Saturday, August 20, 2011

China - Kawagebo


The main Tip Kawagebo of the snow-covered Mountain Meli to 6,740 meters s.n.m., is the high summit in the Sanjiang zone.

Sent by Na, a postcrosser from Beijing, China.

This is from Wikipedia : Kawagebo (卡瓦格博, Chinese transliteration of the name of Khawakarpo) (Tibetan: kha ba dkar po) (or Moirigkawagarbo, Khawa Karpo, Kha-Kar-Po), as it is known by local residents and pilgrims, is the highest mountain in Yunnan, China. It is located in Weixi Lisu Autonomous County in Diqing Prefecture on the border with Tibet, and near the border with Myanmar. It rises about 20 kilometres (12 mi) west of Diqing, which lies on the China National Highway 214. It was previously in the independent Tibetan province of Kham until Chinese occupation and annexation in 1959.

Kawakarpo is the high point of the Meili Xue Shan (梅里雪山 or Meili Snow Mountain), a small subrange of the Hengduan Shan, the major north-south trending complex of mountains covering the region where Tibet, Yunnan, Sichuan, and Myanmar converge. The Meili Xueshan forms part of the divide between the upper Salween (Nujiang) and Mekong (Lancangjiang) rivers.

The Meili Xueshan has over 20 peaks with permanent snow cover, including six peaks over 6,000 m (19,700 ft). The highest portion of the range is in the north, although Kawakarpo is centrally located. The range rises high over the deeply incised valleys to the east and west, leading to dramatic relief. The range is highly affected by the monsoon, leading to especially unstable snow conditions, which have affected climbing attempts.

Kawakarpo is one of the most sacred mountains for Tibetan Buddhism as the spiritual home of a warrior god which pre-existed Buddhism's arrival in Tibet. It is visited by 20,000 pilgrims each year;[4] many pilgrims circumambulate the peak, an arduous 240 km (150 mi) trek.

Tibetans believe the warrior god will leave them if human sets foot on the peak of Kawakarpo, making the ground unholy. Disasters will follow as they lose god's protection.


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