Villagers reap a golden harvest

The township is also unique in its cultivation management. The head of the field is in charge of the farming, irrigation and harvesting time, as well as rituals worshipping the gods and praying for blessings. The head of the field has to spend three years following his predecessor to all the farmland in the village and memorize the names of more than 400 blocs. As farmland is scarce and extremely precious, every piece of farmland has a name.

Observing the sun is a skill he must master-placing a small stone on the back of his neck, and then pressing it against the wall to observe the position and time of the sun's rise and fall; or observing the angle and time of the sun's rays entering the house from a hole in the roof. In the past when electricity was far from universal, Tibetans used to open a small hole in the roof to let in light. Three years later, the head will lead the whole village to grow barley, and host four large-scale worship ceremonies every year. The farming time he has calculated using this method is almost the same as calculated by the calendar published by the Tibet Hospital every year.