'Holy eagles' in Tibet Undisturbed by Railway Construction

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, October 26, 2002

'Holy eagles' in Tibet Undisturbed by Railway Construction

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The ongoing construction of the Qinghai-Tibet railway may be creating a stir for many residents on the plateau, but for "holy eagles" hovering overhead, they live asusual as they continue to descend for their prey.

Despite the noise below, vultures haven't stopped gorging on the offerings of dismembered dead bodies left on celestial burial sites. Construction workers and organizers have gone out of their way and changed routes in order to preserve those sites.

Celestial burial means a kind of traditional funeral for Tibetans. They believe the offering of the body of the dead to vultures help the dead gain merits and virtues, and they call the vultures "holy eagles".

Lhasang Gyamco, a practitioner of celestial funerals at the Zhamu funeral site in Angdo county of Nagqu, said he has seen no decrease in the number of vultures since construction of the railway began.

"The holy eagles come at the usual feeding time," he said.

The site where Lhasang Gymco conducts funerals is the only one for herders living in the Zhamu township. Asai, a 64-year-old herder, said that herders in this area send the dead bodies of their relatives to the site as the same as before.

Xu Yucheng, deputy chief in charge of construction of the railway's Zhamu section, said his team decided to change their route for carrying earth when they found the funeral site. The decision costs them an additional two million yuan (240,964 US dollars) monthly as the workers have to trek three kilometers farther each time.

A fence with a notice erected by the construction unit stands 200 meters off the funeral platform to ward away construction workers. Xu said taking photographs is also forbidden for the workers and violators will be fined.

The Chinese government launched construction of the 1,142-kilometer railway last year. It is planned to extend from Lhasa inthe Tibet Autonomous Region to Gormo in Qinghai Province in northwest China.

Estimated to cost billions of US dollars, the railway will be the longest and most elevated railway built on highlands in the world. Economists believe it will greatly enhance economic and social development in the region.

According to Lu Chunfang, general director of the railway's construction work, the 550-kilometer section in Tibet passes two celestial funeral sites, one of which is at Zhamu, and the other near the Tuotuo River. Zhang issued an order requiring a pause of work when a celestial burial is held near construction sites, so that vultures coming for prey would not be frightened away by the noises of machines.

Gu Yongxi, a worker of the fourth branch of the China Railway Construction Corp., said that before construction began, all his fellow workers attended a workshop on ethnic cultures, where they learned about customs and religions of the Tibetan, Hui and Sala ethnic groups living along the railway.

Gu's unit also printed over 300 booklets on this subject and handed them out to every worker.

"I'm no stranger to celestial funerals at all though it's my first time to be here," Gu said. "I have learned about it and I respect the traditions of our countrymen in Tibet."

Li Jincheng, general engineer in charge of design of the railway, said designers have taken into consideration the funeral platforms, monasteries and ritual sites on holy mountains, and done their best to keep these places untouched.

"We hope when the railway is completed, travelers into and out of the Tibet Autonomous Region can enjoy more convenient traffic, but see no change in natural scenery and local culture," Li said.

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