Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 119 (Color Image)

0119	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

TO LAN-CHOW 85

all day. The lower hills were partly cultivated

and partly bare. At 11 miles the valley opens

out to a small plain. At 14 miles he reached

Changla, a quiet little walled town on a hill 200

feet high. The villages passed on the way were

partly Chinese and partly Tibetan. The latter

were always surrounded with poles carrying

flags.

The feast of lanterns was celebrated that even-

ing. The main street was lighted up with red

and white lanterns, and the procession of the

dragon commenced. It was formed of three

dragons followed by two lions, yaks, etc., and at

each house it went round the courtyard. After

this a long pole with crackers at the end was

lighted and the dragon danced beneath. Men

stripped to the waist took it in turns to hold the

head and dance wildly round amid the sparks.

Sometimes a short torch of crackers was fired

straight into the naked body of the dancer, and

it was a wonder the men escaped without having

their eyes put out. Meanwhile the body was

whirled wildly round And round, the tail being

separate and carried by a single man.

The following day Pereira made a long march

of 254 miles to Ta-shih-t'ou. Some Tibetan

villages with cultivation by them were met at

first. The going was good and the country open

and grassy. At 4 miles the river divided, one

branch coming in from the north. Pereira

followed up the branch coming from the north-

east. At Ka-mi-ssu there was a Tibetan temple

with a long oblong enclosed course, on the west

side of which was a covered portico with revolving

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