00:00I think there was an avalanche
00:10I am riding through the Himalaya mountains
00:12from Winter to Summer in one day
00:15descending close to the disputed MacMahon Line
00:19and reaching China’s mysterious, remotest
00:24and most isolated city - Medog
00:48Good morning everyone
00:51Today I am in Bome county
00:55Now it's 8:30 in the morning
00:57And my today's destination is Medog
01:01The least connected city in China
01:05Mêdog is only accessible half a year every year
01:09because in the winter when the snow is heavy
01:14Making the whole city unacessible
01:16And now it's still difficult to get there
01:20Because there is only road
01:25There used to have 2 roads
01:28Connecting Paizhen to Mêdog
01:31But 2 years ago, there was an avalanche
01:34So til now, that road is still under construction
01:38And from Bomê to Mêdog
01:41There is a policy called even-in-odd-out
01:43So on a date which is an even number
01:48On a day which is an odd number
01:52So it's only one way traffic
01:54Ok, now this is very important
01:56Not everyone can go to Mêdog
02:02A permission to go to some remote area in China
02:05And you have to apply for it before coming here
02:20My ride started from Bomê
02:23A beautiful city Nestled in the dense green forest
02:26and surrounded by snow mountains
02:29the Parlung Tsangpo flows through it
02:33and the morning air is moist and fresh
03:41So this is a road once destroyed by the avalanche
03:44This is difficult, it's all big stones
03:59Gansu province plate
04:03Is it hard for your scooter to go up?
04:05What? is it difficult to go up?
04:16The road to Mêdog used to be a deadly road
04:18many sections have been repeatedly destroyed
04:23and frequent land-slide during raining season
04:26The road was completed only in 2013
04:3052 years after the project started
06:17I reached Galongla tunnel
06:19And there was a long queue
06:30Go ahead of the queue
06:32Ok, is the tunnel under construction?
06:35Park outside the tunnel
06:40Where are you from? I rode from Dali
06:44No, I mean you... from Anhui
06:49I'll go ahead slowly
07:19It's still under construction
07:21We have to wait another 20 minutes
07:27Is it under construction?
07:31It closes every day for a certain time
07:39Yes, everyday? But why?
07:41It's a control measure
07:46Brother, why it closes everyday?
07:53And they control by sections
07:56Before this tunnel was built
07:58the road to Mêdog had to be closed
08:01for 8 month every year
08:03due to the heavy snow on the mountain pass
08:06soon the tunnel was open
08:08they let me go first
08:10so that I can get ahead of the heavy traffic
08:40The first kilometer after the tunnel was quite broken
08:44Everyone was driving carefully
08:57Soon the road got much better
08:59But no one wants to drive very fast
09:01The view outside is just stunning
10:19I saw one waterfall after another
10:21and as the elevation drops
10:23the vegetation began to change
10:28and I even saw banana trees
10:32Now it's 20km from Mêdog city
10:42There are even bananas here
10:49 The 117 km ride took me almost 4 hours
10:54In the afternoon, I reached Mêdog city
10:56In Tibetan language, Mêdog means Secret lotus
11:00as the tale goes that Guru Padmasambhava
11:04once practiced buddism here
11:06Mêdog city doesn’t look so special
11:09the street is quite busy
11:11there are cars from all over China
11:14all hotels are fully booked
11:16I met some other motor bikers
11:19and was invited to the famous stone pot chicken
11:23then I booked a room in Beibeng
11:26A small village 30km from the city
11:29so after dinner, I continued riding
11:33 Due to the low elevation
11:35 it's probably only 700m here
11:38Many other plants that can never be grown
11:40In other parts of tibet
11:44For example, the banana trees
11:49Brother, which ethnicity are you
11:51Monpa people. And you are talking in
11:55Monpa language, is it very different from Tibetan language?
11:58Yes, the difference is big
11:59So, if you go to Lhasa
12:02you can't understand their Tibetan language
12:06I see, Monpa language.
12:09But the old people understand. I see
12:14So here, it is mainly Monpa people
12:17Compared with making green tea
12:25It's used to make tibetan Tea
14:48If any of you understand the language they speak
14:50Please help me to translate
14:53And this is the new ethnic minority I learned today
14:57So in China, Monpa people mainly live
15:00Mêdog and Monyul region
15:02And in Mêdog there are over 10,000 of them
15:06They have a very close relation with the Tibetans
15:08e.g., they also follows Tibetan buddism
15:11But they are different
15:14There are more Monpa who are living
15:17Otherwise of the MacMahom line
15:20Which is only about 20km from here
15:23There is also a small population of Monpa
15:28So as I read from the internet
15:31I don't know if it is reliable or not
15:33Originally, Monpa are from Monyul
15:37And also from some parts of Bhutan
15:39And slowly, they migrated east to this area
15:44It is also believed that
15:46Monpa is the ethnic group that
15:49Is the closet to bhutanese
15:52So if you are watching this video from bhutan
15:57whether you can understand their language or not
16:11Give it to me, it's heavy
16:24My accommodation of the day
16:26So Mêdog is an expensive place
16:29Especially when it comes to hotel
16:32And if you check the price
16:33Normally it's more than 300
16:38That's a normal price
16:39And I got a small room in this remote village
16:43This is called Dengba village
16:47It costs 130 at the moment
16:50And it is managed by the village committee
16:53I got 2 bottles of water
17:00That's from my room, help yourself
17:06sister, take this too
18:01Mêdog is the last county that Yarlung Tsangpo flows through
18:06before it enters Assam
18:08and becomes Brahmaputra
18:10there used to be many mountain villages in Mêdog
18:13today, most were relocated
18:16to lower places for safety reason
18:18This is the first time that
18:20 I see a real old Monpa village
18:22The old houses are quite interesting
18:27The whole house is elevated
18:28And there is a big piece of wood here
18:32And I've seen very similar structure in the alpen region
18:36Differently, they use stones
18:38And for the alpine chalet
18:41This is to prevent the rats from going up
18:45So I am wondering if this serves the same purpose
18:48Only a few families live here
18:51But what about the rest?
18:52They have moved. To where?
19:06Dengba is a small village of around 40 households
19:11The night is for collective activities
19:13for women, it is dancing
19:15but today they are just having a beer together
19:18and for guys it is archery
19:30Brother, do all men know archery
19:36So you learned it since a kid
19:40Yes, but with old archery
19:44So we use the new arrow set
19:45the arrows used to be different
19:48there used to be competitions every year
19:54 during the Tibetan new year
19:56Now, we used the arrow that make sounds
19:59I see, it flys with a sound
20:41From them to the target, it's about 50m
21:10Now I am leaving Mêdog for Bome
21:13Because Pai-mo road ins't connected
21:16So now I have to take a detour
21:18Go to the same way back
21:21That road will finish construction soon
21:24So that Mêdog can end its history of
21:28And become more connected
21:32That's all for today
21:34I hope you enjoy watching this video
21:36If you like it, please give me thumb up
