Follow the Dragon's Backbone into the rural solitude of Longji's rice terraces
by Tom Carter
It is hard to imagine anywhere in the People's Republic untouched by civil engineers, the levelers of history. But truly nowhere else in China has life remained perfectly intact - culturally and naturally - as on the Dragon's Backbone in the rural villages of Longsheng county is southwest China.
While Guangxi Autonomous Region's one-two punch of geological wonders are provincial sites that should not be missed - Guilin for the red hat-wearing Chinese tour groups and Yangshuo for Western backpackers - Longji Titian is an ideal place for those who cherish rural tranquility and solitude.
Indeed, to get to the Dragon's Backbone one must ascend dizzying heights (the highest in southern China), and enter a mystical fog that removes everything travelers know about modern China, placing you in a time when people were one with the good earth.
No white tile buildings in sight, the pastoral villages, namely Dazai and Ping'an, are constructed entirely of two and three story wood cabins hugging the vertical mountainside, with spring water coursing through the town's canals. It is here travelers will find accommodations at the simple family-run inns that make up the two settlements.
China Travel Articles
Photojournalist and author Tom Carter presents a visual and literary portrait of life in China.
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- The Good Earth by Tom Carter
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Wed, 02 May 2007 11:35:00 +0800 - Kailash Karma Kora by Tom Carter
Kailash Karma Kora by Tom Carter
going round in circles
a kora of good karma around Asia's sacred Kailash Mountain
Written by Tom Carter
Wednesday, 01 November 2006
My path to purification began in the home of Shiva the Destroyer – or perhaps it was just his rubbish bin. The shantytown of Darchen at the foot of Mt Kailash in western Tibet is populated with half-naked, red-cheeked children playing in trash heaps. Teahouses running on car battery power, with dirt floors lined with old pillows, serve as bedding for road-weary pilgrims and backpackers before they start on their kora around Asia’s most sacred mountain.
The word kora means ‘pilgrimage circuit’, or simply, ‘big circle’. It describes the clockwise path followed by devout followers of Buddhism and Hinduism in their effort to attain spiritual absolution for the sin of being alive. Throughout Tibet one can see the faithful making koras around temples and other holy places, though none as consecrated as the 52-kilometer circumambulation of Mt Kailash (known in Tibetan as Kang Rinpoche and in Mandarin as Shen Shan).
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Wed, 02 May 2007 11:33:00 +0800 - Seven Days in Permit-less Tibet by Tom Carter
Seven Days in Permit-less Tibet(More......)July 07, 2006
Local Travel: Seven Days in Permit-less Tibet
The open road into Xizang
text and photos by Tom Carter
The news was shocking!
The ticket agent at the Shangri-la bus terminal in Zhongdian, Yunnan province was happy to tell me over and over, in both Chinese and English, that yes, foreigners can now travel east through the Tibet Autonomous Region to Lhasa … overland and without a permit! I really couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but rather than falling down in rapture, I agonized over taking advantage of this new policy or continuing as planned on my already-paid-for, government-authorized, one-week tour across Kham to Lhasa. Ultimately, it would have been silly for me not to choose the latter.
The decade-old Land Cruiser was in surprisingly good condition, having driven through Tibet 99 times. We set out through northern Yunnan to the crags of Feilaisi, finding ourselves at a dizzying 4,000 meters above sea level and nauseously breathless, to stay overnight at a roadside pilgrimage site of sun-bleached chortens, wind-tattered prayer flags and a stunning view of Mingyong Glacier.
Wed, 02 May 2007 11:27:00 +0800 - Tom Carter | Photojournalist Specializing in China
Tom Carter of San Francisco is an internationally published freelance photographer and travel writer specializing in the People's Republic of China. Tom has traveled extensively throughout all 33 Chinese provinces and autonomous regions and currently resides in Beijing.
Tom Carter | Photojournalist Specializing in China
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Sat, 10 Mar 2007 22:35:00 +0800 - Shenyang Snowstorm Snapshots
From China photographer Tom Carter, recent snapshots of Northeast China, including Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces. Shenyang city, Liaoning province, March 4, 2007: Northeast China's worst blizzard in 56 years, bringing dangerously high winds, shutting down all transportation for 48 hours and several deaths from collapsed structures. Shenyang Snowstorm
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Mon, 05 Mar 2007 22:38:00 +0800
