In the past few months, I have spoken with many Tibetans to collect names of common flowers. Many elders and Tibetans from Tibet were delighted to engage in these conversations. Listening to them describe the colors, shapes and even the timing of different blossoms, it is clear that people in Tibet have great appreciation for flowers.
Exile Tibetans, however, can barely identify more than three or four flowers. Perhaps this is because traditional ecological knowledge is less relevant in foreign environments. Additionally, while names of vegetables, fruits and animals are taught in school textbooks, flower names are generally omitted. That exile Tibetans grow up not knowing flower names is unfortunate not only for loss of language but also for lacking appreciation for nature's most delightful gift--flowers. I hope this collection of flower names will help Tibetans, particularly children, identify flowers in their mother tongue.
I am grateful to all those who spoke to me about flowers, including Ugyen Tsephel-la for cross checking flower names, and to the many photographers who share photos through (flickr.com) the Creative Commons license. I trust the use of some of these photos in this educational video/booklet is permissible. The soundtrack for this video is the song 'Khawe Metok' (Snow Flower) by Dolma Kyab.
Here are some more flower names in Tibetan for which I would love to know their English names.
ᨨᨋ᪠ᩏᨋ
ᩍᨕᨋ᪱ᨋ
᪱ᩛᨋᨋ᪠ᨋ
ᨕᨋᨵᨋ
ᨳᨋᩲᨑᨵᨋ
ᩆ᪱
᪠ᫎᨋ
ᩧᨑᨋལུᩏ་
ᩜ᪱ᨋ᩶᪣ᩏᨋ
ᩂᨋ᪣᪱
ᨓ
ᩂᨋ᫄᪱᪄ᨋ᪄ᨋ᪱ᨋ
ᩘᩏᨋ᪱ᨋ
ᨋᩲᩏᨋ
ᨓ᪄ᨋ᩠ᩏᨋᨋ
ᨵᩏᨋᨋ
ᩖᨑ᪄ᨋ᪽ᨑᨋᨑᨋ (nasturcium? morning glory?)
ᨋᨡᨋ
A related post on flowers.
Read more on this article...
Updated* maps of dams: Eastern Tibet
*The maps on this blog, and the details, have been updated since it was first posted. Special thanks to Fan Xiao, the chief engineer of the Sichuan Geology and Mineral Bureau in Chengdu, for providing details on Minjiang dams. What follows is the most up to date publicly available information on hydropower projects in the region.
This is an update on maps I shared on this blog on Zungchu/Minjiang and Gyarong Ngulchu/Dadu rivers. Thanks to encouraging and informative feedback from Bruce Lee, Fan Xiao, Kevin Li, Stone Routes, and from Probe International researchers, the following maps and tables provide a unique and reliable information on dams on the eastern edges of the Tibetan Plateau.
For the sake of simplicity and accuracy a project's Status has only four possible values: Built, Under Construction, Planned/Proposed, and Cancelled. The term "Built" includes HPPs that have started generating power but are not complete, as well as those that have been operational but are currently non-functional. "Under Construction" indicates that work is proceeding on the ground and does not necessary entail that the river has been blocked or diverted. "Planned/Proposed" includes those HPPs that are those projects which the design, environmental issues, financing etc. are being developed as well as those that have been discussed but have never made it to the drawing board in any serious way. "Cancelled" includes only those projects for which there is widespread agreement that the government has decided that the proposed projects will not go ahead. This does not mean that a similar project may not be in the works to get around of the cancellation of the original project.
Capacity is given in MegaWatts. This should be understood to be the planned maximum rated power generation capacity of the generators of a HPP when it is completed. While every effort has been made to assure their accuracy, these figures are often given somewhat different values in different sources. Power generation capacity of hydropower generators is developing quickly so they may change.
Height is given in meters and indicates the total height of the dam associated with the HPP.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Clean Development Mechanism (UNFCCC CDM) assisted projects have been included on the tributaries map for three reasons. One is simply that reliable information is available for them. A second reason is that they provide examples of the thousands of small HPPs built throughout China which may (or may not) have negative consequences to the environment or local residents. A third reason they are shown is that they are examples of where Carbon Trading funds are going, which means that the general public overseas are subsidizing these projects since the Carbon Credits bought are tax deductible in developed nations. The CDM reports are available on the internet and at the UNFCCC site. More information regards UNFCCC at Wikipedia.
GYARONG NGULCHU or DADU RIVER
MEGOE TSO and TIANWAN HE
Click on the image below for details on Gyarong Ngulchu and Tianwan He dams
Hydropower Project on Zungchu / Minjiang River
Dams on the tributaries of Zungchu/Minjiang
Click on image below for details on Zungchu/Minjiang dams
Sources of data presented here: websites of Probe International, UNFCCC, China Guodian Corp., and a number of other web based resources. Various Chinese and non-Chinese maps of the area have been used for geographical information. The maps are only approximately to scale. The positions of the hydropower projects are approximate. A detailed professional map should be used for more accurate geographic information.
Suggested reading on policy implications of these dam projects."
Read more on this article...
This is an update on maps I shared on this blog on Zungchu/Minjiang and Gyarong Ngulchu/Dadu rivers. Thanks to encouraging and informative feedback from Bruce Lee, Fan Xiao, Kevin Li, Stone Routes, and from Probe International researchers, the following maps and tables provide a unique and reliable information on dams on the eastern edges of the Tibetan Plateau.
For the sake of simplicity and accuracy a project's Status has only four possible values: Built, Under Construction, Planned/Proposed, and Cancelled. The term "Built" includes HPPs that have started generating power but are not complete, as well as those that have been operational but are currently non-functional. "Under Construction" indicates that work is proceeding on the ground and does not necessary entail that the river has been blocked or diverted. "Planned/Proposed" includes those HPPs that are those projects which the design, environmental issues, financing etc. are being developed as well as those that have been discussed but have never made it to the drawing board in any serious way. "Cancelled" includes only those projects for which there is widespread agreement that the government has decided that the proposed projects will not go ahead. This does not mean that a similar project may not be in the works to get around of the cancellation of the original project.
Capacity is given in MegaWatts. This should be understood to be the planned maximum rated power generation capacity of the generators of a HPP when it is completed. While every effort has been made to assure their accuracy, these figures are often given somewhat different values in different sources. Power generation capacity of hydropower generators is developing quickly so they may change.
Height is given in meters and indicates the total height of the dam associated with the HPP.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Clean Development Mechanism (UNFCCC CDM) assisted projects have been included on the tributaries map for three reasons. One is simply that reliable information is available for them. A second reason is that they provide examples of the thousands of small HPPs built throughout China which may (or may not) have negative consequences to the environment or local residents. A third reason they are shown is that they are examples of where Carbon Trading funds are going, which means that the general public overseas are subsidizing these projects since the Carbon Credits bought are tax deductible in developed nations. The CDM reports are available on the internet and at the UNFCCC site. More information regards UNFCCC at Wikipedia.
GYARONG NGULCHU or DADU RIVER
MEGOE TSO and TIANWAN HE
Click on the image below for details on Gyarong Ngulchu and Tianwan He dams
Hydropower Project on Zungchu / Minjiang River
Dams on the tributaries of Zungchu/Minjiang
Click on image below for details on Zungchu/Minjiang dams
Sources of data presented here: websites of Probe International, UNFCCC, China Guodian Corp., and a number of other web based resources. Various Chinese and non-Chinese maps of the area have been used for geographical information. The maps are only approximately to scale. The positions of the hydropower projects are approximate. A detailed professional map should be used for more accurate geographic information.
Suggested reading on policy implications of these dam projects."
Read more on this article...
Indian media and misinformation on Chinese dam on the Brahmaputra
Monday, November 9, 2009
The Indian media has been discussing Tibet for the last two weeks. The visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tawang, a culturally Tibetan region disputed between India and China, is a major news story these days. The subject of this blog, however, is different. On 4th November 2009, India's Zee TV News reported that China is building a dam on the Brahmaputra river. Satellite images from India's National Remote Sensing Agency were reported as being shocking evidence of dam construction activity.
Readers of the Tibetan Plateau Blog know that China's building of dam on the Brahmaputra (or Yarlung Tsangpo as it is known in Tibet) is old news. The construction of Zangmu Hydropower Project is openly reported in Chinese media for a long time. I blogged about this development as early as March 5, 2009. The Zee News report did not talk about the four other dam projects, which are planned on the Brahmaputra, just near the Zangmu project.
An important point worth noting here is that Indian media reports these days repeatedly confuse Zangmu project with the controversial mega-hydropower project that may get built at the Great Bend of the Brahmaputra, which is located further downstream near the point where the river enters Indian controlled territory. Much of the Indian and Bangladesh's expressed concerns over Chinese dams on the Brahmputra revolve around rumours of this latter mega-project.
Indian media confusion between the two projects is further obscured by this image from the Great Bend area, as shown in the Zee TV News report. Print news materials are even worse. For example, this article completely confuses the two different projects as one.
To read my views about about the proposed mega project on the Great Bend, and a disturbing Indian view that India should quickly build some dams on the Brahmaputra to establish prior use claims over China, see this post.
Here is the youtube video of the Zee News story, followed by my quick and rough English translation of the Hindi audio report:
Despite all the opposition from India, China is building a dam on the Brahmaputra river. India has found clear evidence that a dam is being built on the Brahmaputra River. As evident in satellite images released by National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), a dam is being built on the river. Trucks moving about 3 to 4 kilometers near the construction site have also been observed. NRSA has alerted the Indian government about these findings. This matter has been raised with China, according to India.
Zee News correspondent, Dilip Tiwari, is here with us with more information on this. It is clear again that China's intentions are not good, Dilip. Dilip, can you hear us? OK, we will speak with Dilip [if/when we can reach each other]. Let's report to you again that despite all the opposition expressed by India, China is building a dam on the Brahmaputra. Clear evidence has been found that a dam is being built on the Brahmaputra. As evident in satellite images released by National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), a dam is being built on the river.
And at this time, we have former Foreign "Sachiv" (representative?), Mr. Kamal Sabbal. Welcome to Zee News, Sabbal-ji, now that it is clear from the satellite images that China is building a dam on the Brahmaputra in full swing, what steps should India take? And how serious is this situation from the Indian point of view?
[Mr. Kamal Sabbal speaks over the phone:] "Right now, it may not be a serious issue as the Indian Prime Minister has said that this is a 'run-off-river' project, which does not have storage [water reservoir] and there will not be decrease in supply of water. However, this can get serious in the future since China has many major plans. One of their plans is to divert water from Brahmaputra to Northern China. If they undertake such a plan, then the consequences will be very serious. The thing is that, projects like this, develop slowly overtime. China has just started the work. If we don't speak to them properly, fail to ask for explanations, or fail to express our concerns, then these [projects] will develop further. So we should find out what their plans are. What are their short and medium term plans? And what effects will these have on us [India]? We should also realize that these projects will have tremendous impacts in Bangladesh. So we should also try to see if India and Bangladesh can jointly put pressure on China.
[News anchor:] How can India lay its concerns in front of China? What immediate steps should India take?
[Mr. Kamal Sabbal:] One, there should be [a joint] experts committee from both the countries to share data and to assess the impacts of the plans and projects. [You] see, if the projects don't have serious downstream impact, we cannot stop them. If water supply is indeed likely to decrease, and then there is the case of global warming and everyone is afraid that water supply will be reduced for everyone, from that perspective, it will become a very serious issue. So data-sharing is a very important point. And the third thing that we should do, with full force, is to undertake the [dam] projects on our [the Indian] side ... because if we keep talking, that these [Chinese] dams will impact us, and if we don't have any downstream projects of our own, our protests will not have much strength. However, if we have downstream projects, these [projects] will have impact over them (Chinese plans and projects), then our protests will also have more weight in international law and to the international community.
[News anchor:] Yes. It is necessary that the issue is taken up seriously by the Indian government. Thank you, Sibbal-ji, for talking to Zee News.
Read more on this article...
Readers of the Tibetan Plateau Blog know that China's building of dam on the Brahmaputra (or Yarlung Tsangpo as it is known in Tibet) is old news. The construction of Zangmu Hydropower Project is openly reported in Chinese media for a long time. I blogged about this development as early as March 5, 2009. The Zee News report did not talk about the four other dam projects, which are planned on the Brahmaputra, just near the Zangmu project.
An important point worth noting here is that Indian media reports these days repeatedly confuse Zangmu project with the controversial mega-hydropower project that may get built at the Great Bend of the Brahmaputra, which is located further downstream near the point where the river enters Indian controlled territory. Much of the Indian and Bangladesh's expressed concerns over Chinese dams on the Brahmputra revolve around rumours of this latter mega-project.
Indian media confusion between the two projects is further obscured by this image from the Great Bend area, as shown in the Zee TV News report. Print news materials are even worse. For example, this article completely confuses the two different projects as one.
To read my views about about the proposed mega project on the Great Bend, and a disturbing Indian view that India should quickly build some dams on the Brahmaputra to establish prior use claims over China, see this post.
Here is the youtube video of the Zee News story, followed by my quick and rough English translation of the Hindi audio report:
Despite all the opposition from India, China is building a dam on the Brahmaputra river. India has found clear evidence that a dam is being built on the Brahmaputra River. As evident in satellite images released by National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), a dam is being built on the river. Trucks moving about 3 to 4 kilometers near the construction site have also been observed. NRSA has alerted the Indian government about these findings. This matter has been raised with China, according to India.
Zee News correspondent, Dilip Tiwari, is here with us with more information on this. It is clear again that China's intentions are not good, Dilip. Dilip, can you hear us? OK, we will speak with Dilip [if/when we can reach each other]. Let's report to you again that despite all the opposition expressed by India, China is building a dam on the Brahmaputra. Clear evidence has been found that a dam is being built on the Brahmaputra. As evident in satellite images released by National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), a dam is being built on the river.
And at this time, we have former Foreign "Sachiv" (representative?), Mr. Kamal Sabbal. Welcome to Zee News, Sabbal-ji, now that it is clear from the satellite images that China is building a dam on the Brahmaputra in full swing, what steps should India take? And how serious is this situation from the Indian point of view?
[Mr. Kamal Sabbal speaks over the phone:] "Right now, it may not be a serious issue as the Indian Prime Minister has said that this is a 'run-off-river' project, which does not have storage [water reservoir] and there will not be decrease in supply of water. However, this can get serious in the future since China has many major plans. One of their plans is to divert water from Brahmaputra to Northern China. If they undertake such a plan, then the consequences will be very serious. The thing is that, projects like this, develop slowly overtime. China has just started the work. If we don't speak to them properly, fail to ask for explanations, or fail to express our concerns, then these [projects] will develop further. So we should find out what their plans are. What are their short and medium term plans? And what effects will these have on us [India]? We should also realize that these projects will have tremendous impacts in Bangladesh. So we should also try to see if India and Bangladesh can jointly put pressure on China.
[News anchor:] How can India lay its concerns in front of China? What immediate steps should India take?
[Mr. Kamal Sabbal:] One, there should be [a joint] experts committee from both the countries to share data and to assess the impacts of the plans and projects. [You] see, if the projects don't have serious downstream impact, we cannot stop them. If water supply is indeed likely to decrease, and then there is the case of global warming and everyone is afraid that water supply will be reduced for everyone, from that perspective, it will become a very serious issue. So data-sharing is a very important point. And the third thing that we should do, with full force, is to undertake the [dam] projects on our [the Indian] side ... because if we keep talking, that these [Chinese] dams will impact us, and if we don't have any downstream projects of our own, our protests will not have much strength. However, if we have downstream projects, these [projects] will have impact over them (Chinese plans and projects), then our protests will also have more weight in international law and to the international community.
[News anchor:] Yes. It is necessary that the issue is taken up seriously by the Indian government. Thank you, Sibbal-ji, for talking to Zee News.
Zungchu: More on Dams in Eastern Tibet
Friday, November 6, 2009
[Note: Refer to this updated post]
This is in continuation to my last post to share maps and information on "hydropower projects on the eastern fringes of the Tibetan Plateau. Here is a relevant article on the policy implications of these dam projects."
The information on these two maps and the table on Zungchu and its tributaries has been obtained from the Probe International website and a number of other web based resources which served to verify or correct the main sources. Again, many thanks to my ghost map maker and Kevin Li who helped locate the HPPs. Chinese and non-Chinese maps of the area have been used for geographical information and the maps are only approxiamtely to scale. The positions of the hydropower projects are approximate. A detailed professional map should be used for more accurate geographic information.
Read more on this article...
This is in continuation to my last post to share maps and information on "hydropower projects on the eastern fringes of the Tibetan Plateau. Here is a relevant article on the policy implications of these dam projects."
The information on these two maps and the table on Zungchu and its tributaries has been obtained from the Probe International website and a number of other web based resources which served to verify or correct the main sources. Again, many thanks to my ghost map maker and Kevin Li who helped locate the HPPs. Chinese and non-Chinese maps of the area have been used for geographical information and the maps are only approxiamtely to scale. The positions of the hydropower projects are approximate. A detailed professional map should be used for more accurate geographic information.
Read more on this article...
Dams on Gyarong Ngulchu or Dadu River
[Note: Refer to this updated post]
This is a quick post to share a couple of maps which show hydropower projects on the eastern fringes of the Tibetan Plateau. As rivers on "mainland China" are dammed and diverted beyond recognition, Chinese dam builders and hydro-engineers are looking towards the Tibetan Plateau for more business. Owing to this trend, more and more dams are being built on the rivers of the eastern parts of the Tibetan Plateau, mainly in Western Sichuan or Kham region. You may read an article on the policy implications of these dam projects.
Information on these maps have been obtained from websites of the Probe International, China Guodian Corp, Tibet Justice Center, and a number of other web based resources which served to verify or correct the main sources. Many thanks to my ghost map maker and to Kevin Li for corrections and clarifications on the facts, and for detailed information on the Tianwanhe Cascade. Chinese and non-Chinese maps of the area have been used for geographical information and the maps are only approxiamtely to scale. The positions of the hydropower projects are approximate.
This first map shows dams on the Dadu River, known to Tibetans as Gyarong Gyalmo Ngulchu (རྒྱལ་རོང་རྒྱལ་མོ་རྔུལ་ཆུ་). Shown dam projects also include those downstream of the Tibetan Plateau to help researchers who may find locating different dam names on the river confusing. For more information on these hydropower projects, see the table at the end of this post.
This second map shows on two tributaries of Gyarong Ngulchu, Wasi River and Tianwan. The Megoe Tso dam project shown on this map became controversial due to opposition from local Tibetans, who consider the lake (also known as the Yeti Lake and Megucuo) as sacred.
Read more on this article...
This is a quick post to share a couple of maps which show hydropower projects on the eastern fringes of the Tibetan Plateau. As rivers on "mainland China" are dammed and diverted beyond recognition, Chinese dam builders and hydro-engineers are looking towards the Tibetan Plateau for more business. Owing to this trend, more and more dams are being built on the rivers of the eastern parts of the Tibetan Plateau, mainly in Western Sichuan or Kham region. You may read an article on the policy implications of these dam projects.
Information on these maps have been obtained from websites of the Probe International, China Guodian Corp, Tibet Justice Center, and a number of other web based resources which served to verify or correct the main sources. Many thanks to my ghost map maker and to Kevin Li for corrections and clarifications on the facts, and for detailed information on the Tianwanhe Cascade. Chinese and non-Chinese maps of the area have been used for geographical information and the maps are only approxiamtely to scale. The positions of the hydropower projects are approximate.
This first map shows dams on the Dadu River, known to Tibetans as Gyarong Gyalmo Ngulchu (རྒྱལ་རོང་རྒྱལ་མོ་རྔུལ་ཆུ་). Shown dam projects also include those downstream of the Tibetan Plateau to help researchers who may find locating different dam names on the river confusing. For more information on these hydropower projects, see the table at the end of this post.
This second map shows on two tributaries of Gyarong Ngulchu, Wasi River and Tianwan. The Megoe Tso dam project shown on this map became controversial due to opposition from local Tibetans, who consider the lake (also known as the Yeti Lake and Megucuo) as sacred.
Read more on this article...
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