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Firemen in monasteries guard Tibetan relics

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-23 19:52

The story told by his father, now deputy head of the Potala Palace administration office, still leaves an impression. "It was my first lesson about the importance of protecting the palace from fire," he said.

It was also Yixi Cering's first lesson when he joined the team 10 years ago. Since then, he has risen each day at 6 a.m. (half an hour earlier in summer) before the palace opens to visitors at 9 a.m., to patrol the prayer halls all day.

A monk checks Buddhist scriptures at a library room in the Potala palace in Lhasa, Tibet February 11, 2009. [Agencies]

Before going to bed around 11 p.m., Yixi, 26, and his colleagues, must check more than 2,000 light bulbs, all the incense burners and electrical equipment to ensure they are switched off, extinguished and safe. "I can draw a map of the wiring with eyes closed," says Yixi.

An ethnic Tibetan, Yixi became head of one of the palace's four squads in 2002. He sleeps lightly, constantly alert for every slight sound, especially from the ceiling when he must get up and check for mice.

"If the mouse gnaws through a wire, it can cause a fire," says Yixi, adding the likelihood has diminished since the introduction of cats.

However, the work has left him with a nasal inflammation because of the cold, humid air in the palace. "Some of my colleagues suffer joint inflammations," he says.

The situation improved after fire prevention authorities installed air-conditioners to heat the firemen's dorms in early 2006.

Yixi's Han colleague, Jiang Chaoxin, had more to learn, especially about the religious rules in the sacred palace.

He recalls one morning in January 2003, when he accidentally splashed some water in the bucket of a monk next to him as he washed his face.

The monk scolded Jiang for his carelessness. Jiang was baffled by the reaction, but his Tibetan colleagues explained that the monk's water was to be offered to Buddha statues and was supposed to remain pure.

"I knew then I had a lot to learn, and I wrote all these things in my notebook and read them during my spare time," Jiang said.

The fire brigade is now 30 strong and the Potala Palace has been fire free since 1984, and other historic Lhasa sites are following its example.

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