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Katherine brings her parents to Tibetan villages in Sichuan's Aba region, beginning in Songpan. They visit a busy market where locals clean and sell caterpillar fungus used for medicinal tea, and notice ornate car decorations such as solar prayer wheels and embroidered tissue boxes. A drive into the mountains leads to a hut serving homemade yak jerky, where they hear about fraternal polyandry. Their local friend Gongdong guides them to a temple with a large prayer wheel, a child's residence described as that of a reincarnated Buddha, and a ruined 600-year-old temple with faded murals. In his wife's remote village, they see a traditional 100-year-old house and a modern wooden family home that cost 1 million RMB, about $150,000, to renovate and is used for two months each year.
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Markets and mountain visits
Katherine takes her parents to remote Tibetan villages in the Aba region of Sichuan, starting in Songpan. At the local market they watch people clean and sell caterpillar fungus, a parasitic fungus used to make medicinal tea. Her parents also notice the details on Tibetan vehicles: solar-powered prayer wheels, embroidered tissue boxes and colorful braids. Everyday objects and decorations give them an introduction to local artistry.
They hire a car to see the mountains and stop at a mountain hut, where they buy homemade yak jerky that they consider the best of the trip. The hut owner explains fraternal polyandry, a tradition in which brothers share a wife. It was practiced to keep family land from being divided, and the family hears that it is rare today. Back in town, Katherine befriends Gongdong, who becomes their guide over the following days.
Temples and homes in the village
Gongdong takes the visitors to a temple with a very large prayer wheel and to the residence of a child described as a reincarnated Buddha. They later hike to a ruined temple said to be 600 years old. It was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, but faded murals remain visible.
The group travels to Gongdong's wife's remote mountain village, once a military outpost. There they enter a traditional Tibetan house about 100 years old, with a ladder entrance, a three-rock hearth and a bathroom that drops straight down. Katherine notices the care in the woodwork and decorations despite the home's limited resources. The family also visits Gongdong's modern wooden family mansion, which cost 1 million RMB, about $150,000, to renovate and is used only two months a year. Katherine contrasts this with the village house and reflects that such a home would be beyond the reach of most of her peers in the United States. The trip brings together old buildings, religious sites, local customs and changes in rural life.
FAQs (From the traveler's perspective)
- Q: What is caterpillar fungus?
- A: It is a parasitic fungus that takes over a caterpillar. Locals sell it for use in medicinal tea, including tea associated with immune support, and it is treated as a local delicacy.
- Q: What is fraternal polyandry?
- A: In this tradition, two brothers share one wife. It was practiced in Tibetan society to keep land from being fragmented. It is rare now, although the visitors met a man who said his neighbor and his brother share a wife.
- Q: Why are there swastikas on things?
- A: The symbol is an ancient Buddhist sign that predates the Nazi swastika. In Buddhism it is a positive symbol, with a meaning different from its later use by the Nazis.
- Q: Why are bathrooms outside the house?
- A: The visitors were told that many Tibetan and Hui people consider it dirty to have a bathroom inside the home, so they build it separately from the living space.
- Q: How much does it cost to renovate a Tibetan house?
- A: The modern wooden family home they saw cost 1 million RMB, about $150,000, to renovate, including the extensive woodwork.
