NPR is getting ready to do a series of broadcasts from China. Melissa block is in Chengdu in prep for the series and is keeping an interesting journal. Chengdu is the nearest major city to where we work and one of the central staging points for folks working in or visiting Tibetan areas. I've placed links to some of NPR's previous China series and the Chengdu Blog to your left.
I'm currently reading The Big Open by Rick Ridgeway. It's an account of a team of climbers that pull 250-pound rickshaws across a portion of the Chang Tang nature reserve to help protect the chiru (Tibetan antelope). This area is just a tad to the west of where we are also working to protect this endangered species. The fur of the chiru makes some of the finest, warmest, and most expensive scarves and shawls in the world. However, each one costs the lives of 3 to 5 antelopes and drives a dangerous and illegal poaching industry on the Tibetan Plateau. The book is good, and so is the film Mountain Patrol that covers the Kekexili area right between the Chang Tang and the San Jiang Yuan (where we work). NPR also has a page with several videos, interviews, and stories on the chiru and other aspects of Chang Tang.
