IN AND AROUND THE MOUNTAINS and gorges that surround Bingzhongluo, a town in the UNESCO Three Parallel Rivers Protected Areas in western China’s Yunnan province, a fog has set in. The fields outside town are fallow, with sporadic sections of yellow rapeseed that contrast brilliantly with the winter greys and browns around us. It’s the eve of Chinese New Year, and as we hike down into the valley, preparations for a week of celebrations are underway. Chickens are bled, pigs butchered, and farmers hang red and gold signs on their doors, offering blessings for the coming year.
Above us, snow-capped mountaintops break through the fog. Below, the Nu River, its waters made turquoise from silt flowing down from the Himalayas, roars. In Chinese, the name means ‘angry,’ after the river’s spring surge. It’s a name well earned.
My travel companion, photographer James Wasserman, and I are on our way to Qiunatong, a village 13 kilometres upriver. Qiunatong is home to some 200 people from the Nu ethnic group, almost all of whom are Catholic. It’s the last stop before Tibet and the starting point of our week-long journey in the Nu River Valley—one of China’s last frontiers.
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