Photo Essays

Tibet in Sichuan

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Tibet in Sichuan

Traveling the Tibetan plateau in Sichuan Province.

Tibet in Sichuan

Elderly Tibetan man, Regiaxiang, Baiyu County

Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibet in Sichuan

Tibetan Praying Wheel in Rangpang

Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibet in Sichuan

Young Tibetan Monk at the top of a mountain in Rangtang County

Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibet in Sichuan

Woman washing her clothes on the Se Qu River

Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibet in Sichuan

Sunrise in Zamtang

Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibet in Sichuan

Temple in Dhunkar Gonpa, Sertar County

Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibet in Sichuan

Tibetan women at a temple in Nikexiang

Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibet in Sichuan

Tibetan child attending a traditional prayer and dance ceremony, Sertar County

Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibet in Sichuan

Elderly Tibetan drinking butter tea

Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibet in Sichuan

Monks working on a Mandala in Dege

Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibet in Sichuan

Om mani padme hum — a Tibetan mantra carved on the rock of a mountain

Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibet in Sichuan

A temple in Baiyu County at an altitude of 6,000 meters

Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibet in Sichuan

Tibetan houses

Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibet in Sichuan

Tibetan woman, Hepoxian, Baiyu County

Credit: Miguel Cano
Tibet in Sichuan

A Sky Burial about to start in Litang

Credit: Miguel Cano

Independent 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.