How?

The expedition benefitted from an existing relationship between Oxford University and the Tibetan Acaemy of Social Sciences (TASS) in Lhasa. This meant that gaining access to the Porong region (which is normally a restricted area) was made more simple and we were welcomed in Lhasa as a research team, rather than as tourists.

The expedition also benefitted from contacts made previously in the field by Oxford academics. Our field contact in Porong, Dawa-la of Kyudog proved invaluable; both in sourcing musicians and in expanding the expedition team's understanding of Porong-ba society.

The project was generously funded by the royal Geographical Society, the Oxford University Exploration Society, the Gordon foundation and the Frederick Soddy Trust, along with a number of smaller trusts. Further thanks go to Dr Charles Ramble, Dr Jill Sudbury, Dr Jigme Dorje and Annie Wang.