This yak is very strange.
Typical Tibetan houses are of three floors.
The Tibetans call it "Water Shelf".
Look.
I can't hold it myself.
It's a mythical creature of the Tibetan.
The decorations on the 3rd floor's door are very sophisticated.
It's my first time to enjoy the butter tea.
Houses in Tibetan - Vlog
I'm in a small village in Shangri-La.
Those over there are Tibetan houses.
The villagers here are all Tibetans.
Though it's July now, it still feels cold.
I'm wearing a thermal cloth inside.
These are all rape flowers.
During this time of the year, you can only find rape flowers
here in Shangri-La, Yunnan.
These are the cattle raised by the villagers.
Some are yaks, while others can produce milk.
They need to be bred on the pasture
where they can eat grass while lying on the ground.
Here is a yak calf.
It seems to be afraid of people.
The chicken is pretty.
Look at its colorful feathers.
The Tibetan house is of a trapezoid shape,
with a smaller top and a bigger bottom.
Tibetans say the house will be more secure this way.
They will paint beautiful pictures on the roof,
using bright colors.
Typical Tibetan houses are of three floors.
The first floor is used to keep yaks and pigs.
People live on the second and third floors.
Let's go inside.
Here are some yaks.
Hey!
Here you can see a proud yak.
It has a white tail,
and a black body.
I was about to leave,
when the yak turned around and looked at me.
What's up, dude?
Why are you staring at me?
This yak is strange.
Other yaks are afraid of people.
Let's go inside the house and take a look.
Ma'am.
All are made of wood,
including the walls.
Let's walk in the room.
It's a very big living room.
It functions as a living room.
On the left hand near the door,
we can see a pretty place.
Tibetans call it "Water Shelf".
The water shelf is decorated with carved patterns all around.
It's very beautiful.
Here's a small gate.
They use it to store utilities.
It's kind of a utility room.
People here will place
such a beautiful water shelf in the big living room.
They will build it based on the layout of their own houses.
That is in every house, there will be one,
but the position may vary.
People build the water shelf
because here in Shangri-La, water is a scarce resource.
To show their respect for water,
Tibetans will build
a grand and beautiful water shelf
to store water at home.
Inside the water shelf, there is a tap.
The water is diverted from the mountains.
They use a large copper barrel to hold the water.
Listen to its sound.
The ladles they use are also of great quality.
They're all made of copper. This one uses brass.
These two brass ladles come in different sizes.
This barrel is made of rose copper.
It's rather large.
Tibetans' respect for water can be seen from many details.
You can see many handcrafts,
carved decorations on the shelf.
These are the black potteries they made.
They are not burnt yet.
The whole structure of the house,
including the roof as well as the floors, is made of wood.
But the pillars are the most amazing to me.
Look.
I can't hold it on my own.
This house needs about
10 of such pillars.
All shall be pine wood
of this thickness.
Here is the place where they cook.
There will be some bright paintings on the wall,
with different images.
I wonder if you still remember this stove.
We used a similar one when we filmed goat milk pancakes.
It is a Tibetan stove.
The fire will be lit up inside the box.
The ash will fall down,
onto the tray below.
The whole area up here can be heated.
People can stir-fry ingredients on it,
and also boil water.
Look at its chimney.
It goes all the way up to the floor.
We are now on the second floor.
The chimney goes way up above the third floor.
It can be seen on top of the roof.
Here is a pot
designed to boil water.
These two pots are used
to boil water for people to drink.
This one is used
to boil water for the cattle to drink.
And this little pot is used to make tea.
The fire will be lit up down here.
Usually, Tibetans drink butter tea daily.
They will make it over there.
And others will
wait here
for the butter tea to be served.
The place over here
functions as a living room when many people are around.
You can find this picture in every Tibetan household.
Some will carve it onto the wall,
while others will buy a printed poster and hang it onto the pillar.
It is the harmonious image of four auspicious beasts,
a.k.a four mythical creatures.
This one on top is a cuckoo.
Then here is a bunny.
This one is a monkey.
At last, this one is an elephant.
There are many half-done black potteries on the windowsill.
Look at this one.
There will be a delicate pattern on each of these pots.
This is the Tibetan mythical creature.
They will portray these creatures onto these utensils.
Some potteries will also
have beautiful tiles on the surface.
This mythical creature is on the handle.
And this one.
You can see them on its body and handle.
They are even decorated on smaller pots like this one.
Here is the living room layout of the second floor.
Now let's go and check the third floor.
Here are the stairs.
It's made of wood as well.
Let's go upstairs.
Now we are on the third floor.
Here you can see several doors.
Each will lead you
into separate rooms.
Two of the rooms are of special meanings.
The room on the left is designed for the monks.
The room on the right is where they enshrine the Buddha.
There's a special room on the third floor of every Tibetan house.
It is preserved for the monks only.
During many festivals, people here
will invite monks to chant sutras and pray at home.
To show their respect for the monks,
they will have a room especially for them on the third floor.
No one else will live in this room.
Only the monks who come to pray can live in it.
That is this room.
When we step out of the rooms,
you can see
a beautifully decorated balcony out there,
with lots of carved patterns
that come in bright colors.
There will also be dragons out here,
carved dragons.
The number is based on the size of the house.
For larger houses, there may be
six dragons.
But a house like this one has four dragons.
Each pillar will have one dragon decorated.
There are some beautiful paintings on the sides of the balcony.
Here are some carved window decorations.
The decorations on the door of third floor are very sophisticated.
All these are hollowed out.
For Tibetans, the third floor is a sacred place.
That is because the Buddha is living on the third floor.
Therefore, they will decorate the balcony on the third floor
with lots of carved patterns and wall paintings,
to make it elegant and beautiful.
Honored guest usually stay on the third floor as well.
The hostess is boiling water when I step down the stairs.
Ma'am, what are you doing?
I'm making butter tea for you.
Make butter tea for us?
Thank you so much.
The firewoods down here are pine wood and pear branches.
There are two delicate wooden jars beside my seat.
It has hulless barley powder inside.
Ma'am, it smells good. Is it cooked?
Yep.
Stir-fried?
Yeah.
It smells great.
The weather is pretty cold here.
As a result, the stove
will be lit up everyday during the winter.
People use it to keep warm
and boil hot water for drink as well.
During the summer,
they will only lit up the fire when cook meals.
There's an iron tray underneath the stove.
Then there's a thick piece of wood.
It's about
this thick.
The whole thing is made of wood.
On the four corners of the wood piece,
they will embed copper sheets.
Do you come home every week?
We will stay at school for 10 days
and stay at home for 4 days.
So it's 10 days of school and 4 days off?
Do you have butter tea at school?
Nope.
What do you drink then?
We will have milk in the morning.
Oh.
This is a box made of bamboo.
It has ghee inside.
They will take some ghee in the morning
and put it in the butter tea maker.
The maker is made of wood as well.
It looks like a flower.
The container is also made of wood,
with iron sheets on the surface.
After putting in the ghee,
they will use this pot to make some tea.
It is made of black pottery.
They will pour the tea liquid from the black pottery
into the container
and mix with butter like this.
Just like the actions by little sister.
Once mixed, we will then
pour the butter into the pot
to heat for about 10 minutes.
It will be ready once boiled.
May I?
It's salty.
Did I put in too much salt?
So it has salt inside?
Yep.
It's good.
Shall I eat it directly?
Then drink some tea?
How amazing the taste is.
It's my first time to enjoy the butter tea.
It has a thick milky flavor,
and is a bit salty.
I didn't taste the flavor of the tea though.
Usually, they will have a cup of butter tea for breakfast.
They will have four or five spoons of hulless barley powder.
It's my first time to eat it.
To be honest, I'm not used to it.
The kid is having her second cup of tea.
Is it good?
Yes.
Do you find it troublesome to make butter tea every morning?
Not at all.
It's the easiest thing.
Is it?
Yes.
What do you usually have for lunch then?
Clap your hands. Clap for your sister.