by Sharon Barnett
Photo of Tibbie taken from a bus.
All my life I’ve been a dog lover. As far back as I can remember there has been a dog following me around. Therefore, when we travel, I pay attention to the dogs around me, especially the small dogs. Following are some pictures we took on our recent trip to China and Tibet.
I was surprised by the many different breeds we saw in and around Beijing and Lhasa: Shih Tzu, Pomeranian, Pekingese, Chihuahua, Tibetan Spaniel, French Bulldog, Japanese Chin, Lhasa Apso, Papillon, Pug, and many of mixed parentage. We tried to keep our eyes open for the Tibetan breeds.
Tibbie near the Great Wall of China
In the cities we saw many small dogs. Perhaps if we had spent more time in the country we might have seen larger dogs, but my guess is that they, too, would have been mixed breeds (except in Tibet). The Tibetan Mastiffs we saw were in and around Lhasa.
We arrived in Lhasa and were met at the airport by our Tibetan guide “Nyima” (as you probably know this means Sunday in Tibetan).
The sky was so blue, it was breathtaking! The airport is about a 45 minute bus ride from Lhasa so we had the opportunity to see some of the countryside on our way to Lhasa.