Tibetan 'wild man' scales new heights

XINING－Once again, Sa Karma came down from the mountains alone, scorched by the sun and in need of a shave and haircut.

If it wasn't for his enormous backpack, the wild-looking man would be unrecognizable to his fellow villagers.

Sa Karma has no fixed abode. The 29-year-old Tibetan herdsman is a wanderer, a native of Nangqian county where the Lancang River has its sources in Qinghai province.

For nine years, he has been trekking the streams that flow into the Lancang, which is known as the Mekong outside China, finding 273 uncharted water sources in the snow-capped mountains and glaciers.

He has also hiked and climbed up 862 mountains near his hometown, many of which had never been conquered by man.

"Pushing the limits of the human body makes me hover like an eagle, affording me a wonderful view of the magnificent mountains and rivers," Sa Karma said.

His name, meaning "earth and stars" and given to him by his father, evokes a romantic and adventurous spirit. It seems like his years alone in the mountains were his destiny.

Studying traditional thangka painting has also provided Sa Karma with a different aesthetic perspective. Unlike others who focus on modifying portraits and Buddha images, he is fascinated by the flowers, trees and wildlife which usually make up the background in artworks.

Yet the scenes captured on canvas pale in comparison to what Sa Karma saw during an expedition in 2010.

In the five years leading up to his journey, the Chinese government pumped more than 2.8 billion yuan ($401 million) into the ecological restoration of the once-degraded Sanjiangyuan area. Known as China's "water tower", it is home to the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers.

Heightened senses

Sa Karma hit the road that summer without telling his friends and family. Three days later, he climbed the highest mountain near the village, a peak no one had previously scaled.

Standing on the sandstone peak at an elevation of over 5,800 meters, he saw three naturally formed lakes of clear turquoise, as well as a panoramic view of the source area of the Lancang River.

His eyes welled with tears, whether it was because of the biting wind or the stunning beauty that lay before him.

Since that day, Sa Karma has lived his life as a wanderer. He has turned his back on society and human relationships, accompanied only by his camera gear and 50-kilogram backpack, and he spends more than 300 days a year in the mountains.

But his romantic notions of life in the wild have not always been matched by the harsh reality. He was often surrounded by animals, especially at night, which kept him awake.

Over time, Sa Karma was able to recognize and imitate the different roars of snow leopards and howls of wolves. He was even able to elicit a response from the predators at times. "I'm not afraid of them now, because they know that I'm not an intruder," he said.

One winter, at an altitude of 6,000 meters above sea level, Sa Karma warmed himself with Tibetan dancing, out of fear his camera would be frozen solid.

He said he cherishes every beautiful thing he has seen. Over the past nine years, he has recorded 507 kinds of wild plants, 18 species of wild animals, including lynx and snow leopards, as well as 16 types of birds in his hometown.

The natural

He has memorized the names and properties of numerous wild plants based on what he learned from traditional Tibetan medicine lists, treating himself with wild herbs when he fell ill.

In 2017, Sa Karma decided to share what he saw, felt and learned by spending over 10,000 yuan on printing an illustrated handbook on ecological protection, which contains pictures of the landscape, plants, birds and wild animals he took in the mountains.

He also made a 4-square-meter sand sculpture that models his village and the surrounding landscape, with all the places he had been.

His hefty backpack is full at most times, stuffed with food supplies in readiness for his departure, or trash he has cleared away during his travels in the mountains.

One night in his home village, the clear mountain sky is hung with stars. Sa Karma felt the heartbeat of the earth, closed his eyes and spread his arms outward.

Unashamed of his wild appearance, he chanted episodes from the legendary epic of King Gesar, lauding Mother Nature and praying for her blessings. Gesar was an 11th century hero who fought evil and helped the weak, and whose exploits have been told by folk artists for centuries. "I'm the son of Sanjiangyuan, and the way I look is just a reconnection with nature," Sa Karma said.