‘Everybody likes houses. Even birds are coming!’: Housing tibetan pastoralists in Golok: Policies and everyday realities

Abstract

This chapter discusses the trend visible amongst Tibetan pastoralists of Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province, China, to invest increasing amounts of money in building houses upon their winter grazing lands. It reveals the beginnings of this phenomenon and brings data on the newest state policies aimed at encouraging the pastoralist population to construct houses. Analysis of successive waves of house construction is accompanied by a discussion of the reasons pastoralists themselves give for building new houses. The chapter analyses the roles which the houses play in the lives of their owners and discusses whether or not the pastoralists perceive the living in houses as conflicting with their self-image.