Fan, Jiuhui. 2011. Strategy of Hiking in Medog. Business and luxury travel February: 57-59.
Because of its diversity of landscape and culture, Medog has become a destination where hiking lovers like to visit. However, the most wonderful landscapes are always full of dangerous, so does Medog. Therefore, Mr. Fan writes this article to provide a brief preview to hiking lovers who are planning to visit Medog. According to his introduction, Medog area lies under the Himalaya Mountains. It shapes like the letter “V” with two peaks (elevation of 4200 meter) to the southwest on the top, and with a village (elevation of 800 meter) to the northeast on the bottom. The best season to visit Medog is October. There are some dangerous animals including tigers, black bears and leopards living in the forests of Medog, so that you had better go with a party if you want to pass through the forests. Before departure, you had better bring enough food, medicine, sleeping bags, and raincoats because there is seldom store/tavern on the way to Medog. Besides, considering you may hike a long distance, you should bring enough different kinds of shoes as well. In addition, due to the poor transportation conditions, you should plan several routes before departure. You should watch out the debris flows on the way to Medog. The last hint pointed out by Mr. Fan is, you should make sure that you bring the all relevant ID/credentials with you.
Chen, Jianjun; Ji, Jianqing; Gong, Junfeng; Qing, Jianchun. 2008. Formation of the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, Tibet, China. Geological Bulletin of China 27 (4): 491-499.
This journal article pictures a gender canyon – Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon in Medog, Tibet area by analyzing its formation. Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon was the fate of Tibet’s Yarlung Zangbo River. It is the deepest and youngest canyon in the world. It is lying under the Mount Qomolangma, which is the highest mount in the world. In this article, the authors analyze the structural geomorphology of Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon such as the river altitude and morphologic prominence. In order to analyze it, they measure the river area, slope, age of samples of lacustrine deposits, and so on. The authors also analyze the dynamical geomorphology of Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon such as the historical earthquakes. The result of the research shows that, “the present- day Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon and the river courses in its upper reaches belonged to two different river systems before the formation of the Grand Canyon”. (498) Because of the head eroson, the Za Qu- Zhibai River captured the paleo- Yarlung Zangbo about 30 ka BP. As a result, the paleo - Yarlung Zangbo River joined the Parlung Zangbo. Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon then “came to being and eroded downward intensely, thus it formed the drainage structure of the present famous Grand Canyon and big bend” (498).
Mu, Xianyun. 2011. Medog: those fascinating and magical plants. Forest and Humankind April: 72-81.
In this magazine article, Mr. Mu describes his experience of exploring the plants in Medog with his expedition. Medog, Tibet, which is a small town located to the south of the piedmont of Himalayas, has a complex vegetation structure and obvious spectrum of plants vertical distribution. Medog has been called as a “Museum of Vegetation”. Medog is well-known as a world of tropical forests below the Mount Qomolangma. Mr. Mu uses his camera to take photographs of Medog plants. And he also tells us what those plants are, where he found those plants, why those plants are special, and why those plants grow in Medog by texts. He mainly introduces three species of plants to the readers: arethusa, Tibetan euonymus, and ficus semicordata. In this magazine article, he provides a brief direction to explore the Medog plants world as well. For those tourists who like to go hiking like Mr. Mu, this magazine article is a great source for them to prepare their hiking. Because vegetation of the destination is an important portion of landscape, I think it’s necessary for the tourists to get some knowledge of the special plants in the destination before setting out on a journey. What’s more, the photographs of the plants Mr. Mu took while hiking are also great sources to be applied to the tourism marketing.
Zhang, Lifeng. 2007. Permeation and fusion of the national culture in Medog area viewed from the comparison of folk literature. Journal of Tibet Nationalities Institute (Philosophy and Social Sciences) 28 (3): 67-73.
In this journal article, Ms. Zhang does research on the folk literature in Medog area. There are four ethic groups inhabiting in Medog: Monba, Luoba, Tibetan and Han. Ms. Zhang analyzes the folk literature in Medog by comparing it to the real living environment, traditional custom and aesthetic demand of Monba people and Luoba people, which are two majority group living in Medog. Luoba people brought hunting culture to Medog, and Monba people brought farming culture to Medog. She particularly notices the religious phenomenon and reproduction worship in Medog culture. She also finds that both Monba people and Luoba people like to sing ballads to express their affection. At last, culture hybrid happened. Besides, Ms. Zhang also recognizes the influences of Tibetan and Han culture to Monba and Luoba culture. Actually, these four kinds of culture influence each other and make further development in the past thousands years.
People/Humanistic culture is always one of the most important touring elements which we can never ignore while doing travel research. This journal article helps me to picture a draft of national culture in Medog. What’s more, I believe the introduction of the culture of Chinese ethic groups will raise tourists’ interest to Medog.
Fan, Jiuhui. 2011. Medog, lotus fairyland. Business and luxury travel February: 28-33.
Because of its secret legend, Medog is regarded as a holy land to make a pilgrimage by Tibetan Buddhists. Because lotus is known as a halidom of Buddhism, the Buddhists call Medog as a pure “lotus fairyland”. In Tibetan history, many palmers had heard the pure land of Medog and made a pilgrimage to Medog. The last pilgrimage was hold in the year 1906. However, most of the palmers didn’t reach Medog at last; most of them lost/died on the way to Medog. In a long time, for most Tibetan Buddhists, Medog – the pure lotus fairyland is just a spiritual exist. Today, the cars are driven to Medog, Medog is no longer a secret holy land for most people. The modernization has opened the door of Medog for people. However, some Tibetan Buddhists are worrying about that the modernization will make the Medog seem like other modern towns and lose its own appearance. According to them, the modernization of Tibet destroyed the purity of Buddhism. But on another hand, the modernization of Medog does help the Medog people to improve their living conditions. It seems like we all lose our way in the question of what Medog should look like.
Although religion is always a sensitive question and it can sometimes cause conflicting, I still decide to cite this article. Because I think it’s important to understand the religious culture of the destination.
Chen, Liming. 2006. The administration of the local Tibetan government in Medog and its southern regions. Tibetan Studies 2: 7-14.
In this article, Mr. Chen does research on the history of Luoba people and Monba people. Luoba and Monba are two minority ethnic groups of China. They live in Medog and its southern area in Tibet. In the historical China, these two minority ethnic groups were always under the jurisdiction and administration of the local Tibetan authority of China. In this article, Mr. Chen describes the secret legends of Medog in historical Buddhism literature in the introduction part. He then lists the migration history of Monba and Luoba. According to his research results, Monba people and Luoba people finally admitted the submission to Tibetan government on the year 1881 because of a series of conflicting. The Tibetan government did force effective domination in Medog. The Medog people paid taxes to the Tibetan government on time every year. At last, Mr. Chen discusses the political history of Medog under the Tibetan authority in the modern China.
I cite this article because I think the Medog history, especially the political history, is very important for the people who live in Medog. The politics is a powerful tool to influences environment, economics and culture. Therefore, it’s necessary to give a brief view of Medog history while doing Medog tourism research.
Anonymous. 2009. Tibet starts building highway to China’s last roadless county. BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific 20 April: 01
This news reports that China is building a highway to Medog, Nyingchi, Tibet, which is the last roadless county in China. Medog is a rural area lying under the steep mountains which cause the project to be tough. The project requires high technology and trained workers. China Railway forecasts that it will be finished in the year 2011, and Ngodrup Doje – the Medog’s county head is looking forward to it. I cite this short news because I think this news is especially important and meaningful for Medog. As we know, Medog used to be well-known as the “last roadless county in China”, so that it’s kind of secret to most tourists before. Today, by modernizing, we have already opened the door of this secret area. Definitely, the highway will lead the improvement of infrastructure. Without doubt, it will bring more tourism revenue to the local people. But at the same time, it may bring in the pollutions to Medog. In other words, historical roadless situation prevented our steps from getting close to Medog, but it also protected the amazing landscapes in Medog from pollution. It seems like everybody is concerning about Medog’s future. We are looking forward to the good change to Medog by the highway.