In Southwest China lies Kangba, a beautiful and mysterious land. Endowed with breathtaking natural scenery, such as towering snow mountains, roaring torrents, and a rich Tibetan culture, Kangba is an ideal place for visitors from home and abroad.

Due to its special ethnic culture and unique geological environment, Kangba boasts a great many ethnic festivals, including Tibetan New Year, Zhuangshan (circling the mountain) Fair, and Butter Flower Fair, all of which are enjoyed immensely by Tibetans. Among these festivals, the annual Horse Racing Fair in Litang County is the most popular.

Located in Kangba's hinterland, Litang County is a key station along the highway connecting China's southwestern parts of Sichuan Province and Tibet Autonomous Region. Litang's grassland is an important plot of pastureland in the area. When summer comes, the whole grassland is carpeted with green grass and various blooming flowers. This is where the annual horse racing fair is held.

A Spectacular City of Tents



At the end of July, people begin to set up tents on the nearby Maoyaba grassland and move their daily necessities inside. Within a short time, the whole grassland is dotted with hundreds of white tents, looking like a moving city of tents. The black side ropes and connecting ropes of the white tents greatly resemble the eaves and pillars used in common buildings. In the past, Tibetans used yak ropes to weave tents, which were rough but dirt-proof, and which have long been discarded. The white ones, which goes well with the color of snow mountains and Tibetan Hada (long strips of cloth, usually white), looks much more splendid and imposing. At dawn or dusk, wisps of smoke can be seen spiraling from the tents, adding a touch of humanistic connotation.

During daytime, the grassland becomes a sea of people, as all the people go out of the tents to set up the cooking stoves with stones. They put chopped wood into the stoves to kindle a fire, and use a blast blower (made from sheepskin with an air-blast nozzle shaped like a sheep's head) to blow the fire.

An ocean of horses and horse racers

In Tibetan language, Litang is called "Le Tong," meaning mirror-like grassland. Boasting a vast expanse of fertile grassland, Litang is also called the "home of horsemanship."

The horse racing formally begins on August 1. As a rule, all the horses and racers are tend to be very excited well before the beginning of the horse race. Infallibly, the most richly dressed are mostly the horse racing champions, who all wear white hats, colorful Tibetan robes, and red-and-black striped Tibetan boots. Some hats are decorated with a red ribbon, and most of the racers carry a red ribbon over their shoulders, and wear several colorful ribbons around the waist. The horses are also richly decorated, with red tassels, a colorful saddle, and copper bells over the body; every one of the horses has a card attached to the head. As the racers, together with their horses, move to the starting line, the race will begin within minutes.

At the start of the race, all the horses gallop ahead with full steam. Maoyaba Grassland becomes a boiling ocean, with the audience's exciting cries and laughter. Every horse racer, lifting one hand to beat the horse's buttocks with a whip, looks extremely excited and in high concentration. Many of the racers carry yellow striped flags, except for the flag carrier who carries a red flag and races in the middle among the other racers. Sometimes, the racers move very little in relation to each other, with the horses close to one another, which is a really breathtaking scene.

Those incompetent in horsemanship are likely to fall off their horse and be treaded like mud. However, the Tibetans are a valiant group. Every one of them holds close to the saddle, while the horse, in return, never fails the owner. Like a strong wind scattering wisps of clouds, the two quickly rush forward in unison.

Carnival Atmosphere

The horse racing fair is also an exhibition of Tibetan clothes, with all those attending dressed in their most precious attire.

Apart from the horse racing fair, local Tibetan plays are also performed at the same time, together with other activities such as sports competition and trading. Since Kangba is also known as the home of songs and dances, song and dance performances are indispensable during the fair.

"Xuanzi", a unique Tibetan song and dance form, is a must program where all the dancers, male and female, are each dressed in a long-sleeved shirt. Led by several men, each of whom plays a huqin (two-stringed bowed instrument), all the dancers then stand in the shape of a circle and dance to the rhythms of the tunes, which can be loud and sonorous or soft and smooth.

When night comes, various lights inside the tents are lighted. Rays of light, piercing through the tents, shine brightly in the dark, like the twinkling stars in the sky. The young people, in pairs, walk casually on the grassland, pouring out their mutual affection. Their melodious love songs, with bursts of hearty laughter, keep reverberating over the grassland for a long time.

Source: Chinaculture.org
Author: Jessie