What is Ngari?

Ngari is the Buddhist site of Sakyamuni, as well as the temple of Siva, says Buddha.

Ngari is the abode of the God, as well as the center of the world, say believers.

Ngari is the summit of mountains and the cradle of rivers and lakes, as well as the top of the world, says geologists.

Ngari is the second Dunhuang of China, which is bearing the history and civilization of ancient Zhangzhung Kingdom, say archaeologists.

Ngari is the nearest place towards the blue sky and sun, say tourists.

Ngari is a plateau, which is the most far-flung and highest place on our planet, says Bi Shumin, a famous Chinese writer who has been in Ngari for 11 years, from 1969 to 1980.

Ngari is the amalgamation of ruin and brillance, full of epic nature and cultural landscapes, says Ba Huang, a female who once toured Ngari alone.

Ngari is such a place for all mentioned to be "the top of the sky and the source of the earth". She attracts thousands of Tibetologists, photographers, artists and tourist`s attention.

Wu Yusheng and his new team members (From left to right, Mr. Mo, Wu Yusheng, Mrs. Want), photo from China Tibet Information Center by Cathy, May 24.

Wu Yusheng led a four-member team with a new Cherokee automobile, and entered Ngari from Beijing via Xinjiang in 2002, the auspicious Year of the Horse. He stayed at an average altitude of 4,500 meters in Ngari to start a dialogue and struggle between humanity and nature for nearly four months.

In a small house in Beijing, when recalling his feat before five years had passed, Wu Yusheng was very excited to be awarded the international contribution gold award and the "Arts?Sciences?Letters" title by the French Institute of Art and Culture Educational Foundation in April, 2005.

During the four-month trip in Ngari, Mr. Wu had experienced and gained much. Due to the difficult environment and physical discomfort, his teammates gave up and went back to Beijing one by one. This 54 year old photographer picked up his camera, rented a Toyota and a Black Hawk helicopter to record the stories of Ngari. Mt. Kailash, a holy mountain, which is the World`s Center, by followers; Mapam Yumco Lake (Lake Manasarovar), the world's highest freshwater lake; Pangong Tso Lake, the paradise of birds; The ruins of Guge Kingdom, a place dusty with age-old mystery; Majestical and grand Zanda Earth Forest; Traditional and unique marriage folk customs, keeping up with modern life; Priceless and exquisite costumes coming down through generations.

What did inspire him? What did attract him?

Mr. Wu first entered Tibet's Ngari in 1983 through the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway. Shiquanhe, capital of Ngari at that time was just a very small village, with only about 10 households. People described the size of the village as so small that one electric light could light the whole city. His second time entering Ngari was in 1987. Due to his being busy at work, Wu couldn't record the beauty of Ngari with his camera. From then on, entering Ngari again became his biggest dream.

After a long 15 years, Mr. Wu realized his dream in 2002, the Year of the Horse in the Tibetan calendar.

People said Buddha Sakyamuni was born in the Year of the Horse. So, walking around Mt. Kailash in the Year of the Horse, one circle is equivalent to 13 circles in the common years. April 15th in the Tibetan calendar is the commemoration day of Sakyamuni’s birth, becoming Buddha and nirvana. The beneficence walking around Mt. Kailash on that day, is farther than usual. The Tibetan calendar April 15 was May 26 in the Gregorian calendar in 2002.

In May, Wu Yusheng led his director, cameraman, and driver with numerous auto parts, instant noodles, sausages, and pickles. Then he drove a new Cherokee from Beijing to Ngari via the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway.

The hardships of Ngari were unexpected. Compared with 1983, Shiquanhe had great changes, such as widening roads and a developing economy. But in 2002, people who hadn’t been to Ngari couldn’t image the degree of hardship compared with inland, especially Beijing. Vegetables were potatoes, onions, etc which were easy to transport and store. Live chicken was the only fresh meat because it could survive in this high elevation and extreme hypoxia circumstance, but the price was astounding. The lack of oxygen made people wake up at night. And most roads were exposed without asphalt. Also, the trip was very lonely, since there was only one person in every 5 square kilometers.

The 28-year-old cameraman, 30-year-old director, and the driver who had participated in tournaments moved back respectively in one and a half months. Wu Yusheng took charge of several posts of photography, and shot and produced photos and videos by himself.

In fact, in time, he could have stopped photographing. But he did not. A total of five vehicles were in the Zanda Earth Forest. Except he and another car from inland, the remaining three came from Germany and France. Germans told him that there were five foreign research teams studying Zanda Earth Forest. "In any case, I must record the grandeur and magnificence of Zanda," he thought after looking at the German cars leaving,.

Due to shoot from the four windows, he was unable to wear an oxygen mask in a Black Hawk helicopter, 7,000 meters above Mt. Kailash for three hours. He immediately fainted as soon as landing. He slept for a whole day in the guesthouse. Then, he woke up to continue. He did not give up at that time.

When the auto reached to a small channel in the altitude of 6,000 meters, he moved two big stones to pad for the tires and nearly lost his wind. Again he did not give up.

And when the spare tire was bad, he also did not give up.

He had been a serviceman. There was no word for "to give up" in the military dictionary. He insisted on proof with rich photos and video materials.

Now, he organizes a new team to rearrange and re-edit these materials. They plan to product a 10-episode documentary "The Mysterious Place in Tibet, China: Ngari" to show the beauty of Ngari's nature, religion, folk, and culture to all people who have been to Ngari or haven't been to Ngari from home and abroad.

"The essential of a documentary is that a life is accompanied with another life. Mr. Wu has used his life to accompany with the life of Ngari," said Mr. Mo, the new director of this documentary, was moved by the spirit of Wu Yusheng.

"Most people can't touch the mysterious of Ngari by themselves. So many ancient relics in Ngari are protected by the Tibetan people, with an unalterable belief that is still visual after hundreds of years. We should tell people about all of these," told Mrs. Wang, the writer of the documentary.

Next year, Wu Yusheng will be 60 years old. He plans to visit Lhasa, Xigaze, and Nyingchi, in particular to take the photos of Mount Qomolangma glaciers along the Himalayan Mountains. He expects to publish a book of "Glaciers in Western China" in his rest.

Let us wish this book and the 10-episode documentary "The Mysterious Place in Tibet, China: Ngari", to be published and issued soon.