Terry - Beyond beauty: hunting the wild blue poppy

Harry Jans is, as he admits, completely infected with the alpine virus, and I thank him for spreading a little of that infection my way. He organized and led this once-in-a-lifetime trip and gave me the chance to fulfill an ambition I never expected to realizefinding the wild Blue Poppy. Im also very grateful to Harry for his help in checking the botanical accuracy of the text and images, as well as offering the use of his photographsof which I have included several. Visit Harrys website www.jansalpines.com for a complete photographic account of this and many other alpine-plant-hunting expeditions, as well as plans for future tours.

John Mitchell, co-leader with Harry, never lost his Scottish good humour, no matter how miserable the weather. He took care of the plant people, especially us older ones, and freely shared his enormous expertise in plant identification. He kindly permitted me to use his picture of the pink poppy (Meconopsis lancifolia)a critical image that I lost when my camera battery ran out!

Before we left, our daughter, Sarah de Reeder, taught us that if we ever got into difficulty with Chinese officials, we should say, Wo shi Bai Qiu-en Daifu de tongzhi (I am a comrade of Dr. Bethune). A student of the Chinese language, Sarah also helped me understand and choose among different names and spellings of places and geographical features. But above all, I salute and thank her for her patience and artistry in preparing the hand-drawn route map, reproduced at the start of this book.

Im deeply grateful to Ruth Linka of TouchWood Editions in Victoria for taking on this sequel to Blue Heaven, and for once again asking Marlyn Horsdal to be my editor. I can count on Marlyn to find the weak spots in the manuscript and to push me to think hard, and think again of creative ways of sharpening the text and strengthening the storyline. The work is much the better for her involvement in its final stages.

Rosemary is really not a plant person, but Im so thankful that she agreed to join me on this expedition and to share its joys and discomforts. She helped as camera assistant, note taker, and plant spotter. She was the first to see the Blue Poppy. Not least, she looked after me. Thank you, dear Rosemary.

BILL TERRY is the author of Blue Heaven: Encounters with the Blue Poppy; his companion calendar, Poppies from the Roof of the World, also features this rare and beautiful plant. His collection of Asiatic poppies (Meconopsis) is the most diverse in North America. Since 1994, Bill Terry has lived on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia with his wife, Rosemary, pursuing a lifelong ambition to create the perfect garden. Bill specializes in plant propagation and has taught that skill at Capilano Universitys Eldercollege. He is a member of The Meconopsis Group, the Royal Horticultural Society, and other gardening organizations. His work as a skilled amateur photographer illustrates his books. Now retired, Bill worked as a CBC executive, with a career in broadcasting that spanned thirty-five years and encompassed thirteen jobs in radio and television production and management in four Canadian cities. Bill believes gardening is the most optimistic of occupations, which explains why gardeners tend to live to a great age. Please visit www.meconopsis.ca.

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Copyright 2012 Bill Terry

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwisewithout the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (ACCESS Copyright). For a copyright licence, visit accesscopyright.ca.

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Terry, Bill, 1935
Beyond beauty [electronic resource] : hunting the wild blue poppy / Bill Terry.

Electronic monograph.
Issued also in print format.
ISBN 978-1-927129-38-8 (PDF).ISBN 978-1-927129-37-1 (HTML)

1. Terry, Bill, 1935- TravelChinaTibet Autonomous Region. 2. Tibet Autonomous Region (China)Description and travel. 3. MeconopsisChinaTibet Autonomous Region. 4. Tibet Autonomous Region (China)History. 5. Tibet Autonomous Region (China)Social life and customs21st century. I. Title.

DS786.T45 2012 915.1'5046 C2012-902026-5

Editor: Marlyn Horsdal
Proofreader: Heather Sangster, Strong Finish
Design: Pete Kohut
Photography by Bill Terry except where otherwise indicated.
Author photo: Rosemary Bates

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support for our publishing activities from the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund, Canada Council for the Arts, and the province of British Columbia through the British Columbia Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of the authors knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author. The author disclaims any liability in connection with the use of this information.

TouchWood Editions
touchwoodeditions.com

For Rosemary

There is something more bold and masterly in the rough, careless strokes of nature, than in the nice touches and embellishments of art... yet we find the works of nature still more pleasant, the more they resemble those of art.

Joseph Addison, 1712

EIGHT

In the morning, continuing westward, we were rolling along on a fine, paved highway when the road abruptly vanished. In its place was an axle-deep torrent of rushing water, broken blacktop, and rolling stones. It seemed as if a river had changed its course, and perhaps it had. We could see where the road resumed, a hundred metres away. Halfway across, a truck was stuck, belching oily exhaust as it tried to get out of the rut its own wheels had scooped. A bulldozer was piling rubble. A bus was stranded; its passengers had disembarked and were standing with wet feet on dry land, waiting, like everyone else, waiting for someone to do something, waiting for who could say how long. We could be there all day. The road might be closed for a week. There was no other route to our next destination, Bayi, and thence to Lhasa.

Our drivers surveyed the wreckage, looking for a way through. They reckoned we could risk it.

Right. Lets go, said Harry.

Our capable Carolyn persuaded other waiting drivers to back up or move aside, and the convoy, still in strict numerical order, threaded the rubble, one at a time. All safely reached the other side.

The road ahead was swept away.

We followed the Parlung Tsangpo, within sight of great Namcha Barwa (7,782 metres), the eastern anchor of the Himalayas, first climbed in 1992. With its smaller sister Gyala Peri (7,294 metres), it guards the flanks of the Yarlung Tsangpo River gorge. In Tibetan mythology, these two stupendous peaks are the magnificent breasts of the goddess Dorje Phangmo, who is usually depicted in sexual congress with her eternal partner, the demon god Demchog. We were driving across the roof of the world and encountering unimaginable scenery around every bend. But imagination was our only means of seeing, for we drove all day through mist and drizzle and caught not a glimpse of all that splendour.