Located in Nagarze county, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Tuiwa village is one of the highest settlements in the world, situated at 5,070 meters above sea level. The local people mainly live off the land by practicing animal husbandry.

However, due to the high altitudes and shorter summers, surrounding grasslands do not provide sufficient grass for sheep to forage during the wintertime, so the villagers will often guide their herds of sheep across the Puma Yumco Lake's frozen surface to islets located in the middle of the lake, where the soil is more fertile and the grass for foraging grows greener. Once the weather starts to warm up again, the shepherds will drive the flocks back towards the village before the ice begins to thaw.

A villager guides herds of sheep across the Puma Yumco Lake's frozen surface in Nagarze county, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Photo/Zhang Jing)

Villagers guide herds of sheep across the Puma Yumco Lake's frozen surface in Nagarze county, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Photo/Zhang Jing)

Villagers guide herds of sheep across the Puma Yumco Lake's frozen surface in Nagarze county, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Photo/Zhang Jing)

A villager guides herds of sheep across the Puma Yumco Lake's frozen surface in Nagarze county, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Photo/Zhang Jing)