Photo Essay Photo Essay

Photographer: Nick Turland

Plants of northwestern Yunnan: Prayer Flags at the Dongba sacred spring

Location: Bai Shui Tai
The Dongba religious culture belongs to the Naxi ethnic minority which inhabits this part of Yunnan. The spring and terraces at Bai Shui Tai are surrounded by a grove ancient evergreen oaks (Quercus sp., Fagaceae), which are presumably sacred or they would have been cut down long ago. These prayer flags were hanging in a tree by the spring, which forms a small, crystal clear pool from which issues the stream that feeds the terraces.