Summer nights on the Sankoh prairie in Gannan

Repairing houses

Women on the prairie are shy, and hide behind one another or laugh in whispersbefore strangers. Zhou talks off and on about her former life in the Tibetan language. Life was hard then — there was always work to do. Dead and wounded flocks and herds were everywhere when the mountains were blocked by heavy snow and there were frequent food shortages.

Time tells. It has nothing to do with national or cultural differences. Everyone feels the changes in the world in his own way. The things you cried about will be recalled with a laugh someday.

"Living in the tent, we butcher a cow and can live on it for months. There is too much butter, and now we can just sell it for money," Zhou complained with a smile.

Tsering, her grandson, pouted incredulously. As a matter of fact, women turning the prayer wheels in front of the Buddhist hall often recall the good old days , but no one would like to go back. They wait for their children to come home from school and cook for them. The rest of the time, they chat and laugh and stroll down the street, listening to young boys signing folk songs or chatting with the old Hui people who sell pancakes. The flocks and herds are all sold; the pastures have been leased and the hard life is gone. Zhou reflected on the past.

"Thirty years ago when I looked for the lost flocks and herds in the snow-covered mountains, I never thought that I could live such a happy life," she said.

Praying for blessings