China News Agency, Shangri-La, February 20th: Tibetan "Generation Z" Tibetan New Year keywords: tolerance, inheritance and perseverance
China News Agency reporter Han Shuainan
"Tashi Dele", "Happy New Year", "Wish you prosperity"...The 20th is the Gutu night of the Tibetan New Year (similar to the New Year's Eve of the Lunar New Year). Tourists from home and abroad gather in Shangri-La, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Different languages bless each other and welcome the Tibetan New Year of the Water Rabbit together.
On that day, three "Generation Z" Tibetan youths spent their time in different ways, interpreting the Tibetan New Year in their eyes.
Openness and tolerance continued during the festival
Tourists dressed in Tibetan costumes, people of all ethnic groups singing and dancing, and a lively Guozhuang dance performance... Basang Qilin recorded the scene of people of all ethnic groups celebrating the Tibetan New Year together with the camera.
The 24-year-old Basang is a reporter from Shangri-La. "When I was young, Tibetan New Year was mostly celebrated by each family. With the improvement of living standards, the scale of celebrations in various places in Diqing became larger and the forms became more and more diverse."
Basang believes that, influenced by the ancient tea-horse road, Diqing has shown a background of tolerance and openness since ancient times.
Due to the frequent exchange of tea and horses, various ethnic groups have formed a tradition of mutual respect, appreciation, and learning, which is fully reflected in various festivals-people of Tibetan, Han, Lisu, Naxi and other ethnic groups living in Diqing will celebrate the Tibetan calendar together. New Year, Lunar New Year, Kuoshi Festival, Torch Festival, Horse Racing Festival and other festivals live in harmony and are like a family.
"What's interesting is that Tibetan people now wear Tibetan costumes and drink barley wine during the Lunar New Year. They also post Spring Festival couplets and eat dumplings during the Tibetan New Year," Basang said with a smile.
This year, Diqing Prefecture combined cultural tourism with Tibetan New Year celebrations, attracting tourists from all over China and even overseas.
"I hope that more and more people will like the Tibetan New Year and the open and inclusive Diqing," Basang said.
Inheritance and transmission in national culture
Around the Tibetan New Year, the Shangri-La Thangka Art Center located in the ancient city of Dukezong attracts many tourists.
Lu Rong, who was born in 1998, is busy - instructing tourists to draw Thangkas, explaining Thangka works, and answering tourists' questions about Tibetan culture.
"I received a French tourist this morning." Lu Rong said that although he can't speak foreign languages, he introduced the relevant culture of Tibetan New Year and Thangka to foreign tourists through mobile phone translation software.
Lurong said frankly that although he was born and raised in Shangri-La, he was not "cold" with the Tibetan culture around him when he was young.
Until he was away from home to study, the Tibetan songs he sang and the Tibetan literature he read filled his homesickness and made him realize the charm of Tibetan culture.
After graduating from university, Lu Rong decided to return to his hometown to learn Thangka drawing, and read a lot of Tibetan culture books while studying.
"After finishing my studies, I want to open a thangka studio to contribute to the inheritance and dissemination of Tibetan culture." This is his New Year's wish.
Perseverance in ancient teachings
Experience the Tibetan New Year and taste authentic Tibetan food. The original ecological Tibetan restaurant run by Tashi Peichu is very popular among tourists.
Tashi, who was born in 1995, has multiple identities - the "UP" owner who inherits the national culture, the owner of the Tibetan restaurant, and the architect.
He told reporters, "In some villages in Diqing, Tibetan New Year customs such as 'eating Gutu', carrying 'auspicious water', and 'simmering mulberry to pray for blessings' are still intact." A generation of Tibetan people have always adhered to the ancient teaching of protecting nature, planting land without chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and planting and collecting with an attitude of respect for all living beings.
Such persistence moved Tashi, and he hoped to pass on this authenticity to the diners.
When designing this Tibetan restaurant, he adopted a style that is both modern and traditional Tibetan, and the ingredients of the dishes are all organic ingredients produced locally.
"I hope that guests can use the restaurant as a window to understand the unique culture of Diqing." Tashi said.
Today, the increasingly accessible transportation in Diqing not only brings a large number of tourists, but also gives the local young generation the opportunity to go out and broaden their horizons.
"Young people abroad have wonderful collisions of different cultures, and in the process, they have a clearer understanding of their own national culture." Tashi, who had studied abroad, was deeply touched by this, "so more and more Young people are willing to spread national culture, and hope that they can become a window for the world to understand Diqing and China." (End)