Agricultural Settlement and Land Use in Mountains - Mountain Geography: Physical and Human Dimensions - page 568

Changtang grasslands of Tibet. For centuries, the Panchen Lama, second in power to
the Dalai Lama, organized them into a “semi-feudal tribute system . . . like peasants
on agricultural estates” (Goldstein and Beall 1991: 107). The Panchen Lama allocated
grazing rights, herd size and composition, and the tax structure. This traditional society
ended in 1959, when Chinese political control forced the Dalai Lama into exile. The
Chinese authorities implemented rogre (mutual aid) policies to upend the existing class
structure, reduce the power and influence of the wealthy class, and promote sedent-
ary farming. However, the crops withered in the harsh Tibetan climate and rocky soil.
Attempts to dismantle the traditional religio-cultural fabric also failed. Since govern-
ment reform in 1981, herd management has slowly reverted to traditional strategies, al-
though allocating grazing rights without the Panchen Lama's absolute authority is now
a problem. Thus, after two decades of heavy-handed mandates, the suddenly market-
oriented Chinese government concluded that the Phalas' traditional technology yielded
more high-value wool and cashmere than other land uses.
FIGURE 11.16 A transhumant summer camp, Tian Shan, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, west-
ern China. (Photo by S. F. Cunha.)
In Xinjiang, the pastoralists' return to private enterprise has been less successful.
Here, in far western China, the Kunlun Shan, Tien Shan, and Altay Shan ranges tower
above the arid Tarim and Junggar basins (Fig. 11.16). This juxtaposed mountain and
basin topography comprises one-sixth of China's total land area. Average annual pre-
cipitation ranges from 500 mm (20 in.) in the mountains to a paltry 10 mm (<1 in.) in
the desert. The orographic rainfall produces lush summer meadows that, at the upper
elevations, are too cold for crops. Until recently, the foothill pastures and desert oases