Horse Races of Litang
Horse Races of Litang Each year across Tibet horse races festivals are held for young men to show off their talents in Speed and stunt riding and for others to meet up with old friends and family and enjoy the summer suns in a festive atmosphere . It’s the highlight of the year for the locals with the days following the races filled with dancing and singing. I had heard of the Grassland races a couple of years before and finally decided to make the journey there for what sounded like a great photo story opportunitySurrounded by grasslands and mountains at the breathtaking height of over 4000 metres the Tibetan town of Litang is one of the highest towns in the world, higher even than Lhasa the capital of Tibet which is a mere 3650 Meters Altitude!.Situated near the famous Tibet -Sichuan Northern highway the only way to reach Litang is by a 2 day bone shaking bus ride across mountain passes from Chengdhu capital of Sichuan province in China which is nothing less than an adventure in itself as the bus winds round blind bends on narrow roads. Being held up by an accident, road works or a landslide somewhere along the way is inevitable. On my trip there was at least 3 holds up due to accidents, a truck rolled over in the ditch on the side of the road, a head on smash from a driver rounding a bend on the wrong side of the road and one I couldn’t figure out but the truck was lying on its side in the middle of the road. From a selfish point of view There was a benefit in each incident for us in the bus as we could get out of the bus and stretch our legs buy a snack from food vendors that seemed to appear from nowhere!Arriving in the dusty town of Litang you realy feel you have arrived at a thibetan frontier town, the mainstream chinese tourists havn’t yet disegnated it as a tourist stop so there’s no luxury hotels groups of tourists following a leader with a flag and a megaphone, the standard in most tourist areas although in town there isn’t a great deal to see apar
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Photo credit: © Mike Stone / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: culture, festival, festivities, horse, litang, races, racing, sichuan, tibet, tibetan
