT INTO NEPAL Zhangmu, Tibet Zhangmu is the only fully opened inland port of Tibet. Everyday, several foreign tourist groups pass through. Wong and his team made the attempt to enter Nepal at the border checkpoint. They are stopped by a Chinese officer and insisted that they have a tour guide along. Reluctantly they turned back to their hotel. After lunch, Wong decided to make a dash for the border again. He left his travel document as security deposit and across the checkpoint, paid 20 Yuan to a Nepalese driver for a ride to the last checkpoint at Friendship Bridge. Wong quickly walked to the other bank where Nepal is and took pictures of the Nepalese Army officer guarding the gate. Though he was called back by a Chinese border guard and asked not to across the bridge without proper visa. By then he was standing inside Nepal, had taken several pictures, and more important, without any document. |
| 99.13 |
June 14, 1999
Wong How Man |
PINNACLE OF THE WORLD Basecamp Everest Mountaineers and trekkers come from all over the world to take in the grand view and the challenge of climbing this champion peak called Qumolangma. But sometimes the god of Qumolangma keeps its gate closed and guarded. CERS team set up four tents at Everest Basecamp. There they are excited to see a herd of Blue Sheep grazed down the hillside adjacent to their camp and can be photographed at close range. That same evening, Qumolangma finally showed its majestic peak and turned from golden to pinkish before paling into a shaded blue as the last ray hit off beyond the pinnacle of the world. |
| 99.12 |
June 10, 1999
Wong How Man |
YATUNG - A BORDER TOWN CAUGHT
IN CROSSFIRE Xigaze, Tibet For 25 years, Gongbu has made numerous secret trips between his village of Yongdong in Bhutan and Yatung in southern corner of Tibet doing small scale border trade. He used to come with two packed horses, by traveling at night. Neither Bhutanese nor Chinese currency are used in trading. With him are a few Swiss watches, some sacks of rice and a few precious stones. In return he would barter for canvas shoes, thermal bottles, wool blankets and other cheap daily Chinese products. Yatung is slightly over 500 kilometers from Calcutta, making Lhasa roughly 1000 kilometers from the closest seaport. Perhaps when relationship between China and India stabilizes in the future, Yatung can again become a gateway in and out of Tibet. |
| 99.11 |
July 30, 1999
Wong How Man |
BETWEEN EXPEDITION GLAMOURS
Yenjin is the famous town for producing salt from the brine well sunk into the Mekong River. Wong met a young Tibetan girl of 11 walking home from school for the weekend. She offered to carry his heavy camerabag for a distance and refused to accept a small token of thanks, the modesty of the people left an indelible impression on visitors. Wong and his team drove into Lhasa, two weeks and 2500 kilometers after leaving Kunming. As if by miracle, only one flat tire among the three vehicles. On previous trips, they usually have a dozen or so breakdowns. Perhaps the rimpoche giving each of the team members, including the three cars, a knotted string band for protection and his blessings must have put them in good stead, vehicles included. |
| 99.09 |
June 4, 1999
Wong How Man |
A TALE OF TWO NUNNERIES Lhasa, Tibet Tibetan monasteries are plentiful throughout the plateau. But nunneries are few and far apart. Dongjulin Ayni Gomba is the only remaining nunnery of Yunnan located at Puntzelan. It is sandwiched between barley fields of a neighboring village and the villagers allow only a tiny access road through the mountainside into the nunnery. There are 64 nuns living inside the one religious building which is ill-maintained and the sanitation has deteriorated. Xongsi Ayni Gomba is located some 50 kilometers south of Lhasa in Qusui County and is the largest nunnery in Tibetan. It is high up a mountain at an elevation of 4295 meters and has over 1000 nuns. No funding comes from the government, the nuns would go to nearby pastoral and nomadic areas to collect alms. CERS is making plans to assist these nunneries. |
| 99.07 |
March 7, 1999
Wong How Man |
SOARING OVER SHEK O Tai Tam, Hong Kong For several years, Wong had admired the colorful birds soaring above the sky of his village at Tai Tam. He had always wanted to join them. The opportunity came when he met Marcus on an expedition in China's northwest. He went paragliding with Marcus Jebsen over Shek O on a foggy day. Though the flight lasted only fifteen minutes due to lack of wind, that's the closest he has ever come to being a bird. |
| 99.06 |
February 21, 1999
Wong How Man |
LAOS THROUGH THE BACKDOOR (PART
II) Luang Prabang, Yunnan If entering Laos through Vientiane the capital is considered the frontdoor, then entering through Laos' border with China can be considered the backdoor. Processing paperwork to cross legally took up all day. The next morning, they drove for 220 kilometers into the ancient Laos capital of Luang Prabang. It has preserved much of its ancient character and culture. In 1996, it was selected by UNESCO as one of the World Heritage Sites. Within a few years, the city became a major tourist destination with guest houses, restaurants and shops everywhere. |
| 99.05 |
February 19, 1999
Wong How Man |
LAOS THROUGH THE BACKDOOR Mengla, Yunnan During the Chinese New Year period, Wong and CERS team traveled along China's southern frontiers, studying the trans-border section between Vietnam, Loas and Burma. When they stopped at Mannai and asked how to travel to the border, locals told them they had to procure a border pass from the police station some 16 km away. In fact, they ended up in Laos without passing through any check-point, guardpost or customs house but slipped through the backdoor between China and Laos. |
| 99.04 |
February 14, 1999
Wong How Man |
TWO FRONTIER TOWNS Hekou, Yunnan Two days before Chinese New Year, Wong and his team arrived Laojie & Hekou, conducting a trans-border study along China's inland frontiers. Laojie is across the river from Hekou. Both are frontier towns, the former in Vietnam and the latter in China. Laojie was a bombed out city twenty years ago. Rebuilding of the city in the early 1990s when relations between the two countries improved. Though only a river apart, Laojie retains more of its cultural and natural heritage, while Hekou provides far more consumer and household goods. Looking at the peace and prosperity between the two national borders, perhaps people are finally learning to live in harmony with their neighbors. |
| 99.03 |
February, 1999
Wong How Man |
GENERAL JACK YOUNG - A NATURALIST
FROM THE 1920s Hong Kong The author interviewed General Jack Young at the Kowloon YMCA, whose crowning success was during the Roosevelt Expedition when the team brought back to America the first giant panda specimen. He was recommended by the Chinese Ministry as an interpreter for the expedition of the Roosevelt brothers in 1929. The main goal of the expedition was to bring back specimens of the giant panda. As a game hunter and later a military officer, Jack has great affection and affinity with rifles. The 1929 expedition of which Jack is a member also succeeded in putting the first mountaineering team on the summit of the 7556-meter Mount Gongga. When he realized that Wong was one of the very few individuals who had retraced his steps into Mount Gongga, his face lit up. |
| 99.02/ LE |
February, 1999
Wong How Man |
LOCAL GINGER Tai Tam, Hong Kong " Local ginger is not spicy", refers to local talents are not much appreciated whereas foreign ones are being adored and idolized. Wong, first Chinese explorer/journalist in the NGS' 110 years history, first to be supported by the NGS on six consecutive expeditions, first to discover true source of the Yangtze. He was featured on CNN, ABC, CNBC and the Discovery Channel. Despite all these overseas accolades, he remains largely unknown in his ancestral home of Hong Kong. After all, " Local ginger is not spicy". |
| 99.01 |
January 30, 1999
Wong How Man |
A ROYAL MOUNTAIN PILGRIM Wong invites as guests of the CERS, Karl, Francesca von Habsburg & two children to visit northwestern of China. Karl is the Archduke and oldest grandson of the last Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Their itinerary is different from the ordinary tourist package. After half an hour of hike, they reached the top of a ridge of the Jade Dragon Mountain and sat waiting for the first light to hit the peaks of the Dragon's spine. When the first light kissed the top of Peak Shanzidou, Wong took a long breath and let out an exhilarating sigh of content. Perhaps the spirit of the mountain would be pleased to know that someone with an Imperial heritage had just made a pilgrimage to the Jade Dragon Mountain. |