Buddhism

Elderly people chant and worship at an old Mani hall in Tsang smath Township, Brag ‘go County, Dkar mdzes Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. They come to worship twice a day - in the morning and in the afternoon. Most of these old people are taken care of by their children.

Some examples of the Daoist fortune tellers operating in front of the lower monastic complex at Nan Shan. Amongst the objects shown here is a woodblock for making talismans. I could not identify the 'gourd' on the right.

Plaque accompanying the previous thangka in the museum's lobby. It is a representative sample of the style (and level) of English adorning many exhibitions throughout the museum. Similar plaques, spaced roughly five feet apart, run all along the record-holding thangka (not photographed) and give the names of each being or scene depicted. I could not detect any pattern in the curators' choices between giving a Sanskrit name or an awkward English equivalent. In all cases Tibetan (in Wylie transliteration) was also given.

A massive 'book' lies in the centre of the lobby bearing an inscription by Hu Jintao (current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China) in both Chinese (not shown) and Tibetan. Further research would yield a translation of its message.

Museum information on the exterior of the building. Although here the price of a ticket is given as 60 RMB, on this day I entered for only 30 RMB, with a Tibetan friend paying only 20 RMB for himself. Also, while this sign contains the command, 'No photos!' we were allowed to photograph anything in the museums central lobby. The restriction only applied to the individual display halls, such as that of the world's longest thangka.