8 Amazing Facts About Tuiwa - the Highest Village in the World

Rosemary December 09, 2022 | 16:49

Do you know the life expectancy of people living in the highest village in the world is only 40 years old? There are lots of mysterious facts about this village.

8 Amazing Facts About Highest Village In The World. Photo 24h

Where is Tuiwa village?

If you think of the highest place in the world, you must think of Tibet first, or even more precise, you must think of Mount Everest. But if you ask you where the highest village in the world is, you may not know.

The Tuiwa Village is located near the Lake Puma Yumco, lying at the foot of the Mt. Mengda Gangri. It is in in Lhoka Prefecture, and the south of Tibet. With an elevation of 5,070 meters above sea level, it is the highest administrative village in the world. So the density of oxygen in Tuiwa Village is only half of the inland cities’ oxygen content.

What does Tuiwa mean?

“Tuiwa” means "connection" in Tibetan. However, it is not totally associated with the outside, or even isolated from the world. The traffic here is inconvenient and the living environment is harsh. Before 2015, no more than 100 tourists came here every year.

How many people are living in Tuiwa village?

There are only a hundred people in the entire Tuiwa Village. The villagers here all live on animal husbandry, and all their income is exchanged for sheep and yaks raised on local pasture. Due to the remote location and inconvenient communication with the outside world, many of the daily necessities are self-sufficient by the residents of the village. In the village, every household has a weaving machine, and the women in the family have mastered weaving skills. Most of the blankets and clothes in the villagers' homes are knitted by themselves.

READ MORE: Top Tallest Mountains on Earth

8 Amazing Facts about Tuiwa

Photo 24h

1. The Legend about "Tuiwa"

More than a thousand years ago, a living Buddha with a disciple mediated in a cave below the temple. They only ate very little tsampa every day. After a long time, the disciple could not bear such hardships, and then he asked the master to go to a better meditation place. So the living Buddha took off his kasaya and spread it on Puma Yumco. He told his disciple to step on the kasaya to the other side of the lake but never to look back. When the disciple stepped on the kasaya to the center of the lake, he turned back to find his guru out of fear then the kasaya quickly retreated. In order to prevent his disciples from falling into the lake, the living Buddha pushed his kasaya to the center of the lake so that his disciples could reach the other side. So the small village encircling the temple got its name: "Tuiwa".

2. Short life expectancy

Photo 24h

According to statistics, the average life expectancy of villagers in Tuiwa Village is only 40 years old. In this place known as the "Life Forbidden Zone", the environmental pressure on people is far greater than that of the inland areas. At the same time, the backward medical conditions also make the villagers lack of treatment methods when facing intractable diseases. The average life expectancy of villagers is low. After learning of this situation, many people said that they dare not go anymore.

3. One hotel only

Visitors to the village can only stay at a small hotel which is owned by a Tibet family. The reason is commercialization is still strange in this land. The village can preserve its pristine activities without much trading.

4. Short distance from stars

As Tuiwa is located at a high altitude and surrounded by Himalaya, enjoying stars at very near distance is what tourists expect the most.

Photo Tibet tour

5. No light and supermarket

There were few inhabitants round Tuiwa Village due to the high altitude, and the villagers of Tuiwa live a simple and plain lifestyle. where there is no neon lights, busting supermarkets. Most villager will carry water on her back and walk long distance even the weather still as cold as that in winter.

6. Tuiwa Temple

On the shore of Puma Yumco, there is a temple - Tuiwa Temple. It seems that all temples are built in the best places in Tibet, so did Tui Temple. Built on a cliff by the lake, this temple is condescending and exquisite, with a history of more than 500 years according to the legend. Climb up to the roof of the temple, and you can enjoy the unobstructed view of Puma Yumco Lake.

Legend has it that Puma Yumco and Yamdrok are male and female. On March 15th every year in the Tibetan calendar, the two lake water will rise and they will be connected together. The locals say that it's the dating of Puma Yumco and Yamdrok.

In addition to grazing, the biggest activity of the villagers is to turn prayer wheels so the sound of the prayer wheel is often heard in the temple. Every spring, they do kora around the Puma Yumco Lake, and then burn incense in the temple to pray for blessings.

7. No one wants to move

Although the government once wanted to allow the villagers to relocate, the villagers in Tuiwa Village did not want to relocate because this is the place where their ancestors lived for generations, and their "roots" have long been under the water of Lake Pumoyongcuo. , Plunged into the depths of this land.

8. Paradise-like life

In this isolated place, the villagers of Tuiwa Village lead a paradise-like life. In the beginning, few people knew about this place. In recent years, as the speed of information dissemination has accelerated, more and more people have learned of such a heavenly painting environment. Standing in the village and looking into the distance, the white snow is in the distance, the green lake is under your feet, and the sky seems to be above your head, making people feel like you are in a fairyland. Therefore, many travel enthusiasts are moved by it. However, when they learned the data about the life span of the villagers in Tiewa Village, they dared not go.

On usual days, young and strong laborers in the village all go to the pastures for grazing, leaving a few children and the elderly to look after the houses, which makes the village even more quiet and desolate. If it weren't at an altitude of more than 5,000 meters, it would be a good place for holidays. The locals here make a living via pastoral nomadism. In order to get through the withered grass season, the villagers drive their sheep to the island in the center of Lake Puma Yumco.

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