Sunday, February 05, 2006

White Yak (牦牛)

I went to Szechuan/Sichuan, China for vacation last week. Besides the nice sceneries, one of the most memorable things I saw there were the white yaks (牦牛). There are millions of yaks in China. These yaks are located mainly in the high, cold mountainous areas of China. Yaks have long, shaggy fur which reaches almost to the ground. They also have dense woolen undercoat for winter protection. Besides the white coloured yaks, there are black coloured yaks as well.

The adorable white yak (牦牛) with ornaments and deco on it's horns.

There are few white yaks (more than 5) available for tourists to take photos with and to have a ride. These white yaks are just too cute. Their soft, fluffy white coloured fur and short legs... RMB 5 per ride. Of course I won't missed out the chance to have a ride on these white yaks. Yaks dislike people patting their heads ;)

There is one camel next to the crowd of yaks. I didn't take a ride on the camel cos it seems scary to climb up the little ladder to ride the camel. But now thinking back, I really regret for not taking a ride on the camel :(

The scenic view nearby the white yaks and camel. The partially frozen lake (now is Winter time in China).

Errr... Yak skull.

And not forgetting... Yak Meat. Sad to think that those poor cute yaks are killed :( This photo was taken in different location (in town area).

27 comments:

sbanboy said...

Nice ... more more more .... :)

Winn said...

wah..
new cow species ar? i never heard of 'yak' before. n they surely dun look real.

Alicia said...

the yaks look cute sia.. but cruel lei.. when dey killed them for skulls? :/

Chen said...

sbanboy,
More to come soon...
Jiuzhaigou sceneries on the way :)

winn,
yak is available for long time already, but just that we are not familiar with it. This is the first time I see the cute white yak as well :)

Alicia,
they killed them for the meat actually, and the yak horn can be used to made combs (I bought some back), used for carvings as well as for decorations. The skull ah, I guess it is just a by-product :)

Robin CHAN said...

Wow.. went on holiday or to avoid the new year or to avoid the giving of ang pow?

Yaks Yaks Yaks .. did u buy this T-shirt from Chengdu?

And Hot and Sour soup. wow

Chen said...

robin,
just want to went for holiday, for fun :D & to experience the winter there :)
Never experienced winter before mah..

t shirt? nope nope..

I buy yak horn comb, yak meat spicy bak kua & the "ma lat" meat & few other yak meat preserved products besides taking several shots of the white yaks etc etc :D

gus said...

Wow! A great vacation. Nice pictures. I trust you have more, yes? Now I know where two humps camels can be found. And the yaks are beautiful. It brings to mind the song about mary and her little lamb. Only this one goes like this,

Mei Yi had a little Yak
Little Yak, Little Yak
Mei Yi had a little Yak
It's fleece was white as snow

Robin CHAN said...

Agus, that's a good one.. perhaps they are singing this in Yaks Land!

Selba said...

cute yaks... nice pictures :)
another destination to visit... delicious food ma? pictures, please!!!

agus: LOL, cute song!

Francis Ho said...

Nicely posted doc n nicely sung by Agus! D pic of d lake is positively enticing!

iml said...

The yaks sure look majestic!! In Lijiang, Kunming, they have yak rides across the terrace water fall.

Chen said...

agus,
heheh.. yeah, my hubby and I, we bought took 2000+ pictures :)

nice songs though :D

Selba,
more will come; Too many pictures, so I need to select which one to post :D

Food pict? got.. including the local delicacies & the roadside hawker stalls & finger food :)

fh2o,
too bad, no kayaking over there in this sort of weather :P

I have taken shots of frozen lake as well in Jiuzhaigou, the Long Lake. Will post that up later on.

it's my life story,
oh? I can consider going to Kunming next time :)

Robin CHAN said...

who takes care of Ah-boy when you and hubby goes on holiday?

Chen said...

Robin,
Ah Boy is well taken care of by my father & sister in law. He has put on weight :)

[null] said...

The yaks are so fluffy!! Do you think they'd taste nice barbecued?

Jellyfish said...

waaa....
tempat kebumian yak :P

PhotoCrazy said...

Uh huh.. do the yak talks.. as in america.. yak mean talk non stop.. hehehe..

u r lucky cause you didn't ride the camel. I have tried once. My buttock changed shape after the rite.

Pandabonium said...

Beautiful post Chen! Thanks. So interesting to see life in a place so different from home. I envy you for your visit there.

Did you ever see the French made film, "Himalaya " (originally named "Caravan")? It is about a village that uses yaks as pack animals once a year to trade salt for grain. Anyway the scenery was similar - as well as the yaks. What a beautiful animal.

As you know, Sichuan is the hometown for Pandas. Did you happen to see any of my Panda cousins there?

Looking forward to more pics.

zbjernak said...

REALLY NICE
so cute

Chen said...

tibbar,
aiks.. Kesian also to think that the cute yak is slaughtered for the meat..

But... I bought some BBQ yak meat as well as preserved yak meat & yak meat sausage back home :P

jellyfish,
aiks.. talk about burial site pulak :D

pandabonium
Yeah, nice visit. I enjoy visiting China. This is my third visit to China. I haven't see the "Himalaya" film yet.

U are right. Sichuan is the hometown of Pandas. There is one Panda Research Centre over there, but I don't have time to visit it. Just pay a visitation to the Zoo in Chengdu. Manage to see few lazy pandas there :D

zbjernak,
thanks :)
yaks are very cute, especially the white yaks...

Chen said...

photocrazy,
ahhaha.. I only know the yaks get annoyed when my hubby touched it's head :D

Oh..butt changed shape after the camel ride? Something interesting I learn today :D

cooknengr said...

whats up Doc, I want some Yak meat!

Chen said...

cooknengr,
I'm thinking what delicious dishes will our great Cook will made with those yak meat?

Momo the Wonder Dog said...

Hey, those white Yaks look alot like me only bigger!

Chen said...

momo the wonder dog,
u r right..
The white yak indeed looks like u from afar, except bigger :D

Anonymous said...

Hi!

I came across your blog and would love to know where you went to see those white yaks. I am doing a project on increasing the economic value of yak products (yak down hair) for poverty alleviation in Western China, and are looking for those white yaks!

My email is carol_chyau@ksg06.harvard.edu

Thanks!

Chen said...

carol,
I saw the yaks in Sichuan, on the way to Jiuzhaigou. Will reply u in email