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Members of a team consisting of five Tibetan women inspect cultural relics in Nagqu Prefecture, Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. Photo: Courtesy of Tsering Qucuo

In the vast, wind-swept expanses of northern Xizang, where oxygen thins at 4,500 meters above sea level and temperatures plunge to -20 C, a team of five young Tibetan women from Nagqu Prefecture in Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region is rewriting the narrative of cultural preservation amid the on-going fourth national cultural heritage census. 

In November 2023, the State Council announced in a notice the launch of the census, which is aimed at establishing a comprehensive national registry and database of immovable cultural relics and building a dynamic management mechanism for these assets.

According to the National Cultural Heritage Administration, as of January 16, the fourth census has completed the re-examination of over 710,000 cultural relics from the third national cultural relics census, with a re-examination rate exceeding 93 percent. More than 52,000 new cultural relics have been discovered.

As part of the fourth census, these women, all born in the late 1990s, have become pioneers. Their mission: To locate, document, and protect the scattered heritage in Nagqu, from ancient burial grounds to Buddhist monasteries, in a race against time and nature.

The 29-year-old team head Tsering Qucuo told the Global Times that they have driven over 50,000 kilometers across 11 counties since June 25, 2024. To date, they've surveyed 733 immovable heritage sites - 331 from prior records and 402 newly discovered ones, with the most common being ancient tombs and rock carvings.

"Every day feels like an expedition into history," Tsering Qucuo said, her face weathered by harsh ultraviolet rays. "One moment you're battling altitude sickness, the next, you're staring at a cave painting no one has seen for centuries."

A day on the roof of the world

Tsering Qucuo recalls a day spent surveying cultural relics at Xiarongbu Monastery, a 17th-century Buddhist complex rebuilt after its near-total destruction in the 1980s, revealing the grueling rhythm of their work. 

The monastery, located over 100 kilometers from Nagqu, was established in 1640 and has a history of nearly 400 years. It is dedicated to Shakyamuni Buddha and covers an area of 77,860 square meters.

The survey required detailed documentation of the architectural style, structure, age of the monastery, and specific information about the Buddha statues and other cultural relics.

After a two-hour drive from Nagqu, the team split into groups to measure structures, photograph murals, and deploy drones for aerial mapping - a task often thwarted by gales that render equipment useless. By nightfall, they had finished surveying nine sites, surviving on instant noodles and frostbite cream.

Lhamo Xicuo, another member of the team, emphasizes the importance of organizing the materials daily to prevent them from accumulating. They need to process the materials collected during the day on the same night.

"If we don't finish data entry daily, it piles up like snow," said Lhamo Xicuo.

On the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, the team needs to overcome the physical discomfort caused by the high altitude, strong winds, intense ultraviolet rays, as well as large temperature differences between day and night, and mentally prepare for encounters with wild animals. Food scarcity forced reliance on instant noodles, and river crossings turned treacherous as one member was nearly swept away by glacial meltwater.

In Shuanghu county, where altitudes exceed 5,000 meters, the team once battled simultaneous respiratory infections while documenting a 100-tomb complex. 

"There, every breath felt like a tug on the throat, and all of us were sick," Tsering Qucuo recalled.

Many cultural relic sites in Nagqu are located on remote mountains, making it easier to ascend but difficult to descend, causing the women to wear out several pairs of shoes.

Then there are the bears. In the Qiangtang grassland in northern Xizang, a haven for wild yaks and Tibetan antelope, the women need to venture into caves housing millennia-old petroglyphs - and occasionally, hibernating predators. 

"Bears only attack when they see people face-on to protect themselves. Fortunately, we have only seen bears from a distance and have not encountered them directly," Tsering Qucuo said, adding that although fearful, the women focus on their work upon seeing the rock carvings in the dens, while it is the guides accompanying them that often worry about the bears.

Most beautiful journeys

Their most striking discovery came in Nyima county - the Chalongqiongma rock paintings, depicting ritual dances and early wheeled transport - a revelation suggesting ancient cross-cultural exchanges. 

According to Tsering Qucuo, the local guide informed them that there were a few rock carvings inside the cave. So, they crawled in. Inside, there were several cave openings that they could pass through. She described the feeling that they were opening blind boxes - very curious and eager to discover whether the figures drawn on the cave walls were dancing or performing some kind of ceremony.

"It felt like opening a time capsule. Suddenly, you're touching lives from 2,000 years ago."

Despite these challenges, the young women do not complain about the hardships; they find their work exciting and fulfilling. 

Through this experience, Lhamo Xicuo said they have developed a much clearer understanding of various cultural heritage sites, significantly enhancing their professional skills. They have explored many places they had never visited before, deepening their understanding of their hometown's history and reinforcing their resolve to pursue a career in cultural heritage protection.

"Perhaps in the next moment, we will intersect with a lost chapter of history or encounter a significant cultural relic… These cultural relic surveys are the most beautiful journeys of our youth," Lhamo Xicuo said.