In the town of Jilong, southwest of Shigatse in the mainland's Tibet Autonomous Region, about 30 kilometers from the border with Nepal, there is a unique village that only became a Chinese citizen in 2003. Jilong means "Happy Valley" or "Comfort Valley", which is the deepest of the five ditches in Shigatse; It is also the largest forest scenic area in the Everest Nature Reserve, known as "Tibet's last secret place" and "Mount Everest's back garden".
Geelong County is a small border town on the border with Nepal, only 100 kilometers from Kathman, the capital of Nepal; It is an important channel connecting Nepal, India and other South Asian countries. In order to better receive tourists, there are hotels, hospitals, schools, and various restaurants in the county. The entire county seat is hidden in a lush jungle, with snow on the top of the mountain all year round and lush forests on the mountainside; Tibetan villages are dotted around, and Dammam Village is probably the most special village in Jilong County.
It is home to the Damanese people, with a population of 197 people in 49 households. It has only been 20 years since they became Chinese nationals. And 20 years ago, they experienced more than 200 years of bitterness and drifting. The former Damanese, like the Shuba and Sherpas, were independent and specific ethnic groups that had not been recognized.
The Damanese are clearly believed to be of Nepalese descent, "Daman" means "cavalry" in Tibetan, and the Damanese are the descendants of cavalry during the Gurkha dynasty of Nepal. As early as the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the Gurkhas invaded Tibet; After the Qing army defeated the Gurkha army, hundreds of cavalry were chased by the Qing army and left the Sino-Nepalese border, these people are the ancestors of the Damanese people. After that, they applied for naturalization from the government several times during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, but they were all rejected.
For 200 years, stateless and undocumented Damanese lived in rudimentary thatched huts on the Sino-Nepalese border, men made ends meet by menial jobs such as blacksmithing, women fed cattle and weaved cloth to support their families, and children were denied access to education because they were "black households."
Having lived in Tibet for a long time, the Damani and their descendants have long been accustomed to the customs of Tibet, and are therefore even less likely to return to Nepal. They wear Tibetan robes, speak Chinese and Tibetan, eat barley and rice dumplings, and practice Tibetan Buddhism, which looks no different from ordinary Tibetans from a distance; But if you look closely, they have slightly curly hair, a high nose and deep blue eyes, and they are white rather than native Tibetans. So they became the "gypsies" of the East, without a country and no home, they could only constantly wander and drift, like duckweeds without roots.
The turning point came in 2003, when the Chinese government finally agreed to naturalize the Damanese people after their persistent application. Because of the small number of people, more than 80 Damanese were incorporated into the Tibetan ethnic group at that time. On that day, many Damanese people were in disbelief and burst into tears; Because they finally had a hukou, an identity card, and became China's "youngest citizen", ending 200 years of wandering.
This was followed by a qualitative leap in living standards. In order to solve the housing problem of the Damanese people, the government spent millions to build a new Dammam village in 2004 and 2020 respectively, and the Damanese finally lived in a small Tibetan villa with a single courtyard. In the new house, the Damanese not only had access to running water and electricity for the first time, but the government also allocated arable land and livestock to each household, and purchased supporting furniture such as card mats and Tibetan-style wooden cabinets. Most importantly, school-age children in the village can finally receive 15 years of compulsory education.
The Damanese also diversified their income channels, and in addition to blacksmithing, they began to grow cash crops such as ginger and corn, and their economic situation improved greatly. When recruiting for some projects, Damanese are often given priority and will be given relatively higher labor fees. As life of the Damanese people improved day by day, they began to refuse free government funding; Some Daman young people took the initiative to become people's teachers in poor areas, while others became honorable soldiers who defended their homes and the country.
The Damanese people, who have not left their hometowns, have passed on traditional crafts such as blacksmithing and weaving to more descendants, publicizing the local handicraft culture and stimulating the development of the local tourism economy. The village committee is also vigorously developing tourism, based on the beautiful natural scenery of Jilong County and the unique human geography of the border, attracting more tourists to visit.
Today's Dammam Village is located between green mountains and rivers, and has an indisputable beauty; Dozens of houses are neatly arranged, similar in color and similar in shape. Every house is built clean and beautiful, and occasionally I encounter villagers passing by, and their faces are full of happy and stable smiles. If you also come to Shigatse Kerung County, remember to visit this pristine and legendary village.