Day 1

       This is a hometown of my dream. It is only after having traveled a long way that I have finally found such a quiet place. At dusk, I am sitting here smoking, while time is slipping away, and the color of the sky turns from rose to purple-blue… I am lost in a reverie about what happened in the past and what will take place in the near future in those remotest corners of the world.

      Behind the ancient gate, there used to be living some old people with black eyes and yellow skin. With years having passed by, the sun is still shining over here, but it is unknown where those people were gone… Behind the wooden gate with faded blue paint, there are many stories hidden, which keep me wondering.

   God blessed them and God said to them: " Be fruitful and become many and fill the Earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the Earth."

Genesis 1:28

 In the past five thousand years, from generation to generation, these people have been living here… Ah, China, an ancient land of sunshine and leisure granted by God.

Day 7

  A piece of lighted incense is a symbol of prayers for blessed peace for oneself and one's family members as well as for all who are constantly thought of. When the smoke from lighted incense is curling up, can you, Buddha, hear so many people's promises or vows to you?

   The beautiful name "Ashima" is just like the azaleas worn by women of Bai nationality. The flower symbolizes beauty, purity, passion and faithfulness.

      In seeking for "Ashima", the beautiful girl in an ancient love story, I have come to Cangshan and Erhai (a mountain and a lake in Yunnan province), and have visited an ancient town called Dali, which is at the foot of the hill and beside the lake. "Ashima" left there long ago, but I have met many young women of Bai nationality. They respect their parents and parents-in-law, love and treat their husbands well, bring up their children and make a living by doing farm work and making embroidery handcrafts. They always have content and happy smiles on their faces owing to the peaceful, simple and frugal life they are living.

The scene reminds me of the story of Buddha. When a flat boat was passing by, a person on the boat was heard saying, "Although the bowstring needs tightening, it should not be excessively tightened up…" On hearing this remark, Sakyamuni, who was painstakingly practicing self-purification under a bodhi tree, suddenly saw the light. The original meaning of Buddha is to see the light when awaking from sleep.

The Tibetans are a nationality living in their yearning for happiness in their next lives. Sangba had been living there peacefully for more than ten years when I met him. He has never been elsewhere outside this area. Praying, reciting the scripture and guarding the temple are the contents of his life day after day. On that day, it was drizzling, and Songzan Temple was surrounded with a rare haze. It is the striking red color of the Sangba's kasaya and the undisturbed smile on his face that linger in my mind for a long, long time.

It is more difficult to preserve tradition and culture than to conserve ancient cultural relics. The old musicians who can play typical ancient music of the Naxi nationality with the guqin are less and less. Now there are only six or seven such old musicians left in the orchestra (Note: guqin is a kind of seven-stringed plucked instrument similar to the zither in some ways).

Yes, you are right. It has never occurred to my mind that you would come into my life from here Shangri-La, a hometown of our souls. Here, through the mist of the plateau, we can see black steeds, cows and sheep as well as the bright eyes of some children in the Napahai area. I can not help wishing to go for a gallop in the prairie after the rain, and greedily breathe with you the odor of green grass in the air…

When everything turns quiet, the world is still evolving without our notice. We are still quietly breathing…

The sun is shining one moment and is clouded up the next, reflecting my mood that day, which is intricate, and hard to explain. Through the ancient wooden window, we, with blue eyes and black eyes, are looking at a distant place... It seems that I am not from afar, but a native who is always on travel. I want to look at her eyes from a distance, and I can even see her black eyes in a different country and among a different group of people.

I am missing you at the sunset—"Where are you?"