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Insight Asia

Asian Corridor in Heaven

< The Salt in Yanjing, The Crystal by Woman >

Yanjing in Eastern Tibet

This is Yanjing in Eastern Tibet.

Lining the steep banks of the river are

structures that are reminiscent of rice terraces.

People are bustling about.

What are they doing here?

The white powder that this woman is collecting is salt.

These are salt pans.

It's amazing to find them here,

thousands of kilometers

from the sea.

Three villages in the Lancang River Valley possess salt pans.

Upper and Lower Yanjing are located on the eastern side of the river,

and the village of Jiada is located on the western side.

So how is it possible to make salt so deep in the mountains?

The secret is in these tower-like wells.

Salty water gushes from them.

These towers were built around the wells

to keep water from the flooding river from getting into them.

In all, there are 10 saltwater wells in Lower Yanjing.

The name of this place, Yanjing,

means salt well in Chinese.

When the water level gets low,

the women must climb 10 meters down into

the narrow wells using a steep ladder.

When a bucket is filled with saltwater,

it weighs no less than 35 kilograms.

They're even heavy to the men.

The Naxi women of Lower Yanjing

climb this steep and precarious path

with their burdensome buckets some 3 to 400 times a day.

Across the river is Jiada, a Tibetan village.

There are approximately 500 more salt pans here than in Lower

Yanjing, totalling around 1,700 in all.

Because the salt from Jiada has a red hue, it is called red salt.

The red colour comes from the red clay in the salt pans here.

The water drawn from the communal wells here is

not taken directly to the salt pans.

First, it is stored in private ponds for

about 3 days to allow the impurities to settle to the bottom

and raise the concentration of the salt.

The saltwater here gushes

from crevices in the rocks like springs.

There are dozens of saltwater springs here.

The people of Jiada call these springs a gift from the gods.

But these gifts

bring suffering and anguish to the women here.

Each bucket holds at least 10 kilograms of water, and we carry two of them.

We carry them back and forth anywhere

from 50 to 100 times a day.

The more water you collect, the more concentrated the saltwater,

resulting in higher quality and more expensive salt.

We've been doing this

for generations now,

and I'm sure the tradition will be passed down to our daughters.

When the water is put into the salt pans, it is poured into a large wicker basket

so as not to dent the surface of the salt pan.

These people have been making salt

this way for a thousand years.

They are making it using the most primitive method in the world.

The women of Yanjing call

salt the gift of the wind and sun.

But it can only be made with

their sweat and tears.

Salt is also made underneath the salt pans

in the form of stalactites.

It is the most highly prized salt in the region.

From April to June are

the best months to make salt.

On a good day, Jashiyongjong, who has 16 salt pans,

can get as much as 50 kilograms of salt.

The women of Yanjing are charged with the extra burden of

having to support their families.

22-year-old Jashiyongjong,

who became the sole breadwinner of her family

when her father passed away, has been making salt for over 10 years now.

I've been doing this since I was 12 years old.

My mother's legs are weak,

I've had to do this from a young age.

My brother doesn't do this kind of work.

This is because we have a custom that forbids men from doing it.

During these three months, the salt pans of Lower Yanjing are hectic.

This is because salt can be harvested

three times a day from one salt pan.

The white salt that is harvested first

is called Dohwayeom, or peach blossom salt.

The second and third harvests

are simply called the second and third batches.

Of the three types of salt collected

in Lower Yanjing,

the white salt is called Dohwayeom, or peach blossom salt.

It is of the highest quality and is eaten by people.

The second batch can be eaten and is also traded,

but it is mostly fed to livestock nowadays.

In the past, we used to feed the third batch to our livestock,

but we don't do that anymore.

Nowadays, the sandy-coloured third salt

is put back in their private ponds

to raise the salinity of the water.

The Yanjing region is the only salt-producing area

out of the nearby regions of Eastern Tibet,

Northern Yunnan, and Western Sichuan.

Approximately 500 tons of salt are produced

in the region's 2,700 salt pans each year.

So how did saltwater get way up in the Tibetan mountains?

Tibet, which was once under the ocean, rose up during a

massive geological upheaval tens of millions of years ago.

The seawater that came with it

became an underwater lake

which is accessible from the wells here.

But the people of Yanjing have another legend regarding

how their precious salt came to be.

On the way to Lhasa, Tameong Xueshan,

the daughter of Meili Xueshan, stayed in Yanjing.

Seeing the sick and poor people of Yanjing,

she gave them a gold and a silver chicken.

As the river rose, the gold rooster on the Jiada side walked around,

and its tracks became saltwater wells.

That's why the wells are scattered all over Jiada, both high and low.

But the silver hen nesting in Lower Yanjing could not move around much

because she was protecting her eggs.

That's why there are only a few wells in the lower part of Lower Yanjing.

Many wars were waged over the past thousand years for control of Yanjing,

so the people here have been

enslaved throughout history.

It was only 20 years ago that they were able to own

their own salt pans thanks to reformations in China.

Jashiyongjong is fixing her salt pans.

All of the people working with her are women.

There are no men around to help even when the women perform

the difficult task of moving earth and stone.

Do the women here have any complaints about the men not helping make salt?

It's our traditional custom that men can't work with the salt.

It's our responsibility to transport

the water and collect the salt.

The men only help when we're stacking rocks

or moving gravel.

The women do all the work with the salt and the housework,

and the men go up into the mountains to gather firewood and conduct other business.

We have no complaints because they also lead difficult lives.

Jashiyongjong is an unwed mother.

She and her fiance have a child,

but they have not been able to wed yet due to their poor financial circumstances.

Although Jashiyongjong lives with her mother and younger

brother, it is she who is charged with supporting the family.

Today, she is working in the barley field.

She is rebuilding the embankments in the field.

Her brother has gone to gather firewood.

Jashiyongjong's life as well as

the lives of the other women here are full of hardship and turmoil.

Oh Lancang River! I wish you would flow again.

When the river flows, one cannot meet it again.

The flowing water of the river will never return.

The village of Ggeora in Tibet

The village of Ggeora is surrounded by 7 mountains which are over 6,000 meters high.

It is a remote place that hasn't been visited by anyone

since the People's Liberation Army passed through in 1950.

The herders here use something to lure their yaks

and goats when it's time to milk them in the morning.

What is it?

It's red salt from Yanjing.

Animals require much more salt than people.

This is why salt is an indispensable item

for the nomadic peoples of this region.

Yaks must eat red salt from Jiada.

The salt produced in

Qinghai or by the Han people

is not as good as this salt.

You cannot replace Jiada salt with something else.

If they eat another kind of salt, our yaks will not grow fat

or give birth very easily, and they will become ill.

That's why we've used salt from Jiada throughout the generations.

Butter is made from yak's milk.

Some of it is first offered to the gods,

and the rest is shapedf or bartering.

The men of the village

head out on a journey herd a hundred yaks.

They make this journey twice a year

to acquire salt and grain.

It is an arduous journey involving crossing many mountains that are over 5,000 meters high.

The rain has changed into hail.

This is Golaraka Mountain Pass, which is 5,000 meters above sea level.

There is no place to seek shelter here.

Although the sky is roaring with thunder and lightning,

it doesn't even faze this 10-year-old boy.

It's the next morning,

and it is the children who are given the task of

gathering the horses and yaks.

We usually go to Yanjing to

trade for red salt and barley.

I have two sons, but my younger son is smarter,

so I hope that he can support the 7 members of our family someday.

Some men have even brought 9-year-olds along.

They bring their sons along so they can learn

how the adults trade for salt and barley and handle the yaks.

Four days after leaving the village,

they finally arrive in Yanjing.

The herders trade their butter, which is wrapped in leather with red salt

During the bargaining process, the men of Yanjing

do not touch the salt themselves

This is because the salt has been made through the suffering of women.

In this exchange, the herders have purchased

3 months worth of salt.

I only trade with this house when I come to Yanjing.

My family has traded with them for generations.

The others all have homes that they regularly trade with.

I've traded 650 kilograms of salt

and 4,000 kilograms of grain.

I'm going to come back here next year.

The streets of Yanjing are bustling with people who have come here to trade for salt.

The dohwayeom, or peach blossom salt of Lower Yanjing, sells for 100 Yuan

or $12.50 per 50 kilograms,

while the red salt of Jiada sells for 40 Yuan, or $5 per 50 kilograms.

The herders of Ggeora come here only twice a year,

and they purchase everything they need,

including their shoes and fabric for their clothes.

Thanks to salt, Yanjing

has served as a center of trade

here in Eastern Tibet since ancient times.

It's the end of July, and the rainy season has begun.

Rain spells rest for the women of Yanjing.

But the rising river

portends yet another hardship for them.

The rainy season is over,

and Jashiyongjong's salt pans are in ruins.

3 of my salt pans and my pond are ruined.

It'll take about a month to rebuild them.

I'm going to start rebuilding with the help of my relatives.

Other people began collecting salt a month ago

and have sold so much.

The women in Lower Yanjing begin working

again about two weeks later than the woman in Jiada.

When they open the well which they had closed for the 2 months of the rainy season,

they find that it is full of salty water.

The Naxi women of Lower Yanjing

begin transporting water again.

Jashiyongjong has begun rebuilding.

First, she digs up the red earth with which she will pave her salt pans.

She rebuilds the pond with the help of the other villagers

and repaves her salt pans.

Although this is an annual occurrence,

the damage is especially severe this year, and she has even more to do than before.

Jashiyongjong's salt pans and water pond retain

their original shape after a week of work.

Jashiyongjong also regains her smile.

Without the help of the others,

it would have taken her over a month to rebuild her salt pans and pond.

It's the first harvest since she rebuilding took place.

Since it is early in the season, the quality of the salt is not good.

Although the harvest has come late

for Jashiyongjong, this salt is especially precious to her.

Jashiyongjong's brother, uncle, and fiance

load salt on the horses and start their journey.

While it is the women's duty to produce the salt,

it is the men's duty to trade it.

These men are going on this journey

in order to get more grain for their salt

than they would locally.

It we journey for 11 or 12 days,

we can trade for even more grain than

we would be able to get in Yanjing.

We can trade 6 horse loads worth of salt

for 8 or 9 horse loads worth of grain

Also, we can let our horses graze during the journey,

so we save on horse feed.

It takes two weeks to get to Cawarong,

a land which is rich in grains.

Although they make the journey each year

the men always find it difficult to cross the Mudarlaka Mountain Pass,

which is 5,000 meters above sea level.

They finally arrive in Wabu, Cawarong.

Although they go from house to house, they are not successful in bargaining.

It is not easy to trade salt.

Finally the bargaining is over.

Although the deal is not completely satisfactory,

the terms are much better than they would have been in Yanjing.

They are able to trade their salt for

even more grain.

We came all the way here because we

thought we could get a better deal here.

In Yanjing, they usually trade 10 parts salt for 10 parts barley.

But here in this village, it is customary to trade 10 parts salt for 13 parts grain.

Today, we managed 10 parts salt for 12 parts grain.

It's winter, and the Tibetan New Year has just passed.

Jashiyongjong's house is bustling with activity.

This is because of her wedding.

Weddings are held over a period of 3 days in Tibet.

Today is the first day, and an all-night festival is being held.

Jashiyongjong busily greets guests.

It's the day before her wedding,

and she collects the salt stalactites beneath her salt pans.

They will be used as an offering at the New Year's

ceremony at Jokang Temple

Jokang Temple is located at the summit of

a mountain 3500 meters above sea level.

Jashiyongjong makes salt offerings,

praying for the well-being of her family

and an abundant salt harvest.

On the day of the wedding,

her relatives dress up in traditional attire and head somewhere.

They have gone to fetch the groom.

In contrast to the cheerful mood in the bride's home,

the groom's home is full of wailing and tears.

What is the reason for this?

This is because with the marriage,

the groom, Jashichuri, will become a member of the bride's family.

He will go to live with his bride's family

and bring them a dowry.

The groom's face is covered on the way to

the bride's house.

He arrives at her house.

But Jashiyongjong, who has not even made herself up,

does not even look at her groom's face, keeping with traditional customs.

This is the final part of the wedding.

The event comes to a close after it has been revealed that the groom, Jashichuri,

has come to the bride's house with a dowry consisting of

a patch of farmland and a mule.

Although Jashiyongjong works throughout the day of the wedding,

she is still happy.

Before, I was the only person who worked in my home,

but now there are two of us.

My life will surely improve starting today.

I'll be better off financially and much happier. This is what I hope for from this marriage.

But I will have to continue making salt.

Spring returns to Yanjing,

and the women get back to their daily toils.

But if a power plant is built on the Lancang River,

as has been rumoured for years,

the salt pans here may become submerged underwater.

This will no doubt add

to the agonies of the women of Yanjing.

They are worried that their

salt pans may disappear.

In the future, will we still be able to see

women singing their songs and working in the salt pans

here as they have done for a thousand years?

All the gold and silver chickens have left in Yanjing is salt.

Let me make a wish.

Let me never have to carry heavy buckets of water again.