Photo Essays | Society | East Asia
Tibet in Sichuan
Traveling the Tibetan plateau in Sichuan Province.
Elderly Tibetan man, Regiaxiang, Baiyu County
Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibetan Praying Wheel in Rangpang
Credit: Miguel Cano
Young Tibetan Monk at the top of a mountain in Rangtang County
Credit: Miguel Cano
Woman washing her clothes on the Se Qu River
Credit: Miguel Cano
Sunrise in Zamtang
Credit: Miguel Cano
Temple in Dhunkar Gonpa, Sertar County
Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibetan women at a temple in Nikexiang
Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibetan child attending a traditional prayer and dance ceremony, Sertar County
Credit: Miguel Cano
Elderly Tibetan drinking butter tea
Credit: Miguel Cano
Monks working on a Mandala in Dege
Credit: Miguel Cano
Om mani padme hum — a Tibetan mantra carved on the rock of a mountain
Credit: Miguel Cano
A temple in Baiyu County at an altitude of 6,000 meters
Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibetan houses
Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibetan woman, Hepoxian, Baiyu County
Credit: Miguel Cano
A Sky Burial about to start in Litang
Credit: Miguel CanoIndependent journalist Miguel Cano recently spent a month walking in the most remote, ethnically Tibetan areas of the Tibetan plateau in Sichuan Province, sleeping in monasteries, and talking to locals, monks, Tibetan activists and Chinese (Han) citizens and officials.
Although foreign visitors can ostensibly travel freely within Tibet, in reality Cano was regularly detained by Chinese police, sometimes for several hours while an English-speaking officer was fetched to ask basic questions and impress upon him their concern for his welfare.
Yet despite the heavy official presence, Cano still found much to remind the visitor of the region’s Tibetan history.