Chipa (brjed pa) is located at the southern shore of Basum lake where the Loje lungqu river flows into Basum lake. It is the township seat of Tsogo township, Gyamda county (not to be confused with the village of Tsogo which lies further down the road and is less accessible by car). The square block and cement courtyard visible in the foreground of this photo are the offices of the township government and a township primary school. This picture was taken from atop a small knoll in the town that is covered in beech and aspen trees. The more traditional-looking architecture which lies beyond consists mostly of the houses and storage buildings of the local people; Basum lake is visible in the background.

This is the entrance to the "Project Hope" primary school in Tsogo township. It is the most elaborate of primary schools in the area. Project Hope is an indigenous Chinese non-profit organization that collects private funds in order to build schools in poorer locations within China. This type of gateway is a standard way of demarking a Chinese work unit. The inscription in large lettering is common on schools all over China; it exhorts students to "Study hard and make progress every day."

This is the interior of small privately-run store. The goods available here are typical of those available in similar stores throughout rural China, although the ceiling decor has a more local flavor.

Also headquartered in Chipa is a hatmaker who makes and sells the hats typical of the Basum region. The hats in the photo are drying after being formed. Some hats in the picture do not yet have their brocade trim, and are commonly worn by men of all ages in Basum. The women's hat is different, with two points in the brim and is also somewhat less commonly worn. The refuse on the ground is typical of areas around centers of commercial activity.

This picture and the next one show the lanes of Chipa, the backstreets that link individual household compounds. Pigs and dogs move freely through these streets, the pigs wallowing where they will and foraging along the waterways that create common spaces within the village center and grassy meadows at the village edge. In the evenings they return to their homes of their own accord. Cows are moved more deliberately to grazing locations but also have homes within the compounds.

Many of these lanes are narrow and can be quite muddy, although the summer this picture was taken (2000) was noted as an exceptionally wet one. The walls along the lanes are made of stone and sometimes also of stacked firewood for the winter. They prevent the foraging animals from chaotically eating from the vegetable gardens that lie within compound walls.

These are pigs waiting to be let into their home compound. These gateways are typical of homes in the Basum region and are the entrance to a family compound that contains a house, sometimes a storage building (although communal storage/granary compounds are also typical) and a household garden. Painted on the door and hung on the gateway are auspicious symbols and on the right hand side is a place where one can reach through to the latch.

Another example of a Chipa gateway.

This is a new stone house rising out of the rubble of a section of the town that had been ruined by fire not long before. Despite abundant forest resources in the area, older homes in Basum were mostly built of stone. There are many new homes in Basum and they are now mostly being built of wood. In either case, the ground level houses livestock – chickens, pigs, and cows – and the upstairs is for people. Roofs are typically wood shingle held in place by stones.

A newer home constructed of wood. The fence in this case is made of thorny brush. Houses often have prayer flags. The building off to the left is an agricultural storage building. Note that the houses in Basum have gabled roofs, in contrast to the earthen flat roofs in other, drier regions of Tibet.

This wooden fence marks the border of a household garden plot and compound. The crop is barley. Note the open roof system that allows smoke to escape from the interior open hearth. In the background one can see the forest climbing up the nearby slopes and some of the parasite induced die-back that is plaguing local forests.