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WINTER ON THE HIGH PLATEAU - Of Wild Yak and Gourmet Cheese
FR21.27 by Wong How Man (Litang, Sichuan – November 5, 2021)
The edges of the pond around me remains frozen in the morning, though by mid-day it will thaw somewhat. This may not be deep winter yet, but for someone from the south like myself, it is certainly cold enough. Five to ten degrees below freezing may not seem much for someone who has survived four winters in Wisconsin in the northernmost edge for the US, but then that was half a century ago. And once windchill is factored in, it pierces my face like a knife.
Lapchi, a Remote Tibetan Holy Place in Nepal
By Katia Buffetrille (EPHE, Paris and Associate Researcher with CERS)
ibet is famous for its many holy places but some of them have a particular resonance in the Tibetan world. Lapchi is generally associated with two other famous pilgrimage sites, Mount Tise (also known as Kailash) in the West of Tibet and Tsari in the South-East. Lapchi is thus one of these sacred places that every Tibetan dreams of visiting one day. As an anthropologist working on Tibetan pilgrimages for more than thirty years, I always had the desire to visit Lapchi, a valley so remote from everything that it continues, somehow, to keep a certain mystery. This dream came true in October 2021 when thanks to the help of CERS, I was able to travel there in the company of biodiversity specialists. Their aim was to install camera-traps at various places in the landscape to study the fauna, including the famous Snow Leopard, as part of a study supported also by CERS.
Small Moments, Big Lessons - Reflecting on My 10 Years at CERS
Tsering Drolma, January 2022, Zhongdian
It was beautiful yesterday, like a fairy land, after a big snow fall two days ago just after the start of the New Year. But this morning the temperature dropped to -15 degree Celsius and all the roads would soon turn icy and slippery for both people and cars. Last year, one colleague slipped while walking on the icy path at our CERS Zhongdian Center after a snow fall. He brought all medical expense receipts to me and asked for compensation because he fell while he was at work. I argued that it was difficult to call it a work injury, because he was just walking around. That was an awkward situation. Since I was present this time, I organized the staff to clean up all the major paths inside the Center. I told them we should all get to work and sweep all the snow off the paths.