肆Among Neighbours在地
Nirru, and the people of the mountains
Tibetan families live all around the camp. Further into the mountains towards Pudacuo lies the village of Nirru. This page is about their days, and about the crafts you can learn in the valley.
Nirru village · Bringing the cattle home
Nirru village
Nirru lies in Luoji township, Shangri-La, within the Three Parallel Rivers World Heritage area, at around 2,700 metres. It is the only wholly Tibetan village in the township, made up of three hamlets: Nizhong, Baizhong and Pula.
Mountains surround it on all sides and the Nirru river runs through the middle. On its bank a spring bursts from a cave and falls in tier after tier; the villagers call it the sacred waterfall, visitors call it the Seven-Coloured Falls. Along the river stand mani stone cairns.
Belief here is old and generous. People revere the sacred mountains, the holy lakes and the pastures, and the Bön tradition lives on alongside Tibetan Buddhism. That is what I have seen and heard from the elders; I may not have it all right.
Days follow the seasons. In autumn the barley is harvested and the straw dried on timber racks; in winter, under snow, tractors haul logs slowly along the mountain road; when a family builds a house, the neighbours come to help. At dusk cattle and sheep pass along the village lane and home to their yards.
Nirru is a long mountain drive from the camp; set aside a whole day. Ask us about the road before you go.
Days in Nirru
These photographs were taken in Nirru.
Carrying firewood down the hill
Among the haystacks
A woman at farm work
The village road after snow
At the courtyard gate
A village gathering
Building a new house
A tractor hauling logs
Cattle in the yard
Timber and walkers on the snow
A tractor in the snow
Sheep through the village
Learn a craft from the neighbours
Everything needs arranging ahead. Call or message us on WeChat and we will set a time with the craftsperson or the family.
Shaping a pot by the window
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Shaping black pottery
Learn black pottery from a Nixi potter: red earth and white clay, shaped by hand, fired over wood and smoked black. Nixi black-pottery firing was listed as national intangible cultural heritage in 2008.
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Foraging for matsutake with a villager (illustration)
July — August
Matsutake foraging
In the July and August rains, follow a villager into the forest after matsutake. Someone who knows the ground leads, and shows you how to look, how to dig, and how to cover the earth again.
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Learning to make incense with a Tibetan master (illustration)
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Making Tibetan incense
Learn from a Tibetan master: blend cypress powder and herbs to the recipe, knead it into a paste, roll it into sticks, and let them dry slowly.
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A thangka in progress
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A corner of a thangka
A thangka is a scroll painting on cloth. With a painter, prepare the ground, sketch, and lay in a small patch of colour: a taste of a craft that takes a very long time.
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Learning to churn butter tea in a Tibetan home (illustration)
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Churning butter tea
In a Tibetan neighbour’s home, learn to make butter tea: brew the tea, add butter and salt, churn it again and again in the wooden churn, then drink a bowl by the hearth.
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