Totem of the plateau

A yak specimen on display at the Capital Museum. [Photo by Wang Kaihao/China Daily]

A champion of the yak as an emblem of the Tibetan highlands brings the spirit of the animal to a Beijing museum, Wang Kaihao reports.

On China's online social networks, Wu Yuchu called himself Yagebo, which means old yak in Tibetan.

An ongoing exhibition in Beijing features more than 500 artifacts related to yaks through March 15.

Earlier this month, when the show kicked off in the Capital Museum, the hundreds of visitors at the opening ceremony surprised this longtime advocate of yak culture.

"I never expected so many people to come," Wu says. "I even didn't send any invitation letter, and only released information of the exhibition on my WeChat."

The yak is closely connected with many aspects of Tibetan people's daily lives, ranging from transportation and sports to medicine and food.

Nevertheless, as an ethnic Han, Wu is determined to bring the yak spirit beyond the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

"Yaks are known for their loyalty, benevolence, diligence and honesty when serving people," the 64-year-old says.

"Their symbolic meaning will be easily accepted by people not only in Beijing but even overseas."

The native of Jiangxi province is the director of the Yak Museum of Tibet in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet autonomous region.

The institution claims to be the world's only museum fully dedicated to this animal species.