The great thaw

A glacier-fed river in the village.[Photo by Shi Wenzhi/China Daily]

They have tinned in the past 30 years or so, she says while stirring hot barley liquor in the yard of her house and speaking in Tibetan through a translator.

Tibetans make up the majority population in this county of 67,000 people.

Baima Dengzhu, a 65-year-old man who migrated to Mingyong village from Northwest China's Qinghai province a few years ago to work at a Buddhist temple, describes the glacial retreat as a "process of nature" but says people in the village are planting more trees these days to keep things green.

Among the village's youth, men are into roadwork or tourism, while women either study or work outside.

"The temperatures have risen (in the area)," says Dinzhen Zhaba, the 27-year-old driver of an excavator.

Scientists and officials speak of the consequences of climate change on glaciers, but China Daily's visit to Mingyong glacier finds lesser awareness on the ground.