Preserving precious heritage

[Photo by Wang Kaihao/China Daily]

From using traditional construction methods to bringing restoration experts, all efforts are being made to protect Tibetan Buddhist culture. Wang Kaihao reports in Lhasa and Shannan.

On the northern bank of the Yarlung Tsangpo River is the Samye Monastery. Boasting a 1,300-year history, this monastery in Shannan, in the southern part of the Tibet autonomous region, is the earliest Buddhist monastery in Tibet.

One morning in late July, about 200 local people chant folk songs, dance in unison and simultaneously plaster the floors of the monastery using a mixture of pebbles, mud and water to pave the floor and the roof of the structure, as part of an event called da a ga.

The work will go on for at least 10 days.