T O N G R E N, Qinghai Province  

Tongren is a small town located in the eastern part of Qinghai, a province in western China just north of Tibet. The population consists mostly of Tibetans and Hui muslims, and one feels as if time has stood still during the last few hundreds of years. I visited Tongren first in December 2001, and lived there for about three weeks in September 2002 while helping with a needs assessment in Xipusha. (view map of Qinghai)

View from a "pingfang" rooftop (Tibetan-style house) over the
old Tibetan part of the city on the surrounding mountains

View of the temple area

These little tractors are the main medium for transporting anything, from families to whole tree trunks

Foreigners always attract much curiousity, particularly that of small kids, who will cry "hello, hello" as loud as they can!

A scene of daily life on the city's streets (not all of which are paved)

There we go again: "Hullo, hullo, hahahahaha!"

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