Chance beginning

It was curiosity that prompted Zhou, who is in his 50s, to embark on the five-day expedition for the ancient art, led by the Haizishan management committee in the region at the end of June. He was intrigued by the initial findings from authorities' general survey of primitive rock paintings.

Over the past six years, the committee has conducted a series of field investigations to study the rock paintings and explore the local human heritage to better tap into the cultural and tourism resources, according to Sun Kangshou, director of the committee.

Zhou was invited on the journey for his commitment to rock paintings exploration on the plateau since 2016.

Zhou's interest in this prehistoric legacy was sparked when he stumbled upon some rock paintings, when he was working at a welfare foundation that helped build schools and rural hospitals in Ngari prefecture, Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region.

"On my way to the Rutog county in the region, I often saw paintings on the rocks, which locals didn't know the meaning of," Zhou says.

This piqued his curiosity.

When he quit his job with the foundation in 2014, due to health issues, he decided to learn more about the rock paintings.

"I read up on them in related photo albums and monographs and I was deeply touched," he says.

It prompted him to start his own exploration of the ancient art form in Tibet. He further expanded his reach into the western, central and northern parts of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, where he had hiked in previous years, including on Mount Qomolangma, known as Mount Everest in the West, in 2003.