Sander the Yak

Photo: Yaks walking the street of Zeku, Qinghai Province, August, 2010.

We were in the market near our hotel in the Tibetan Quarter of Xining today. The Tibetans, like the Chinese, are not the most hairiest of people and body hair often interests them. Two Tibetans observed Sander buying a sling before commenting on his hairiness. Of course, yaks are really hairy too. In fact, they seem hairier in real life. The yaks we saw looked like they were wearing great beards, or skirts, sweeping against the ground by their hooves as they grazed. Sander and I, like the Tibetans, love yaks and feel, as Basho might have said, that they are deserving of their Chinese name: MAONIU (hairy ox). Meanwhile, the Tibetans, were scrutinizing Sander's hairy face, arms, and legs, and inquired if he was buying a sling shot to use for yak herding back in America. Impulsively, I made horns with my forefingers and placed them pointing skyward on either side of Sander's head while telling them that Sander was a MAONIU. They laughed and laughed! And so did we in the market, here in Xining, in the Tibetan Quarter.


Photo: Sander, in the market trying on boots, after buying a sling and conversing with two Tibetans.