The Tibetan Mastiff

You might have heard much about Tibetan Mastiff, many of which could be sheer exaggeration. But the popularity of Tibetan Mastiff at the global level cannot be denied. To check this, all you need to do is just to type the keyword “Tibetan” in the search engine (specifically on Google), and by default you will see the world “Mastiff” pops up.

The Tibetan Mastiff, called Doh-kyi in Tibetan, is an ancient breed and a type of domestic dog originating from the nomadic cultures of Tibet and several other countries of Central Asia.

Doh-kyi literally means “dog which may be tied”, is generally understood as “the dog that guard the door”. Just as the name reflects, this enormous breed of dogs is usually performs the important role of a guardian of Tibetan households, especially in the nomadic areas. Tibetan Mastiffs are well known for their physical strength and loyalty to the owner.

Experts in the field point out that currently there are two different types of Tibetan Mastiff, the Doh-kyi and Tsang-kyi. While we have learnt bit about Doh-kyi in previous lines, Tsang-kyi in Tibetan means “dog from Tsang”. A Tsang-kyi is generally described as taller, heavier, and more heavily boned.

Tibetan Mastiff is considered a rare primitive breed. It has the ability to retain the strength and hardiness which would be required for it to survive in the extreme conditions in Tibet and the high-altitude Himalayan range. With its enormous size, it is able to confront deadly predators such as wolf. The dog is very sensitive to the sound at night and keep son barking if it heard any irregular noise. They often sleep during the day to remain more vigilant during the night.

With life expectancy of about ten to fourteen years and strong power of resistance of many of common diseases among dogs, Tibetan Mastiffs are genetically proved to be superior than most of the other dog breeds.

While all the breeds of dogs are proved to be genetically diverged from the wolf, some of the studies have shown that Tibetan Mastiffs diverged from the wolf many thousands of years before the common breed of dogs.

Tibetan Mastiff used to be a very popular in England in the beginning of 20^th century before it was eclipsed by the World Wars and other crisis. However, the enormous dog recaptured the attention of the world in 1980s.

In the past few years there were escalating hypes in the international platform surrounding the Tibetan Mastiff, especially in China where wealthy individual spending millions went viral all over China. Many observers believe that this is trend is occurred mainly because of the strong promotional strategies used by breeders to amass fortune for themselves.

These days, lots of Chinese travelers specially visit the Tibetan Mastiff breeding centre as a part of their Tibet tour.

Written by Tashi Namgyal
Explore Tibet Blog Writter

Story Behind the Mt.Kailash and Tibet Kailash Tours in 2014

Mt.Kailash is the centre of the universe - or at least the Tibetan Buddhism universe. In the Tibetan worldview, at the cosmic axis of the universe lies Mount Meru, the abode of the gods. Mt.Kailash is thought to be an earthly manifestation of the mythical Meru. Things are not as simple as this, however, as the Tibetan worldview incorporates existence in multiple dimensions. The Tibetan name for Mt.Kailash is "Kang Rinpoche" གངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ། - Precious Jewel of Snows: the dome-shaped peak is symmetical like an uncut diamond, with permanent cap of ice and snow.
Mt.Kailash is not only a sacred peak to Tibetan Buddhism, but also to Bon (ancestral religion of Tibet before Buddhism came into Tibet from India), Hindus and Jains in India.
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Kailash assumed mythical dimensions among Western geographers and explorers. For a long time there was reputed to be a high mountain that was the source of major rivers in India.
Gradually, this region and become a popular among the travelers for its moon-like landscapes and mystical stories. specially, year of 2014 is horse year and it is a special year for Mt.Kailash pilgrimage, so estimated there will be thousands of pilgrims attending the Saga Dawa ritual ceremony at Darboche.
Explore Tibet offers both private and join in Kailash tours to meet best requirement of worldwide travelers and pilgrims.

Tibet Train Journeys- Highest Railway in the World

Qinghai-Tibet Train Passing Through the Thangula Range 

Tibet train journey is growing its popularity among the travelers since from its completion, there is no doubt the Qinghai-Tibet train line is an engineering marvel. The train to Tibet capital Lhasa is available from most of the major cities in Mainland China like Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Lanzhou, Xining and Xian, but the shortest ride is from Xining as it takes only about 24hrs.
This is the world highest railway as it cross over the mighty Thangula ranges at a height of 5,072m and cut through northern Tibetan nomad grassland, the train journey provides great views of Tibet remote natural sceneries and stunning plateau landscapes.
Aside from its benefits lots of people concerning its environmental issues and others, so WHAT YOU THINK? Share you thoughts!

Tibetan people’s tryst with Buddhism Practices

Monks at Ganden monastery during the Ganden Thangka Show Ceremony in 2013

Many of the intellectuals and experts on Tibet believe that Tibet is inarguably the singular nation where the Buddhism had the most profound influence for over a couple of millennia—be it with people’s faith or the culture. Buddhism thus dominated almost every part of Tibetans’ life. The message of peace and compassion are passed down to Tibetans from generation to generation.

Popularly known as the roof of the world, Tibet remained a mysterious land till about mid-20^th century. It got the title of Forbidden Kingdom in the west for the difficulties in accessing the landlocked kingdom.  And then there were extraordinary tales of adventure and discoveries experienced by early travelers from west through their encounter with a hugely different society—the most common remarks being the indigenous people’s unwavering faith towards Buddhism. 

As to the genesis of the Buddhism in Tibet, though there were mythological interpretations of the encounter with the religion right from the reign of first king of Tibet, Nyatri Tsenpo. But the most of the reliable historical accounts tell us the actual encounter and the subsequent development of the Buddhism on the roof of the world took place during the time of Three Great Kings of Tibet, namely, Songtsen Gampo, Trisong Deutsen and Ralpachen. The approximate date range was from the beginning of seventh century to the end of eighth century.

The impact of the Buddhism has been immense over the centuries despite several great upheavals with it, for example, king Langdarma (838 to 841 CE), the last king of Tibet ordered the complete annihilation of the Buddhism from Tibet and went to great extend with his destructive campaigns before he was finally assassinated.

Despite all the historical disasters Tibet experienced in the subsequent periods, the root of Tibetan people’s faith towards Buddhism was well-preserved. Tibet experienced the similar version of King Langdarma’s destructive campaign in more modernised and intensified form during the eccentric Cultural Revolution that swept across Tibet. But in the end the holy Dharma resurrected and emerged victorious from the evil force to reinstall the inner peace to the generations of Tibetans.

It is the three jewels of Buddhism that tamed the minds of Tibetans who where otherwise once believed to be the most brave warriors in the Central Asia when the military might of the Tibetan empire was at its climax.  

Thanks to the great wisdom of Buddhism, irrespective of material development, Tibetan people today are one of the happiest races in the world.  Buddhism imparted the Tibetans with the great wisdom of attaining self-happiness by being kind to others.

There are lots of mystical wonders to discover on the Tibetan plateau and nothing can explain the mystery of Tibet than your own experience, so travel Tibet and experience its wonderful culture and amazing landscapes.

By Tashi Namgyal

From Explore Tibet

The Interpretation of Tibetan Smiles

Two things that strike travellers the most about Tibet are perhaps the very strong sunlight and very thin air on the plateau, and the smiling-nature of Tibetan people. While the former one has its own scientific explanation, the latter is a transparent reflection of the hearts of the pious Tibetans that harbours no hidden intentions. It is indeed interesting to look into the root of it.

A popular myth on the origins of Tibetan people tells us that they are the descendants of Pha Trelgen Changchup Sempa, the compassionate monkey-father, who is believed to be the incarnation of the Bodhisattva of compassion. So Tibetans are believed to be inherited with compassionate and warm-hearted nature. No wonder many of the early Western explorers described Tibetans as a race of ever-smiling and kind-hearted people.

Tibetans are perhaps a race where the spirituality has the greatest influence on their way of life or the culture. Buddhism had a profound impact over the thinking and the lifestyle of Tibetan people since it initially flourished on the roof of the world in seventh century. Buddhism today is interpreted as “a science of the mind” with very vast content by many of the contemporary scholars, but for ordinary Tibetans, the most important theme of their ancient religion is to be kind to other and refraining from doing evil things. So smiling is the simplest practice of it where the gesture brings joy to others, and at the same time keeps oneself in a pleasant mood.

While Tibetans are generally kind to each other amongst themselves, they are especially more benevolent towards people from outside. It has been the tradition of Tibetans for centuries to receive pilgrims warm-heartedly, and provide them food and shelter generously but expecting nothing in return. The broader implication of this today is the friendly attitude of Tibetans towards travellers from various parts of the world.

If there is one simple thing that every traveller can learn from Tibetans that will spread joys when they go back to their respective countries—it’s “Tibetan smile”.

Smile it like Tibetans and it is the ultimate goal of Explore Tibet to give you an authentic Tibetan Experiences.