"Before the democratic reform, cow dung was the private property of the estate lords and not everyone could freely collect and use it. We could only pick up small pieces of scattered cow dung for use. In winter, we even collected sheep dung to make fires to keep warm."59-year-old Badro recounted what his father had once said.

"There is an old saying in northern Xizang: 'A pastoral area without cow dung is like sky without sun'." Badro was born in 1966 in Oma Village, Gulu Town, Seni District, Nagqu City. He often heard the elders talk about the hardships of oldXizang: "I heard the elders talk about their difficult lives under the oppression of the three landlords, but I never imagined that cow dung was also out of reach for them. The darkness of that time can be imagined."

In northern Xizang, cow dung is used as fertilizer in production, as fuel in daily life, a mascot in folk activities, and even as a treasure in the hearts of herders. It is also a wall of neatly stacked cow dung on the grassland, symbolizing "home".

"As far as I can remember, every household had yaks. Our family had nearly 20. Besides basic living needs, cow dung was used by herders to build windbreak walls and by those who were particular to shape decorative walls in front of their houses... Cow dung exists in various forms in our lives," Badro said. Whether it was the tent he lived in as a child, the adobe house he lived in as a teenager, or the modern house he lives in now, the grass smell of burning cow dung always filled the house. Outside the yard, there was always a wall made of a mixture of cow dung and soil blocks. "In the pastoral area, where there is a pile of cow dung, there is a home."

With the popularization of solar energy equipment, electricity and liquefied gas, the proportion of cow dung used as fuel has significantly decreased.

"Now the living conditions have improved. We can cook nutritious and delicious meals at any time with a liquefied gas stove. The electric heater warms up the room as soon as it is turned on," Badro said with a smile.

Today, cow dung has evolved into a more profound cultural value and has become a unique cultural landscape in northernXizang, showcasing the positive spirit of the herders.

Gulu Town is the "southern gateway" of Nagqu City. The Qinghai-Xizang Railway, the Qinghai-Xizang Highway, and the Nagqu-Lhasa Highway all pass through it. Along the 109 National Highway in the town's jurisdiction, "cow dung art walls" reflecting the new life of herders have been created one after another by the herders' deft hands, becoming a beautiful sight.

In recent years, Seni District has transformed the common cow dung in traditional pastoral areas into an ecological cultural symbol, endowing traditional life elements with new contemporary connotations. Twelve towns were organized to hold over sixty"Most Beautiful Cow Dung Wall" selection activitieswhich interprets the ecological wisdom of "transforming a necessity into art", injecting cultural impetus into rural revitalizationin a unique way. This "original ecology" innovation has also attracted a large number of tourists. According to incomplete statistics, in 2024, the tourism income of Seni District exceeded 210 million yuan, with "horse racing + culture", "cow dung + culture", "exhibition + culture" and other cultural and tourism integration experience projects contributing over 75%. This integrated development model of "ecology + culture + tourism" is forming a demonstration effect in Seni District.

Reporter: Wan Jing

Translator: Zheng Yujie, Zhi Xinghua

Review: Phurbu Tsering, Dong Xiuli