Black Family

Family of black pigs, that is. 

 Gansu, 2007

Have you ever seen black pigs or swine?

Linked with Photo Hunter where the theme is mostly black and with Camera Critters.

Y is for Yakow

A yakow, you might guess, is a hybrid between the long-haired yak of the Himalayas and a domestic cow; a bovid hybrid also called dzo. The hybrid is larger and stronger than either the yak or the cow and is considered to be more productive in producing milk or meat.

I've seen these scruffy looking beasts on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau in the outskirts of Xiahe in Gansu as well as in Mongolia. Today I share with you a few of my China photos. [Click to enlarge.]

Gansu, 2007

And this post is linked to the team at ABC Wednesday where you'll find many interesting posts on subjects with the letter Y.

Q is for Quartz

Quartz eyeglasses is what I offer for ABC Wednesday's Q day.

This may be a case of "you had to be there" - because I ended up with only one photo to share with you. But we sure got a giggle from all the over-sized glasses worn by the menfolk in Gansu, a northwest province of China. I've not seen these anywhere else.

Gansu, 2007

Say A Prayer for Me

Xiahe, Gansu, 2007

It takes pious Tibetan pilgrims and monks two hours or more to walk and spin the entire prayer wheel circuit around the Labrang Monastery. It is the largest monastery of the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) school of Tibetan Buddhism outside of Lhasa.

I post this today for Mary's Ruby Tuesday.

J is for Jewelry

Diamonds may be Carol Channing's best friend, but I'm not one of her girls. I'm not a big jewelry fan at all, really, much preferring a trip around the world to a bauble or a trinket.

Yet a few years ago I got an eyeful of stunning jewelry in Xiahe, aka Labrang, a town built around the most important Tibetan Buddhist monastery outside of Lhasa. This town on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in Gansu province is busy hosting a steady stream of handsome pilgrims from Tibet, most , both female and male, wearing their distinctive clothing and the traditional red coral and/or turquoise necklaces and earrings. Let me share some with you. You'll see the belts are very unique and special too. [Click images to enlarge for better view.]

Xiahe/Labrang, 2007

And it's the local Muslim or Chinese vendors who sell the jewelry to the visitors. I'm no expert in coral or turquoise, but I do know that at least some of what was in the stores were polyresin reproductions.

This is my J for Jewelry for ABC Wednesday. The link will take you to many other creative takes on the letter J.

Yellow Fields Yield Flak

Controversy appears to be the order of the day. Even fields flowing with bright yellow flowers are not exempt from incessant human bickering. I refer to rapeseed, a pretty flower so maligned.

Terraced fields in northwest China's Gansu province, 2007

Rapeseed is a relative of the mustard and cabbage family. You can cook and eat the leaves of some varieties of the plant like any other green vegetable. In China and Europe, rapeseed oil was traditionally used to light lanterns. Rapeseed "oil cake" is used as a fertilizer in China.

Today, different varieties of rapeseed are grown around the globe, mostly to process into biodiesel, animal feed or edible oil. Rapeseed also produces nectar for honey, and the oil from the seeds is a raw material for paints, glues, toothpaste, and cosmetics like lipstick. Many of these uses are hotly debated by some.

In the 1970s a Canadian used traditional plant breeding techniques to make the oil of rapeseed fit for our consumption.  To rise above its nasty reputation, the new variety was dubbed canola, a contraction of ""CANadian Oil, Low [erucic] Acid".  

So, where is the controversy? Well, this is Mellow Yellow Monday and it just wouldn't do to go on a major rant, now would it? The issue is in any event much more complex than my photo blog can cover. But here's an over-simplified example about canola oil: on one side you have the many who certify that canola oil is one of the most heart-healthy cooking oils, rich in omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids and the good fats, while the other side decries that over half of rapeseed grown today is genetically modified to be resistant to the effects of a dangerous herbicide which then upsets the fields' ecosystem and that the health benefits of canola oil have been exaggerated.

Do you think these farmers have any inkling of what we in the West argue over?

All I will say here now is that it behooves me to make more effort to be a smart consumer. I'm doing my homework.

I leave you with a final image that took me by surprise. Can you identify this plant growing next to the flowering rapeseed?

This blog is posted for meme Mellow Yellow Monday. Click on the link for a lot many more links to yellows.