Original subtitles

(dramatic music)

The Sichuan-Tibet Highway

is the most important traffic route from China

to the Himalayas,

2,200 kilometers across steep passes

and deep valleys up to the roof of the world.

(dramatic music)

The journey leads through remote villages

and fascinating landscapes,

but unforeseen dangers lure at every corner.

At 5,000 meters altitude, the infinity of the sky

seems as close as never before at the end

of the road of longing for truck drivers,

travelers and pilgrims.

The Sichuan-Tibet Highway leads from Chengdu

in the Sichuan Province situated in the Southeast of China.

It crosses the Himalayas to Tibet's Capitol city Lhasa.

(speaking in foreign language)

Ren Taiping and his colleague Shun

are checking the wheels and brakes of their truck.

They have to bring cement to a place

near the Tibetan border, about 800 kilometers away.

They calculated three days for their trip.

They take turns driving at frequent intervals

because the ascent up the Himalayas

takes full concentration.

(speaking in foreign language)

The road section between 21

and the Erlang Mountains is very difficult to drive

because of the many roadworks.

Landslides cause road accidents time and time again.

The road conditions are a disaster,

especially in heavy rain.

Through steep valleys,

the road ascends higher and higher.

Because there was a lot of rain,

whole mountain slopes start moving.

The road needs repairing all the time.

Again and again, vehicles crash and fall

into the deep canyons.

(horns honking)

(speaking in foreign language)

Nearly all drivers were meat or Tibetans.

They're bad drivers.

If we encounter them on the road,

it's better to let them pass.

Only yesterday, further down the road,

the stubborn behavior of two drivers caused deaths.

The ascent to the first pass

is especially dangerous since it's hardly paved at all.

Ren Taiping prefers to let his more experienced colleague

Shun do the driving.

The road winds itself ever higher

through a sub-tropical mountain jungle.

The clouds floating from the Pacific Ocean to the Himalayas

cause heavy rains here.

Traffic is bad here

because of only single-lane traffic

on account of the roadworks.

Look, the whole street leading up here

is only one single traffic jam.

You have to be very careful.

Shortly before the pass,

once again, a landslide blocks the road.

Everyone has to be prepared for many hours of waiting time.

(gentle music)

(water splashing)

The first stage of the Sichuan-Tibet Highway

leads from Sichuan's capital city, Chengdu,

across the foothills of the Himalayas to Kangding.

The first ascent to the Erlang Mountain

is one of the most dangerous stages of the whole route.

A farmer woman is logging bamboo

in the underbrush above the street.

Gal Kaisi does not even let heavy rain

keep her from working.

(speaking in foreign language)

What do we use the bamboo for?

We use it to build a protective cover.

Our old temple is being demolished.

Now our Buddha needs a new provisional roof.

Gal Kaisi and some of the farmers

from the close-by village

want to finish building the makeshift temple

on the slope above the highly frequented road.

It's is supposed to safeguard not only the villagers,

but also passing travelers against accidents.

(speaking in foreign language)

People here are used to working in the rain.

The sun hardly ever shines in this foggy region.

This is Buddha Guanyin

and here we have the patron of the street.

Over there is General Bai and this is Bai Ma

with his white horse.

(horn honking)

(speaking in foreign language)

To ask for protection from up above

is very common in this area,

maybe because there are dangers everywhere.

Just a few years ago, tens of thousands of people died

at a disastrous earthquake

which devastated this area in Sichuan.

(speaking in foreign language)

Soon we will build a new temple.

Now is the peak harvest time for the rice

so we have no time at all.

(speaking in foreign language)

We'll only have time to build a permanent temple

after everything has been harvested.

(fireworks popping)

The temple is inaugurated with small fireworks.

(dramatic music)

"Beware of falling rocks,"

it says a few kilometers further on.

The rain has destabilized the slope.

The climbers are trying to loosen branches

and debris to prevent the worst.

Sometimes the road patrol manages to alleviate

dangerous slides, but most of the time they arrive too late.

(horns honking)

(staccato music)

Zu Vanxin is one of the thousands of cyclists

who try to surmount the passes of the Sichuan-Tibet Highway

between spring and fall.

(speaking in foreign language)

I feel free when I'm on the road.

I can cycle fast or slow, whichever I want.

I meet people on the way and make friends.

We cyclists are like-minded.

Everyone is on vacation.

I'm so happy.

We're cycling to Lhasa.

It'll take us three to four weeks to get there.

In between we rest for two or three days.

(upbeat music)

Through rain and fog, even in snow and ice,

the cyclists struggle for days

across four to 5,000 meter-high passes

to reach their destination, Lhasa.

Because of the enormous differences in altitude,

the endlessly long passages and the many dangers,

the Sichuan-Tibet Highway is a sort of baptism of fire

for many members of the new Chinese middle-class.

Ren Taiping and his colleague

have left the traffic jam behind.

Finally, they can move on.

(speaking in foreign language)

If a car breaks down and blocks the road,

the traffic jam lasts for at least half a day.

Dangerous situations occur very often.

One has to be very careful,

but most drivers are aware of the dangerous.

(chickens clucking)

Not only landslides,

falling rocks or unpaved roads are challenging.

The greatest danger arises from drivers who risk too much.

(chickens clucking)

A poultry truck has fallen over.

Hundreds of chickens have died.

(speaking in foreign language)

A car approached me on my lane.

I came from below and had to yield quickly.

The driver's wife is trying to save

what can be saved.

It has taken the family a whole year to rear the chickens.

Now the family's existence is at stake.

(ethereal music)

The route leads ever higher up in the Himalayas.

Behind the first 4,000 meter pass,

Ren Taiping in his colleague suffer damage too.

The driver's door is damaged,

but they are not even halfway there.

(horn honking)

(speaking in foreign language)

My colleague, Mr. Shun,

stopped to replenish the water

when a truck came towards us.

We shouted and waved at him to make him stop,

but he didn't see us in time and crashed into the open door.

That's how it got broken.

Ren Taiping suspects this unnecessary accident

will cost them at least half a day

because normally it takes the police

a few hours to arrive at the scene.

The other driver does not accept the blame,

so the police will have to file a report.

Further down in the valley,

the cyclists stop off at a hostel before darkness sets in.

(horn honking)

Zu Vanxin has also completed his daily leg.

The increasing bicycle tourism is a welcome line

of business for the villagers.

A one-night stay cost five euros per person.

That's affordable, even by Chinese standards.

The cyclists arrive from all across China.

The highway on top of the world is en vogue,

but whoever cycles here must be prepared

for all kinds of weather.

(speaking in foreign language)

The road was bumpy and full of pot holes

and totally wet.

(speaking in foreign language)

Yes, I got wet too.

It's very slippery, especially downhill.

The overtaking cars splash dirt in my face.

That's a real problem.

If a truck approaches you, you have to stop,

otherwise no one can pass.

I must be careful because the truck would hardly notice

if it ran over me.

(speaking in foreign language)

(rain pattering)

(horns honking)

It's still raining the next morning.

The villagers don't seem to mind.

Here at 2,000 meters above sea level,

the people are used to this moist and damp weather.

Things at the hostel are starting to stir too.

Shortly before 10:00 AM, later than usual,

Zu Vanxin sets off on his trip again.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Ren Taiping and his colleague

are back on the road as well.

They waited five hours for the police to arrive.

They flattened the driver's door and tied it

to the truck as best as they could.

The Sichuan-Tibet Highway winds itself ever higher.

The next pass is 4,500 meters high.

The truckers stay on the inner lane as much as they can

because of the broken door and the dust.

Up here the air is noticeably thinner

and it has become colder.

The temperatures now lie at barely above zero degrees.

(speaking in foreign language)

It is so tough to drive

and the next passage will be uncomfortable too.

We try to stay close to the mountain with our broken door,

which means that sometimes we're driving

on the wrong side of the road.

This can be dangerous,

especially if big vehicles are approaching.

(horn honking)

(upbeat music)

From the city of Kangding,

the road leads across various passes to Litang

near the Tibetan boarder.

(water running)

Close by the road at nearly 5,000 meters,

the Tibetan Monastery, Gao Ye Shan.

About 2,000 meters further down,

the climate becomes mild again.

This is the Tibetan part of Sichuan,

easily recognizable by the splendid Tibetan houses.

The family Sung belongs to the Khampa people.

They are building a new house for their son.

The old one stood too close to the road and was demolished.

Lu Sung is 24 years old.

The house is supposed to be ready when he gets married.

(speaking in foreign language)

When they expanded the Sichuan-Tibet Highway

a little while ago, our house was affected as well.

Even though we weren't happy with the compensation payment,

we're now building a new house a bit further away

from the street now.

Everybody working here is related to me.

We ourselves dug up the stones and the clay

and brought it here from far away.

It will take three months to build the house.

Life for the Khampa people has its own rhythm,

but the highway is a foreboding of changing times.

Every day, new faces appear.

"Who are these strangers that struggle to climb up here?

What do they want here?" the locals ask themselves.

(speaking in foreign language)

(laughing)

It won't take long before the Chinese bustle

will change life up here too.

(new age music)

Zang Yong drinks up his energy drink

before hitting the road again.

He's actually always in a hurry.

He is expected to pick up tourists from Lhasa

for a tour across the Himalayas.

He aims to arrive within five days,

but Lhasa is not only 1,700 kilometers away,

he also has to overcome a total of 25,000 meters

in altitude, downhill and uphill.

Zang Yong always drives as fast as the road allows,

sometimes even faster.

He is 25 years young, quick to react and ambitious.

The tour is not only a job for him, but also a challenge.

(speaking in foreign language)

Driving uphill,

it's sometimes really difficult to overtake the others.

For example, if there's a traffic jam,

overtaking can get very dangerous.

That means I won't be able to meet my schedule.

There are days when I only manage to drive 200 kilometers

because of all the time I'm losing.

(speaking in foreign language)

(upbeat music)

(engine revving)

Zang Yong just barely missed

getting involved in this crash.

(speaking in foreign language)

The brakes failed, didn't work anymore.

I went downhill and the truck went faster and faster.

(speaking in foreign language)

I had to steer into the ditch

or else we would've come off the road.

The driver realizes immediately,

the truck is only good enough for its spare parts.

Maybe the engine and the gearbox still work,

but the whole right-hand side is a pile of junk.

At least the load

containing construction material isn't damaged.

He wants to be able to give a detailed account

of the damage when he calls his boss.

After the first shock,

the driver reacts surprisingly relaxed and cool.

(speaking in foreign language)

The danger is always greatest going downhill

when the brakes are strained.

(speaking in foreign language)

I was petrified when I hit the brakes

and absolutely nothing happened.

(speaking in foreign language)

To the left,

there were a couple of small cars approaching.

He would have definitely run into them

if he hadn't driven into the mountain.

There would have been casualties.

He would have pushed the two little cars down the slope

and then there would have been another traffic jam.

He made the right decision.

Ren Taiping and his colleague

have now been on the road for three days.

They want to arrive at their destination

Litang, tomorrow morning.

Another problem arises.

(truck beeping)

(speaking in foreign language)

That doesn't sound good.

I had a funny feeling right at the beginning of our trip.

I'll check the cooling system of the brakes.

Is the brake cooling blocked?

(metal banging)

The valve is shut.

The cooling is blocked.

That's not good.

The cooling shouldn't be blocked.

(speaking in foreign language)

It's very dangerous if the cooling system

for the brakes fails and you're going downhill.

Then the brakes will fail and you have a real big problem.

You either drive against the buffer walls into the ditch

or you go down the slope.

Or you cause a bad accident,

something that frequently happens here.

At 4,000 meters altitude,

right next to the road, a Tibet and family of nomads

are tending their flock of yaks.

Zu Ma, her husband, and the two sons live off the milk,

the furs and the meat of the animals.

They own 70 yaks.

(playful music)

Zu's eldest son, Dawa, is 13 years old.

It took him ages to accustom his favorite yak to be ridden.

Now he is proud that the animal lets him sit on its back.

(speaking in foreign language)

I attend to the yaks and call them

if they stroll off too.

After milking them, I bring them to the pasture

and bring them back in the afternoon.

Dawa wants to become a cowboy,

own a horse and ride through the prairie.

(laughing)

Soon, the family will leave the summer pasture

and move on to the village below.

(speaking in foreign language)

Our village has a school,

but I don't go there anymore.

I left two or three years ago.

Yes, I miss school.

Because the first snow has already fallen,

his dad has borrowed a truck to transport the tents

and yaks down to the village.

Tomorrow they will start moving,

but today the yaks are allowed to graze one last time.

I don't have much to say.

Just tell him what you do every day.

I herd yaks every day.

Zu Ma has milked about 30 liters of milk today.

It's their most important income.

In order to produce yak butter,

she heats up the milk a little bit.

She sells the butter

to a salesman who comes around every day.

Five kilos each day, they live off it.

(speaking in foreign language)

Without this machine,

we wouldn't have butter.

The whey comes in here and the butter over there.

The fact that their pastures

lie directly at the road

makes life simpler for the family.

It's easier to sell the butter

and the transport of the tents and the herd

the next day will take place much faster.

(mystical music)

(horns honking)

Shortly before the next pass,

a car from Shanghai has broken down on the mountain road.

(speaking in foreign language)

Shu Ting has a problem with her clutch.

(speaking in foreign language)

I can't do this

when people are watching me.

Shu Ting still needs practice starting the car

at the foot of the hill.

It's her first time in the mountains.

She came to conquer the Himalayas all on her own,

all the way from Shanghai.

(speaking in foreign language)

I just want to drive to Tibet.

I've been wanting to go there for three years now,

but there were too many things that kept me from doing so.

Now the time has come.

I've done some research and had been preparing for this trip

for the past three years.

I wanna see Tibet with my own eyes

and it should be possible, even with such a small car.

Shu Ting has already driven 2,500 kilometers,

500 in the mountains.

Because her car is lightweight

and has a lot of chassis clearance,

she masters even difficult passages.

Sometimes impatient fellow drivers give Shu Ting

a harder time than the road conditions.

Go back.

Why do you keep going ahead?

You're blocking the road.

Can't the truck get past?

Whenever the drivers encounter traffic jams

at roadworks, they get nervous.

(bright music)

Ren Taiping and his colleague

have almost reached their destination.

Between them and Litang remains only a last descent.

They arrive a day too late because of the accident

and the many traffic jams.

Still, they are in a good mood

because up here the road is free of potholes.

(speaking in foreign language)

There used to be lots of thieves here.

I never used to dare driving here at night.

And in the old days it was impossible

to make rapid progress.

You used to have to drive much more carefully than today.

(upbeat music)

Ren Taiping particularly enjoys

this part of the journey, especially if the sun is shining.

The lofty beauty of the landscape at 4,500 meters altitude

gives him a feeling of freedom.

They arrive at Litang in the afternoon.

It's one of the highest cities of the world,

situated at 4,000 meters altitude on a high plateau.

(speaking in foreign language)

One of the most famous Tibetan Buddhist monasteries

is in Litang.

Ren Taiping and his colleague have now delivered the cement.

Not only construction material, but also most of the food

for the inhabitants of Litang comes from the lowlands.

(horn honking)

They have mastered this adventurous trip once again.

They won't rest for long at this restaurant.

Already in the afternoon, there'll be heading back home.

(speaking in foreign language)

(Tibetan music)

The monastery of Litang was built in the 16th century.

The third and 10th Dalai were educated here.

Even today, the monastery is one of the most important

schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

More than a thousand monks live behind these ancient walls.

The 10-meter high statue of Buddha on the inside

is famous as well.

Splendid ornaments bear witness

to the ingenuity of Tibetan artisanship.

(dramatic music)

Zang Yong has been on the road for three days now.

He is happy about the improvement of the road conditions

up here in the mountains.

The Sichuan-Tibet Highway runs from Litang

at the Tibetan border, across Eastern Tibet,

all the way to Lhasa.

At the Tibetan border,

Zang Yong crosses the legendary Yangtze River,

which enters the Pacific Ocean near Shanghai.

A bit further West, the road follows the valley

of the River Mekong, which sometimes carves

two kilometers deep into the mountains.

Finally it reaches the 72 turns

which lead down to the River Seluin.

(speaking in foreign language)

It's not easy driving down these serpentines.

The bands are extremely narrow.

If you drive too fast, the car might roll over.

You always have to keep an eye

on the approaching traffic and the curves.

If a big truck shows up,

you have to wait in front of the curve.

That's the only way to pass.

This is a good car, but you shouldn't drive it too fast.

An SUV is big and high,

but that means it can easily overturn.

(upbeat music)

(tires squealing)

In spite of his high center of gravity,

Zang Yong pushes the vehicle to its limits.

Next to the road,

three young Tibetans are sorting pieces of aluminum.

They are a kind of vanguard of civilization.

Hu Kai is in charge of the brigade.

He has invested all his money in five mules

in order to be able to offer his services

to the electricity board.

He wants to help put up power poles

until he has made enough money to fulfill his dream

of buying his own car.

One day, he wants to be a taxi driver.

At the moment,

we don't have any power supply lines.

There's no electricity.

Depending on the whereabouts,

it'll take up different amounts of time.

In this sector, it'll take another month.

Hu Kai is only responsible

for this area next to the road.

Higher up there is another brigade

putting up the power poles to also supply

this Tibetan region with electricity.

The stronger mules

can carry 400 to 450 kilos.

This one here only 250.

(aluminum crashing)

We have to be careful.

The parts fall on the mules' legs, we have a big problem.

(dramatic music)

Highly focused, Zang Yong heads west.

He enjoys being able to drive as fast as he wants to

in this remote area.

These bikers are also heading towards Lhasa.

They are from the Guangdong Province

and have been on the road for 26 days already

and driven 4,000 kilometers.

Hung Xintao has come up with a plan.

I'm 66 years old.

He's 62, and this gentlemen here is 61.

We're all retired.

(speaking in foreign language)

I already planned to drive to Tibet

on a motorcycle for eight years, but it never happened.

I did go to Lhasa with a group of tourists,

but to find people that go there on a motorbike tour

isn't easy at all.

But now, finally, my dream comes true.

(speaking in foreign language)

Lhasa holds a mysterious attraction

for many people.

Some are searching for freedom and adventure on their trip

across the mountains, while others have religious

and spiritual reasons to explore the heart of Tibet.

(upbeat music)

For these Tibetan travelers,

the Sichuan-Tibet Highway is a pilgrim trail.

(speaking in foreign language)

We're going to Lhasa to the prayer mills.

(laughing)

(speaking in foreign language)

We've been traveling for a month now.

We carry all we need, our food too, Tsampa.

(speaking in foreign language)

They eat pure barley flour without additives,

their only sustenance for many weeks.

See you later.

The pilgrim trail leads them on,

uphill and downhill, through ice and snow.

Only those prepared to suffer hardships will endure.

(upbeat music)

(wind blowing)

(speaking in foreign language)

For the professional driver, Zang Yong,

the Sichuan-Tibet Highway is just part of his job.

He doesn't care much for the discovery of slowness.

The earlier he arrives, the more content he is,

but shortly before reaching Lhasa,

he encounters a traffic jam for the first time in days.

(speaking in foreign language)

There are various hazards on the trip,

landslides, deep snow in the high mountains,

slippery and icy streets.

It may be difficult for someone who never drove here before.

For me, it's no problem to drive down this road.

I know it well.

Zang Yong has reached his destination, Lhasa.

The pilgrims also arrive after their long journey

at the Potala Palace,

the Dalai Lama's residence for centuries.

They believe that by spinning the prayer mills,

they can remove the harm of all living creatures

and dissolve bad karma.

Now, at the end of the sea Sichuan-Tibet Highway,

everyone has fulfilled their goal.

(upbeat music)