Mountain guardian cleans up the climb

Source of garbage

The first time A Qingbu noticed the garbage was in 2003 — a Water Sheep year for Mount Kawagebo, the highest peak in the Meili Snow Mountains, which straddles Yunnan and the Xizang autonomous region.

In Tibetan Buddhism, the Year of the Sheep is the sacred birth year of Kawagebo, making it a highly auspicious time for pilgrimage. Tibetan pilgrims arrived in unprecedented numbers to perform the kora, a ritual circumambulation of the mountains that can take eight to 10 days.

"At a campsite by a spring, I saw oil from plastic food bags floating on the water. It was disgusting," he said. "Even while sleeping, the stench from the garbage was unbearable."

A Qingbu, then 30 years old, had been guiding pilgrims since he was 17. He knew the outer circuit better than most. Born in 1972 in Chalitong village of Yunling township, he lost his mother at 13 and had to leave school after sixth grade to return home and farm.

Chalitong is near the main road from Dechen to Gongshan county in Yunnan and the entrance of the outer circuit around Mount Kawagebo.

Guiding pilgrims has long been a traditional occupation for local men, and it soon became A Qingbu's primary livelihood. Initially, he earned a modest 400 yuan for completing the outer circuit.

However, the 1991 Kawagebo mountaineering tragedy, which claimed 17 lives, brought international attention to the sacred peak, the surrounding mountains and the kora route. As a result, A Qingbu and his friends began guiding larger groups of pilgrims and trekkers.

"To hire a horse or mule, you now need to pay 400 to 500 yuan ($59 to 74) per day," he said. "A team of four or five guides, with five to eight animals, can serve a group of seven or eight customers and earn between 20,000 and 30,000 yuan per trip."

In the early days, the route was virtually free of litter. Tibetan pilgrims carried traditional foods like barley flour, yak butter and dried yak meat. They brewed tea from loose leaves, discarding the wet leaves beside the trail. With no packaged goods, there was little waste to dispose of, A Qingbu recalled.

Over time, however, packaged foods, canned drinks and bottled water started to fill pilgrims' bags. Seasonal grocery stands began to appear along the kora route, catering to the increasing number of visitors. A Qingbu noticed plastic bottles, instant noodle cups and snack wrappers accumulating along the path.

"In 2003, I realized this was going to become a significant problem," he said.