Fantastic! She has been to Tibet 5 times!

Jiling Duan is my old friend. Since 2002, she has already visited Tibet 5 times. Especially, since 2012, she was stay in Tibet for two month a year. She is now in Beijing Chinese Academy of Sciences for her PhD in Geology. She is also a mentor for my Tibet trip and gives me valuable advice. When I was writing my blog, I always thought I could have an interview with her and that she could share some experience with us.

Shuyan: How many times have you been to Tibet? Can you briefly describe your experiences in Tibet?

Jiling: I have been to Tibet 5 times. The first time I visited there was when I was 12 years old. I can’t remember clearly what I experienced there; the only thing I remember is the sky in Tibet. The sky is so blue and very close that it feels like when I raise my hand I can touch it. And the second time was in 2010; I went there with my family and friend. We enjoyed the landscape and food there and had lot of fun. Since 2012, my trips to Tibet have been more focused on the project of porphyry copper deposit in Tibet. Although I have worked on my project I still had time to visit Tibet. In 2013, I traveled throughout nearly all of Tibet to collect the rock simples for my project; some places that regular tourists have never been. And this year I didn’t spend too much time in Tibet or visited lot places. I just went there to collect more simples for my study.

Shuyan: Could you tell me one of the most impressive things for you in Tibet, Why?

Jiling: I am not really sure what is the most impressive thing for me. But I want to tell you a funny story, when I did some thing stupid and was mocked by my seniors for years. That was 2012 and I was doing my research on the porphyry copper deposit project. I found some worms in my yard, and I though that would be the Ophiocordyceps sinensis. (I will talk about that on my other blog post.) And I asked my seniors if those worms are Ophiocordyceps sinensis, and they said yes those are. I didn’t know if they were joking with me and I trusted they were telling me the truth. I was very excited and I thought I would be very rich if I could collect enough Ophiocordyceps sinensis. A year later, I finally knew what the Ophiocordyceps sinensis was I understood that my seniors had cheated me.

Shuyan: Where will you go if you visit Tibet again?

Jiling: For this year, I would like to go to the Mount Kailash. The Tibetans tell me that in this year if you walk around and pray to the Mount Kailsh once is equal to a walk around 13 times. People around the world come to Tibet to pray to this sacred mount. It could take people 2 to 7 days to walk around the mount.

Shuyan: Could you tell me your experience in the camp of Mount Everest?

Jiling: Actually, I have not really gone there, but I can tell you my experience at other camps with the same altitude as the Mount Everest camp. The altitude of my camp is around 5000 m (16404 ft.). I stayed in that camp for a week. When I stayed there, I always feel a lack of oxygen. Especially, in the night I was always woke up because of the lack of oxygen.

Shuyan: Could you tell me a thing that some travelers may not know?

Jiling: I think the thing is that Tibet has a very special policy for rate limiting. If the rate limit is 60km/hour, it means you need to drive 1km/minute. Because we you drive on the rate limit road, you will pick a card at the beginning of the road, which has the starting time on it. And you need to submit the card to another office, which is 60km away from the beginning. Thus if you don’t want to speed you need to arrive at that office an hour after you started.

Shuyan: Could you give some advice for the travelers?

Jiling: First, the altitude sickness is a thing that you can never avoid. It is normal if to have a headache or feel a lack of oxygen. You will get ready for that 2 or 3 days after you get to Tibet. But if you have a cold, you need to leave Tibet as soon as possible. A cold is a very dangerous disease on the plateau and could die because of it. And I suggest that June and July is the best time to visit Tibet, because it has better weather than any other time.

It is a nice time to talk to an old friend. And I am very glad that she would like to share her experiences of Tibet with me.  After talked with her, I really want to go back to Tibet and get more experiences.