The ancient village of Bajiao

 I've read about it, a village that dates back 2,000 years. I didn't realise till I arrived that it was still lived in. All the time I thought it was abandoned because it was built with rammed earth. The ancient walls of rammed earth still stand.

 This was not the welcoming committee, he collects the entrance fee. I forgot how much it was, very nominal.

 I pay for the three of us. Our driver, a Chinese Hui (Muslim) which we found in Xiahe, waited for us outside the 'city' walls.

 The old man invited me to climb up the dirt walls and view the village from above.

The guide book mentioned that this place is picturesque but until that morning I had no clue how to get there. We left our hotel that morning, thinking we'll visit Labrang monastery when this chap in a private car hustled me. I said, 'Bajiao', he said 200 yuan and he will take us there. He took us to see the Ganjian grassland and another holy mountain. He was a really pleasant young man whose family, until recently, was making handcrafted daggers, forging them by hand. It was a dying industry and they gave it up. Now his folks own a business in town selling fabric and notions, everything needed to make and trim the Tibetan chubas.