Rowing on Lugu Lake, where the Mosuo martiarchs are in charge of everything in the family

Little Mosuo girls were Tibetan style outfits until they grow old enough to be entitled to wear the traditional Mosuo skirt and headdress

Magical Lugu Lake , beautiful by any standard, and here with the mist fairies dancing above the water, the mystery is as magical as it gets

Old and traditional, solid and misty Lugu Lake

Tibetan girls dancing a traditional Tibetan fold dance at Highland GaleRainbow

girl, rainbow girl

Carefree child of sun and rainCom

e out with m

e and dance in the rainI could lose m

yself in you, rainbow girl

Out in the evening Your dance is like a late sunbeam

As quickly gone as rain or sunAs ever-changing as a song

Ah Yuan, dancing a Tibetan dance at Solong Tibet

Thunder child, a ride too wild

I could not bear to be by your sideThick w

ith dust, your world is too w

ideDon't call m

e out, I'm safe inside

Out of the evening

You came just like a w

ild thingYou'll soon be gone like rain and sunAs ever-changing as a song

Jiancuo and Tashi dancing at our cook’s house warming partyRainbow

girl, rainbow girl

Carefree child of sun and rainCom

e out with m

e and dance in the rainI could lose m

yself in you, rainbow girl

I’d like to lure you outTo change m

y life, to touch my heart

You say you're busy elsewhere now

A rainbow does not linger long

Drolma dancing at the house warming, with EP dancing right behind her

Thunder child, a ride too wild

I could not bear to be by your sideThick w

ith dust, your world is too w

ideDon‘t call m

e out, I’m safe inside; You hoped to lure m

e outW

ith tales too frightening to think aboutYour w

orld is exciting, that I don't doubt; Your thunder is loud, I won't com

e out

Latsu, a Pumi tour guide in Mosuodress , singing a welcome song to

visitors at Solong Tibet Cafe

Rainbow girl, rainbow

girlCarefree child of sun and rainCom

e out with m

e and dance in the rainI could lose m

yself in you, rainbow girl

When the sun and rain are gone

I could not hold you very longYou danced aw

ay, away from

me

By tomorrow

, you are gone

A neighbor, playing his xuanzi (lap violin) at a dance gathering

Thunder child, a ride too wild

I could not bear to be by your sideThick w

ith dust, your world is too w

ideDon‘t call m

e out, I’m safe inside

After the night is goneYou w

ouldn't be here very longYour dance in your w

ay, I dance in mine

By tomorrow

evening, you'll be gone.

Naxi ladies dancing in the street

Tibetan ladies dancing in the street

Tibetan ladies dancing in a household courtyard

Tibetan ladies regularly get together to dance at each other’s homes

EP and her cousin having lunch outdoors in Tachengw

ith Archie’s family

EP and her cousin visiting her god-father’s daughter in Tacheng

Archie’s family living room

is less fancy

Archie in the woods, proclaim

ing eternal love

Nim

aTashiplaying a traditional song on the guzheng

Another Tibetan instrument, another Tibetan singer to an

adoring audience at SolongTibet

Another famous Tibetan singer gets a cerem

onial scarf at Highland Gale, w

hile monks and com

moners applaud

Butter tea, made the “real” way, by hand in a churn, outside Solong Tibet

In the mountains in the m

orningThere's a glow

around your head

Like a glimm

er of your former life

Valor, wielding dread

The mountain land of bandits

Breeds men hardy and astute

Here the air is clear, the land is richAnd lifestyles absolute

Tradition holds your heart, my dear,

Convention holds your headYour m

other's word is all you know

,W

here your father touched this landA fam

ily is a trophyYou present before the hearth

That warm

s the house your mother keeps, To feed her long-term

dreams

It takes great courage to keep traditions alive in a modern world

2. Once you w

andered off to seekYour fortune in a song

Fortune brought you many fights

And revelry all wrong

But fearsome though you are at night By day your m

ind is clearQ

uick wit has seen you to today

Through all that has appeared3. A fam

ily is the pounding O

f your bloodstream, day and night

A warm

th that calls you home w

hen drunk Or w

andering empty

roadsBefore, your pride w

as drinking wine And fighting, knife and chain

Your pride was clim

bing hillsidesShooting creatures in the rain

4. Your home is by the Jinsha

Jiang, the M

ekong River’s sourceYour heart is clearer than that stream

And strong as the river‘s forceYour pride w

as driving roads where m

ountains move and hillsides

slideM

ud falling from above to block your w

ay when m

ountains flood

5. But better the devil you know to keep the devil you don't aw

ayYour heart is w

arm though your eyes are cold; Your w

ords are here to stay.

The mountain land of banditsBreeds m

en hardy and astuteHere the air is clear, the land is rich

And lifestyles absolute

Tradition holds your heart, my dear, Convention holds your head

Your mother's w

ord is all you know, W

here your father touched this landA fam

ily is a trophyYou present before the hearth

hat warm

s the house your mother keeps, To feed her long-term

dreams

Haba Snow mountain

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

It’s good to be in holy places and to hang around holy people

Everyone loves a party

There were lots of parties at Highland Gale

Everyone loves to dress up Trees that tower to the sky,Graceful hiker, take care when by,Monkeys, bears or wild cats may be there,Hidden creatures to beware of,Trees aren't always all that they seem.

The town streets are quite in the night,But in dark corners, young boys will fight,After the excitement of the show,At the back door anger grows,Lovely streets aren't always all they seem.

The mountain trails outside have soaring distant views,But be careful walking when a strong wind blows,Travelers on the higher trails kick down the sand in dusty sails,These lovely mountains are not always all they seem.

The stream of crystal water rushes by,Reflecting grasses on the banks, clouds in the sky,Playful singing past the sandy rocks,Farther the rapids reach the boat locks,This stream is not always what it seems.

The singer's song is haunting to the ear,But I warn you, if he's drinking, please beware,Life seems peaceful but its surface beauty,Covers woes and poverty,Lovely things aren't always all they seem.

Still I sing of the beautiful and mildThe lovely things I knew when I was just a childI am grateful for those momentsNow so distant, visions of the pastMemories are always what they seem

It doesn’t take much to be a child again

The innocence of the child lives on in everyone we met

Regardless of costume (these two are monks in ceremonial robes, out to greet a leader

Monks come in every shape and color

When a tulku makes a ceremonial appearance it’s fun for everyone

Lama Rinpoche, hear what I saySelfish ego, take it all awayFree me from the things I thought I neededFree those truthless views and thoughts that grow up like weeds

Now from you I can see the mind unbornI can see this illusion dissolving itselfWith you, I see appearances for what they areWith you I see appearances as nothing else

You learn a lot just walking down the street with a tulku

Or even just standing around with a tulku

Any time you hang out with a wise man at little of it rubs off on you.

Friends getting together is what it’s all about

When you don’t have so many possessions to distract you, you value the people in your life more than anything.

Brothers, sometimes they see things the same way, sometimes not, but they always stick together

Best friends, sometimes they stay that way and sometimes not, but it’s always

fun along the way

1. The clouds sometimes can cover but never concealThe clouds sometimes can fool you but never denyThis blessing I send you remains like the skyThat the clouds sometimes cover but never deny.

You may look for me sometimes in the clouds in the skyYou may find me there, sometimes, as softly they lieYou will find me there, sometimes, as the wind rushes byYou will find me through your anger, in its roar, in its sigh.

2. For this blessing of mine will remain for all timeIt's a wish you can't run from or ever denyIt's a wish that will follow you where'er you flyYou can never avoid this night's blessing of mine.

3.As the sky fills with stars, may your heart fill with joyStars sedately out roaming like a wandering soulAs you wander through lifetimes that your dreams may destroyMay you always remember this time that we held.

As the moon reappears bringing light to this placeMay you think of your sister’s eternal embraceFrom her arms, warmth and comfort, understanding and peaceMay you bask in this light when the moon shows her face.

4. As the moon shines the brightest through the dark of the night May your mind be kept free of both anger and wineMay you always remember this time for alwaysMemory to stay with you for always and now.

Dances are short but the memory should be forever

Dancing together is like nothing else – or maybe it is like everything else.It brings joy to the dancer and whoever is watching.

It happens, then it’s done.It’s like a flower, to be loved while its time is here, and remembered when it’s gone.

Like youth itself, the dance is gone before you know it.

1. You just won't know till I have goneThe things that I have done,The things that I have done for you

to make for you happy.

2. You just won't thank me till that day You find me far away；Yes, I'll be very far away

before you finally say.

3. I was the one who fought your fightsFor you, laid sleepless at night；I was the one to make your home

To make your home feel right

5. Time will prove what I have doneTime will prove I was the one；The one to make you feel at homeTo make your heart a home for me.

Coming upon a wild orchid in the woods or in a field is exciting

When EP married a Tibetan, wild as the orchids in his field, he presented her with a bouquet of wild rhododendrons, abundant with color, splendid in their time

The marriage was consecrated before the villagers

And then, like many another local man, the husband went away to find another

The home and the fields were not to be for the wife but for the lover

The manly tradition of riding off into the sunset was

maintained in all its purity.The feeling's strong, the heart is falseIt changes by the moment.Imagination running wildNo honey comes from hornets.

Your hand was strong, it made me burnFoolish I was to believe you,Your smile seemed clear, it made me thinkThat I could start to be with you.

A moment's dream of comfort leadsto heartbreak and much worse,A moment's smile, a few stray wordsYears of friction only.Life together is impossible to doWhy should I be so foolish as to fall in love with

you?

The answer is to learn all that can be learned about the life that was lost

Honor with all your heart the friends who stopped to see you through the lesson

And dance, for love is like a dance, here for just as long as the dance is on, and when the dance is over, then love’s gone

No matter how beautiful the wedding dress, it’s only good for the wedding

Out on the grassland where the little flowers growYou've a different kind of smile when the wind begins to blowWhen the sun begins to burn but no one even caresWhen the horses come by nuzzling and the yaks stop to stare

Out on the grassland where the little flowers growWhere the river runs so clear and the stream runs by so slowWhere the picas sit and look at you until you come too closeAs the eagle keeps an eye out high, the distant deer browse

Out on the grassland where the little flowers growYou once sang to me a song that I could never get to knowIn the rain I rode the horse that packed your soggy camping bedAnd you showed me how to sidle close to catch him by the head

You were my buddy in the rain and when the sun comes out againYou were my buddy in the new snow way too bright, your face aglowYou were my buddy by the tent fire at the closing of the dayThere's no boundary at the fence wire, there's no work that isn't play

•Out on the grassland where the little flowers growWith a song on the wind filled with ice and cutting snowWhere the day ends with a hot tea, where the tent fire's always warmAnd a log on the ground is the stoop that keeps out harm

•On the grass in early morning when the sun is still hung lowAnd it's wet out by the stream where the little flowers growAnd the curious crowd of cattle come by, crowding to look inJust to see who's come to sit out on the hillside by the stream

•Out on the grassland where the little flowers growYou lay back on the lichens when the rain began to flowAnd you wouldn't get up till I came by and sat by your sideAnd told you once again how many beers we'd had that night

You were my buddy in the rain and when the sun comes out againYou were my buddy in the new snow way too bright, your face aglowYou were my buddy by the tent fire at the closing of the dayThere's no boundary at the fence wire, there's no work that isn't play

Out on the grassland chasing foxes there one dayWe ran till we were exhausted, fell down watching fox cubs playThere the hillside was so slippery we came sliding back to campLeaving mud slides on the hillside as the distant thunder clapped

Out on the grassland you once took me to a placeWhere the mountain spirits gather and we marked that special spaceLeaving gifts of little flowers and a pile of little stonesLeaving there a set of sheep horns on a great big head boneThat sheep head's still there staring at the sky, and at the rain.

When I next come by to see you we'll go visit there againAnd we'll sit on the slope where the rivulets start to flowTalking long in the rain storm where the little flowers grow

You were my buddy in the rain and when the sun comes out againYou were my buddy in the new snow way too bright, your face aglowYou were my buddy by the tent fire at the closing of the dayThere's no boundary at the fence wire, there's no work that isn't play

There were three Khampas, came to the doorAnd downstairs ran the lady - OOne sang high and the other sang lowAnd the other sang "Come out to the woods with me"

Then she folded up her silk finished gown And pulled on boots of leather - OAnd to the cheers of the horses at the gateShe ran off with those rugged ragged Khampas - O

It was late last night when my boy came homeInquiring of his lady - OThe neighbors said on every side"She's gone with rugged ragged Khampas - O"

"O saddle me up my milk-white steedBring out the dapple pony - OI must go outside to retrieve my brideWho has gone with the rugged ragged Khampas O"

So he rode high and he rode lowHe rode through woods and valleys tooUntil he came to a wide open fieldWhere he found those three Khampas with his lady - O

"What makes you leave your house and your land?What makes you leave your money - O?What makes you leave your own familyTo be off with the rugged ragged Khampas - O?"

"What care I for my house or my land!What care I for my money - O!What care I for my own family!For I'm off with the rugged ragged Khampas - O!"

The faces of three honest heartbreakers

And the ladies who know how to deal with them