A woman has her photo taken wearing tradtional clothing as a Tibetan Buddhist woman and her family walk the kora near the Jokhang Temple, a UNESCO heritage site, during a government organized visit for journalists on June 1, 2021 in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Giant pandas play in the snow at the Shenshuping Base of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda on January 13, 2022 in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province of China. (Photo by Chen Xianlin/VCG via Getty Images)

Ra Paulette is an American cave sculptor based in New Mexico who digs into hillsides to sculpt elaborate artistic spaces inside mountains. Reviewer Martha Mendoza in the Los Angeles Times described the caves he created as shrines, as hallowed places, a “sanctuary for prayer and meditation” while others describe the caves as works of art. The caves are finished with “scallops, molded curves, smooth ledges, inlaid stones, narrow pods and crusty ledges”. His caves attract visitors worldwide.

“After taking LSD. I lighting up a candle in the middle of the wood and during the 30 secondes of exposure, i make a meditation about the holism of nature surrounding me. Feeling the crystal vibration irradiating from the center of the Gaia mother earth. So in this picture i try to show you the magic, sacred metaphysical quality of the nature and new age bullshiting you”. – Benoit Paillé. (Photo by Benoit Paillé)

A Tibetan mastiff dog is displayed for sale at a mastiff show in Baoding, Hebei province, south of Beijing on March 9, 2013. Fetching prices up to around 750,000 USD, mastiffs have become a prized status-symbol amongst China's wealthy, with rich buyers across the country sending prices skyrocketing. Owners say the mastiffs, descendents of dogs used for hunting by nomadic tribes in central Asia and Tibet are fiercely loyal and protective. Breeders still travel to the Himalayan plateau to collect young puppies, although many are unable to adjust to the low altitudes and die during the journey. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)

One-month-old cubs given birth by giant panda “Su Shan” are seen at Shenshuping giant panda base on August 17, 2021 in Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province of China. (Photo by He Haiyang/VCG via Getty Images)

Winner – Animal Portraits: The pose by Mogens Trolle, Denmark. A young male proboscis monkey cocks his head slightly and closes his eyes. Unexpected pale blue eyelids now complement his immaculately groomed auburn hair. He poses for a few seconds as if in meditation. He is a wild visitor to the feeding station at Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary in Sabah, Borneo – “the most laid-back character”, says Trolle, “quite unlike anything I’ve ever seen on another monkey” – connects us, he hopes, with a fellow primate. (Photo by Mogens Trolle/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2020)

Monks attend a prayer service for blessing at the Gandan Temple in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, February 5, 2020. Tibetan Buddhist temples held prayer services to support novel coronavirus-infected areas in China. The monks here were also organized to donate money to help fight against the epidemic. (Photo by Chogo/Xinhua News Agency)