Lady of Lhasa

In her Air China uniform, Deqen Yangdzom sits face-to-face with this reporter. Although she just returned to Beijing the day before, after international flights from Vancouver to Beijing, not the least trace of fatigue is evident on her face. “I have a special connection to China Pictorial, for I was interviewed and photographed by one of your reporters in the late 1990s,” she explains.

In 1976, Deqen Yangdzom was born into a Tibetan family in Lhasa. In 1984, she moved to Beijing with her parents. Each year thereafter she would accompany her parents back to Lhasa to visit relatives and family friends. They would first take a train from Beijing to Chengdu, and then fly to Lhasa. After many such flights, the young Deqen Yangdzom began to dream of becoming a flight attendant.

After graduating from senior middle school, Yangdzom became the first Tibetan flight attendant to join Air China. That year, 1994, Air China’s attendant recruitment effort was directed to the populace at large, so she and her friends went to try their luck. When they arrived at the registration office, they discovered more than 1,000 applicants already queued ahead of them in a slowly-moving line. Although she was the last candidate in that morning, Yangdzom drew the attention of the Air China recruiters due to her ethnic background and natural beauty. By virtue of her physical appearance, outgoing nature, gracious manners, and the aptitude evidenced in the testing process, she realized her dream and was eventually hired.

Yangdzom drew the attention of the Air China recruiters due to her ethnic background and natural beauty.

Lately, however, foremost on the mind of Deqen Yangdzom is not her transnational travel, but a film in which she plays the leading role. Realized by a Tibetan director, the movie, with the working title of Going Back to Lhasa, features the Tibetan language and Tibetan folk culture. Through the perspective of the character of a Han cartoonist, Tibet’s folkways, folk customs, religion, and culture are reflected. Portraying the leading female character, Deqen Yangdzom stars as a flight attendant. “The main thread of the movie is a love story between a Tibetan mountain climber and a Tibetan air hostess,” Deqen Yangdzom tells China Pictorial.

The story of how Deqen Yangdzom became an on-screen heroine is also dramatic. “I have been long acquainted with the director’s brother. Thus, when the director began to look for someone to play the leading role, her brother recommended me. However, the director said nothing when we first met. It was later decided that I would be the female lead. Later, the director told me the reason I was chosen, ‘Yangdzom, you can just stand there, and the feeling is right. It seems that the role is made for you.’”

From November 2006 to the Chinese Lunar New Year in 2007, the movie was shot in Tibet, mainly in Lhasa and Ngari Prefecture. “We were the first production crew to go to Ngari in winter to shoot films,” Deqen Yangdzom says with pride. Because of weather and transportation, it is dangerous to go into Ngari in winter. The whole crew had a hard time in Ngari. “At that time, we lived in bungalows in a courtyard. And the toilet was in the courtyard. We were in rooms with shabby walls and windows that couldn’t keep out the wind,” Deqen Yangdzom says. The women were under “better” care, for Deqen Yangdzom shared a room with only three other people. The more common situation was that five or more people would squeeze into a room. What made the situation worse was that there wasn’t any electricity or heating in the rooms. “We stayed in Ngari for about 20 days, and it was so cold that I had to use two thermal bags every day to sleep.”

Although the shooting process was hard, Deqen Yangdzom is satisfied with the result. “The movie reflects contemporary young Tibet people’s attitude towards work, love and their sound values and outlook on life.”

“My company (Air China) has always been supportive towards my activities concerning the promotion of Tibet and Tibetan culture. Thus, the most important thing for me now is to do my best as an air hostess,” says Deqen Yangdzom.