AS is the case with many other counties in western China, Daofu is also a small town - and it doesn't take long to walk around it. It is located in the Tibetan area of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, 585 kilometres from the provincial capital, Chengdu and quite close to southeastern Tibet.

　　A large river, the Xianshuihe, runs by the northwestern corner of Daofu, spanned by a bridge that is home to flocks of birds.

　　Most of the homes, built in the local Daofu style, on the mountain slopes to the north of the town belong to the Lama Temple.

　　The townspeople over the centuries have built their houses of wood and stone and have ensured that they are warm in winter and cool in summer.

　　The interior decor of the main Lama Temple is exquisite with gold filled sculptures and paintings on the walls.

　　Every picture tells a well-known local legend.

　　The drawing room is furnished to show the wealth of our Daofu hosts. On an altar in the room sits a figure of the Buddha. In the corridors, beautiful flowers and plants bloom through all the seasons.

　　The formal name of the Daofu Lama Temple is Lingque Temple and it enjoys a high reputation in the Tibetan region.

　　On our way to the temple, we encountered many people who had got up early to go to worship at the temple. They said hello to us politely.

　　Children shouldering bags were on their way to school chasing one another. Small children smiled happily at us who were strangers in their town.

　　The temple is surrounded by high walls and behind them we were interested to find a largesgroupsof young lamasshavingsclasses.

　　An elderly lama seemed to be their teacher and we were surprised to hear him speaking English fluently.

　　Nearby Lede Xuemu Mountain is known locally as the Mountain of the God. With the help of a local guide, we climbed the mountain and enjoyed a lovely view of the countryside below us and the blue river at the mountain's foot.

　　The ascent of the mountain was noteasy but our guide, a man in his fifties, climbed steadily as if he were walking on level ground.

　　Far below us, in the waters of the Xianshuihe River, some of the children of Daofu had stripped off all their clothes and were splashing in the shallows in the warm sunshine.