By taking off warm jackets and putting on T-shirt, we were there, in Jinghong, the capital city of Xishuangbanna.
“It is summer,” the 1st idea came to our mind. Any cold or chill was thrown behind us.

We walked around in the city, took bus to the small towns with crowded transportation and we were bathing in the sun.

One day we sat on one square of Mengla, the town closer to the border with Laos. The sun seemed to eat us up without any hesitation. But we were surprised by one guy who was sitting opposite to us.

He was naked on the top and the skin has already turned to some shinny brownie color. He was reading newspaper by sitting with feet crossed front of him. He did not bothered by hustle and bustle around him.

While we stayed in Xishuangbanna, it had had rained. It was indeed cold sometimes, but most of time we were just waiting for sun to dry our wet and fog, which coming along with us from Chengdu.

The Place Filled By Sunshine remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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倚着版纳café的木栏杆，身旁树影倾倒下来，马马虎虎地挡住了些许午后的烈日。放下玻璃杯，我们尽数往来人们的“不是”。

“哇，她还穿着高领毛衣！”“怎么可能？！”“这不还有人只穿件短袖吗！…”两个小伙儿在打羽毛球，网是一把椅子。

店里，老板娘跟着一位不停喝啤酒的丹麦人认真学着英语，“你好”“hello”…

我们的讨论没有结果，天黑下来，小鱼提醒去一家看起来有意思的小店铺逛逛，我们打算最后一次购物。就着中午换上的短袖，我们上街去，混在一群拖拖鞋的青少年中。

那家小店摆了来自俄罗斯、韩国、泰国和越南的各种民族小东西，有用的、吃的和喝的。也是老板娘开店。问她从哪里进的货，怎么可以有这么多不同国家的东西，她解释因为云南嘛，离边界近。

“你们穿短袖啊！”老板娘恍然大悟，惊讶地说道，“你看，我穿的是毛衣呢，冷啊。你们不冷吗？”

我告诉她我们下午的讨论，一早就发现这很奇怪。

“景洪夏天有40多度，所以我们特别怕冷。现在对我们来说，已经很冷啦，”她下意识地把领子再往上拉高。

磨憨是云南最南边的一个小镇，与老挝接壤。我们慕名而去。

从勐腊出发，一个多小时就到了，虽然沿途要忍耐小巴的停停走走。下了车，我们就正对着边界岗亭、出入境和检疫局。拿起相机，我们拍了照片就扬长而去，装作没听见后面武警的招呼声。

商铺一个接一个地从关卡处沿坡排下去，玻璃上大都贴着换挝币的广告，还有人直接向我们走来兜售挝币。

“#.$.%.&…”，一个女子径直冲到我们面前。

“听不懂”，我呆住了，只好将就汉语告诉她。

“需要挝币吗？”她马上换了普通话问道。

“我们不需要”，我再摆摆手强调不要。她盯着我们多看了几秒，扫兴地掉头走了。

为了躲避这种麻烦，我们看中一间超市溜了进去。

收银处，胖胖的一个中年妇女站在桌后，看到我放下大袋小袋的零食，马上转身拿塑料袋。

“不用口袋，”我见状立刻提醒她。

她继续扯袋子。看来她没有听懂，我再说道：“不用口袋！”她终于把口袋丢到了一旁，“啊，你不要口袋呀。”

她胖胖的手指一边按计算器，一边把零食一袋袋地丢到一旁。

“你是中国人吗？”她忽然发问，看我的眼睛笑起来一条缝。

“我是，还是四川人呢！”我愣了愣，但还是找到了对应答案。“啊…”感叹后，她继续埋头计算价钱。

“你是中国人吗？”我脱口而出，“这儿应该有很多不是中国人吧？”为了避免前一个笨笨问题带来的尴尬，我又问道。

还好她只回答说“就是，有很多”，接着我们相对大笑，我赶快走人。

我对于勐混的记忆很深，因为前一晚我们被水从头泼到脚，身上大部分都湿透。这是传统的泼水节，只不过为了吸引游客，泼水节由一年一天变成了一年365天。

我只好穿凉鞋和薄裤一早赶路。虽然西双版纳一天大部分时间都很热，但早晚还是特别的凉快，尤其是那一天，太阳居然懒得起床，十点过了，我们却仍旧被寒气笼罩着。

在勐混下了车，十一点过，太阳也终于盼到。

勐混的星期日集市被游人热烈推荐，我们瞅着前面看起来像个市场，便一路奔过去。

好像有人在背后叫喊什么，转头看时，一个妈妈抱了孩子站在路边，看样子是冲我们在喊。

“可以帮我看看QQ吗？我不知道怎么回事，不能用了，”她很着急的样子。

我们互相看了看对方，没什么急事，可以去瞧一瞧，所以我们就跟她进了一家照相馆。

电脑在柜台后，我们绕了进去，研究电脑究竟怎么了。

趁修机的时候，店里的人和我们聊了起来。先是刚才叫我们的年轻妈妈。

“你们是哪里的人？”

“成都，”

“我也是成都的，”年轻妈妈兴奋地叫出来。

“那你说话怎么有当地口音？”

“我来这里已经几年了，有了当地口音。”

“你们现在来的不是时候，”另一个姑娘插话进来，她枕着柜台，满脸兴奋，“你们应该晚点来，傣历的二月，寺院要为男孩子们举行仪式，当和尚的仪式”。

“我是傣族的，但也穿汉服了。这里的姑娘们现在很少穿傣族服装，特别是冬天，大家都嫌太冷啦，”她哈哈笑起来，“夏天时候大家都穿裙子，很好看，上面是那种小小的背心。”

我看着她的脸，不用怀疑，她有一张少数民族的脸庞，大眼睛陷在眼眶内，鼻梁高高的，皮肤近似小麦色。

一位老妈妈端了茶杯放到我们面前，“喝茶，喝茶。”

“我刚才洗杯子的时候把杯子打烂了一个，”傣族姑娘又抢着说道，脸也跟着红了起来，“还有壶盖也敲坏了。”我们注意到壶盖上确实少了一块。

“这是我们这儿的茶，喝喝，”“给你们讲个这茶叶的故事吧。一对新婚夫妇去看望父母，父母沏茶给女婿喝。如果他们不喜欢这个女婿，就在茶里放花椒。哈哈，”她自己先大笑了起来。

“这儿是不是有寺院？”来时，我好像看到一个金黄色的建筑。

“有，就在这后面，我领你们去吧！”

“啊，不用，现在不用。”

重新装了程序，QQ可以正常使用了。我们也要离开了。

“来吃饭吧，”“就是，吃中午饭吧，”周围人七嘴八舌地说道，我们这才注意到早已被包围了。

“没关系，不用了，”我们边说边往外走。

“来吧，”“拿两个苹果去吧！”大妈径直塞到我的手里。

“啊…，谢谢啦，”我只好把苹果接过来。

“谢谢啦，谢谢，”她们一直把我们送到街上，“来吃饭呀…”她们在身后不住喊道。

景洪最后一天，我们停留在版纳café。还是同样靠近街角的位置，树阴外还是相同热烈的日光和身裹冬装的景洪人。

一个朋友从吴哥回来。她说，那里最适合恋人同看日落，很美。景洪也是一个充满浪漫的地方，在我眼里，也在那个身披暗红披肩的长发女子的眼中。

热带人物 remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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去年元旦我从阿坝走。司机大叔把我拉到他家亲戚住下。虽然之前他没有明白告诉我是去他亲戚家，但看到仍然是家家庭旅馆，也干净，所以我也就欣然背包进去了。

老板娘见我放好了行李，便领我在院内走了一圈，指给我厕所位置，还有讲解如何用水。

旅馆那时还没有装自来水，却有了像模像样的水台，贴瓷砖的那种，很大。我们所有住客的用水都盛在院角的一个黑色大水缸里，旁边摆了一排热水瓶。

“冷水在缸里，需要热水就倒瓶子里的，”老板娘虽然身形比同年纪的汉族人高大，但声音温柔。

第一晚，我准备刷牙洗脸。院里只有靠房间一边和厕所门口有灯。昏暗中，我看到缸盖了木盖，一把瓢放在上面。我一把揭开盖子拿木瓢往里面够水，奇怪，木瓢径直滑到一边。我再试探一下，还是滑溜溜的。我往缸里定睛看，除了黑，其他什么也没有看到。一个念头上来了，“是冰”。我拿瓢一敲，果然脆脆的。还好有热水。瓢里虽然只有一丁点儿的冰渣滓，可我倒了三四倍的热水还是不觉得暖和，将就用吧。第二天问了老板娘，得到了确认，缸里的水早晚都会结成冰。

接下来的几晚，我就习惯了，摸出了一套基本步骤--敲冰打水，再加热水。

老板娘一家人很好，一见大家用水了，便提了水壶出来加热水，“水烫不烫，要不加火上的热水吧。”

甘肃玛曲的一晚，我在车站旅馆住下，方便第二天一早赶车。

旅馆房间里有脸盆架，但没有冷热水。老板开了门后，随即提来了热水瓶。瓶里的热水其实只比冷水暖和一点，所以我也不用询问哪里有冷水。没有水池，我只好将水泼到门外，第二天5点过离开时发现门前一滩冰，亮亮的。

郎木寺镇上的人们现在还习惯在水渠或河里洗衣服，特别是天气好的时候，从水渠头到水渠尾或跪或坐的都是洗衣服的，有结了婚的贤惠妻子，有上了年纪的老妈妈，还有小姑娘们。水渠里的水特别干净，不管曾经洗了多少件衣服，也不管上游有多少人洗衣。

给我印象特深的是看几个孩子洗阿客老师的僧袍。他们把袍子展开，平铺在草地上。一个比较高的孩子拿起一袋洗衣粉，像播种一样抖得到处都是。另外两个个子小的孩子帮忙从袍子两边向中间叠，然后用手敲敲打打。我没能注意到他们是怎样放到河里清洗的，因为河旁边出现了辆驴车。车子是铁皮作成的大箱子。小个子的中年男子把驴车引到河边，一桶一桶地把河水装到车箱里。
“这水是干什么用的？”我问。

“要拉到寺院厨房，给他们用，”中年男子虽然面色黑黝，但说话很客气，脸上也满是笑容。

虽然不知道寺院厨房在哪儿，但不一会儿，驴车又回来拉第二趟水了，接着是第三趟，看来离河不远。

另一头，属于甘肃省的赛赤寺院目前还没有自来水。因为整个寺院都建在山上，也没有河水经过。他们一切用水都是从山里引出的泉水。我没有数过有多少个出水口，但印象中应该有四五个，分布在整个寺院里。一年三百多天水都是汩汩地流出，先淌在故意安排的一块整石块上，然后再流到山下。时间长了，自然形成了一条小溪流。为了记住出水口修建的日子，人们在石块上刻上了日期，一九九八年十一月。

住在寺院里的孩子们最主要的家务活儿是提水。他们用来装水的用具不计多少，有专用的塑料水桶、铁壶，还有喝剩下的饮料瓶子。水桶用很粗的麻绳套在瓶颈处，打个结，孩子们就可以把它们背在身后，双手勒住绳子，保持绳子在肩膀位置不动，水桶就乖乖地贴在背上。孩子们想出点子用最大那种饮料瓶子背水。他们用细绳子连好两个瓶子，把它们像褡裢一样甩在肩膀上，一肩两个。接满水后，手就握住前面的两个瓶子，保持平衡，他们一阵小跑回家，再转头背下一次。如果有几个孩子一起，也许背一次水就足够了。

我总觉得背水这事对孩子来说太过了。他们不高，而且很瘦，可就连那些小小的四五岁的孩子也学着其他孩子的样，一肩驮着一对塑料瓶子去背水，身子摇摇摆摆的。可孩子们却没把背水当作苦差儿，只要他们一提起水桶、拿起瓶子，总是一溜烟兴奋地跑出家去。

出水口是孩子们小小的娱乐天地。没有通知，也不用召唤，大家自然都集合到这儿。孩子们拿出各自新奇的玩具，小汽车呀什么的，就在旁边水泥砌的矮墙边滑了起来。还是一个拉力赛。一个车子从坡上翻了下来，车主人蹦起来，跑到坡下把它拾起来，但比赛还在继续。围观的观众一手拿包土豆片，一手不停往嘴里塞，车子落到自己脚边，负责喂的那只手还帮忙拾车子。

背水的孩子一到出水口，水桶索性地往管子下一丢，就和旁边的打闹起来。水直往桶外冒也没有人注意到，是哪个孩子讲的笑话把大家都吸引住了。

闹了半天，我们还是没找到停水的原因。妈妈说水会来的。是啊，它总会来的。还是古人们聪明，修了大水缸在院里，雨时积，平日用，多好啊！

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为了摸清位置，我到北京的下午就去使馆区走了一趟。地址很清楚，但由于使馆区很大，纵横几条街，我走了很长时间，还问了几次路才找到。我的步行全程在站岗武警的注视下完成，这让我更想快些找到瑞典大使馆。在使馆签证处，我问了值勤的武警早上什么时候到这儿最好。
“8点吧，”一个说道。

“8点晚了，现在签证的人很多。昨天有人7点没到就来了，”另一个反驳道。

我自然惊讶不已，可只有一个念头生成，就是一定要抢在其他人前面到这儿。

从我住的青年旅馆到大使馆，快走的话大概25分钟。我设好了闹钟，算好时间，应该早上5点起床。

第二天仍然漆黑的早上，我背包上路了。路灯昏黄得有时只能靠脚的感觉探路。三里屯全是酒味儿，令人反胃。我加快步伐。

再走下去就是使馆区了，每个门口都有站岗的武警。虽然他们武装了枪支，但反而安慰了我“怦怦”直跳的心。看起来他们比我更紧张。我听到旁边的步话机里传来“嗡嗡”的声音，接着一束手电光照过来。我转过脸盯着那束光时，它又挪走了。想来他们应该早就习惯了和我一样的匆忙路人。

到了瑞典使馆签证厅门口，拉起了警戒线，旁边站着一个武警。我挪到离他一米远的地方站好。他扭过头来看了看我，我没有打算移动，他又转回去继续盯住前方。

开始下雨了。“糟糕的天气”，但我连这儿也想到了，拿出雨伞撑开。

另一个武警走过来，后面跟着两个，走向站岗的武警。我想他一定是个长官级的人物，走路的姿态与其他的不一样。

“去拿雨衣穿上，”声音虽然不大，但听出来不是命令，只是建议。

“不用，这么小的雨，”那个武警一点不介意他的外套被打湿。

长官没再说话，带着另外两个继续巡逻。

天放亮了，雨也渐渐停了。自行车道上开始有人跑步。自行车也多了起来。一对中年夫妇朝我走来。

“这是瑞典使馆吗？”他们需要进一步确认。武警点点头，然后对着我说：“去排队，你是第一个。”听了我赶忙蹿到正对铁门的警戒线处，担心第一的位置被抢了去。武警也迈到那里，拉开警戒线进去，然后转身立正在我正前方。

夫妇俩走到我后面排好。

“你是住哪儿的？我们还以为很早呢！”“我们就住这附近，30块一晚，只要离使馆近就好了，”虽然没有排到第一，他们还是很高兴。
一辆车慢慢停在街边。下了车，他跑过来，手里还提着早饭。

“是这儿排队吗？”他看看我们问道。

“是，排队呢，”夫妇俩热情地接过话茬。

“我是为一个朋友排队来着。车可以停这儿吗？有停车场吗？”他问武警。

“有，在天桥下。”

“我是第三个吧，帮我排着，谢谢啦，”他提醒道。

黑牌照的使馆车也出现在街上。先看到一车的小孩子过去，再是一车的黑皮肤、穿着白色校服的青少年们过去，还有独自开着小车的过去。
“什么时候才开门呀！”即使车子一辆接一辆的开进使馆区，我还在等，而且不知道要等到什么时候。

队伍不知不觉地排长了起来。

穿着灰色大衣的警卫来了。我终于感到我的漫长煎熬要结束了。

可他原来也和我一样等着“放人”的时刻来到。9.30，他伸手拉门，门锁着。“奇怪了，怎么还没开门？”连他也按捺不住。

他按了对讲系统。“15分钟以后，”与里面的人通话完毕后，他告诉武警。我又泄了气。“等吧，”现在仅剩这个念头。

身后其他人听来比我轻松很多，他们交换着彼此签证的成功经验。

“我已经去过瑞典了，这是第二次了。我签的是商务签证，应该没有什么问题。”说话的人穿着一件到膝盖的黑色呢子大衣，手里提着黑色公文包。

“我们是去看女儿，她在那里上学，”中年夫妇连眼神都充满了幸福，“我们已经去过几次啦。”

“这么多人，他们都会办理吗？”

“签证处订了新规矩。只要早上11.30之前来的人都给办理。”

这个消息对我没什么作用。第二次签证时我还是早到，只比第一次晚点儿，但还是第一。

“这比意大利使馆签证好多了。我上个星期在那儿排队，晚上就去了。排了一百多个人。”

这又安慰了我。我们这条队伍也不过就二十多个人，而且我也没有彻夜排队。

终于，轮到我了。一进铁门，我加快步伐，跳上楼梯，推开两道门，到了大厅里。里面看起来跟银行差不多，拿号再排队。这次比较舒适，可以坐下来等。窗口上方显示以A或B打头的号码。

就几分钟，我的申请受理了。

“等大使馆通知吧。5个工作日后，可以打电话询问，”窗口里的工作人员不动声色地传达指示。

“哎…，”我长吁一口气。从起床到看着材料被收拾起来这4个多小时后，我开始了为期一周的更漫长等待。宣判日期应该早些，甚至就应该在递申请当时。我想着人们评价的美国大使馆“立即死亡或签证”的作法，嫉妒。

没有等到一周，我就接到了电话告知“你的签证拒签了”。那头，她的声音很平静，显然对她来说，这样的告知不过是千万次中的一次。
我却比想像中坚强，一次不行，再签第二次。

第二次签到了，却耗时一个多月。

再次回到大使馆取签证。8.30，我准时到了签证处。又看到了熟悉的队伍。不同的是，我也可以交换成功经验了。

“签到了？”

“签到了！”

我顺着警卫让开的位置推开铁门进去。

“我拿到了，”几分钟工夫我出来了。

“太好了，”每个人都激动起来，连警卫也是。

“快去机场吧，”有人喊道，“有车了！”一辆出租车开了过来。

“啊，就是，就是。谢谢了，下次见！”我把背包扔上肩，边谢边跑了出去。

什么时候再签第三次呢？很快吧。我不再担心被拒签，但还是不能晚到，真郁闷。

请早签证 remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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租的面包车正好停在花湖入口处。几块石头立在那里。摸下车站住脚跟，几匹马奔到我们面前，穿着藏袍、一只袖子背在身后的孩子们围住了我们。

“骑马，骑马！”他们用带口音的普通话向我们嚷嚷。

重庆妻子兴奋地跟着嚷起来，她一直寻着骑马的机会。

我高度戒备，离马远远的。

讨价还价一番，他们选中了各自心仪的马匹，在孩子的帮助下上了马。

头发长长的孩子看得出来很喜欢拍照。只要我们一举起相机，他立刻凑了上来，扮出各种表情。所以他也是合影最多的孩子。

终于等到他们溜达了回来，重庆丈夫提议让我给他们拍照。和孩子们一起，费了一阵工夫，他们才把两匹马并在了一起。我按照他的要求，从不同角度取景，正前方、侧面，终于大功告成。

登上面包车，我们继续往里面开。

车子被两三个拦了下来。为了门票一阵讨价还价，最后达成一致，团体票。

面包车再次停下来时，我们真的到了。没有栅栏，没有门，只有一条踩烂的泥巴路不知通向哪里。

泥巴路实际只有一小段，接下来的竟然是用木板搭起来的“低架桥”，从翻乱的泥巴中拱出来。

牦牛无人似的在桥的两侧溜达。有的也横穿桥面，趁桥上没有人时。

还有毡房，立在桥的两侧，但隔了段距离，没有牦牛靠得那么近。

一位老妈妈跪在一方席上，一手撑地，一手整理着什么。身旁的毡房冒出白烟。衣服就晾在房子的周围。毡房后面，一团黑黑的东西仆在地上。不用猜，我相信那一定是顶顶有名的藏狗。

重庆丈夫跳下木桥，径直向那毡房走了过去。我的心也跳到了嗓子口，双眼直直地盯住那团黑黑的东西。它站起来了。我的手盖住了双耳。“恩，没有声音？”我嘀咕起来。它又趴了回去，没挪地方。

妻子也跟了过去。他们在毡房前向我招手，我装笑地摆摆手。

当然他们安全地回到了桥上。丈夫炫耀地告诉我他们尝到了新鲜的奶渣子。

我们跟着木桥前进。

左手边一阵吵闹，扭头看，老老小小坐了一拖拉机。小孩子填在每个空隙中。看来他们准备出发啦，孩子们激动地尖叫起来。

木桥很长，我们走了很久，泥地渐渐地变成了一湖水。水面上，白色的花朵仰着头。

木桥把我们引向了人堆。那实际是一处平台，周围用木栏围住，一侧放了长椅。

照惯例，我们先感叹了湖水的美丽和湖面上鸟儿的惊艳后，四处环顾找地方歇脚。椅子上已经有人坐着了，我们只好在他们的脚尖旁坐了下去。重庆夫妇拿出小灶、气罐和饭盒，开始准备午餐。

“花湖已经被严重破坏了。现在不能在里面露营，我去年来的时候还可以。”

“这里的人越来越多。那些随便扔垃圾的人真令人讨厌”。

“明天还要来守。”

椅子上面的聊天听起来挺有意思。我转过头去打量他们。

中间一位首先吸引了我的注意。她看起来应该超过了六十，但一身户外打扮，头上扎了根花头巾，颈上挂了个相机。

她还在继续“讨伐”乱扔垃圾、破坏花湖环境的人。旁边的一男一女，年轻人，握着三脚架和相机，认真地听，一脸忧虑。

吃了米饭，再喝点儿蛋花汤后，我们从原路返回。

我们看到一个妈妈和她的孩子向我们走近。我们笑着向他们挥挥手。妈妈忽然甩开孩子的手，对着孩子朝我们的方向摆手，孩子一脚长、一脚短地扑腾过来。

小孩子一手撑在木桥上，一手朝重庆妻子伸过去，对着她手里的饼干。重庆妻子马上把饼干整盒地给了孩子。孩子拿过来又扑腾地走回妈妈身边。妈妈弯下腰拉住他，抬起头来冲我们笑笑，一手拆了盒子，扔在泥地里。

我们继续往回走。

一群小孩子光着屁股在旁边的水沟里玩儿。他们沿着泥巴沟壁往上爬，又滑下，再是一阵乱笑。

走过泥地，我们回到草地上。一个女孩和一个男孩迎面走来，女孩手里扯着根线绳子，一头吊着只老鼠。

我们很好奇，拦住女孩问明白。

“这是我的老鼠，”女孩将脸扬得高高地，炫耀的神情。

女孩的普通话说得不错，我们可以聊聊天啦。

“你在哪里上学？”我问她。

“在那边，”女孩手一指。我顺着指尖望过去，还是这片草原。

女孩看出我的迷惑，又解释道：“我们上学要走六里路。”

“啊？”我惊讶道，想象着他们在黎明中移动的身影。

“我们搬家后就不上学了，”女孩继续说道。

我分辨不清当时心里的滋味，只好埋头在我的背包里翻呀翻。找到了几支笔和几个本子，我拿起递给女孩。女孩拿了跑向那个男孩，牵起男孩的手又跑回来。

“这是我的弟弟，给他几支吧。”

我将包底整个翻了出来。“...没有了，”我支吾道。弟弟已经撅起了嘴。姐姐还是姐姐，把挂着小老鼠的线头放到弟弟手里，弟弟马上笑开了，把老鼠丢到草地上，整个人跟着趴了下去，用线绳子摆动老鼠左右摇晃。

花湖 remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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那晚是我第一次看到热腾。夜色中的国色天香早已沉默，可没想到还有热闹一把的机会。几个人在路上跑了起来，“哈哈”大笑地从我们身后窜向前去。赛场入口处竟然还有一家烧烤店点着五六盏灯，烟熏火燎的，配合着当时难得的欢闹气氛。

郎木寺也有令人捧场的娱乐节目，吸引着来自各个方向的人群。

漂流过来的表演团借着大街玩耍表演，类似杂耍。

靠近桥头的路口是必选表演场地。音乐无疑很大声，人不用看就知道里三层、外三层地团团围住。

只看人群，我就猜到有东西可看。踮起脚尖，望过几个人头，被围住的是耍杂技的，他们像是一家人，爸爸和女儿。

小女孩儿，大概八、九岁，穿着红色表演服，紧身的那种，头发束成一团，用黄色发花扎在头后。在男子的热烈介绍声中，她从课桌似的桌子后跑出来，爬上另张桌子，站住脚跟，背对一瓶塑料花。

她试探地慢慢向后弯身，身上的骨头根根贴着衣服露出原形。音乐节奏骤然快了起来，女孩儿稳住速度向后继续弯，直到嘴贴近塑料花。开始有笑声从周围爆发了出来。拿麦克的男子趁机走到人堆中，另一只手举着一个铜盘。

他所到之处，人堆马上也散开出一个洞。他继续为身后女孩鼓劲，一边继续往人多的地方扎过去。也有人伸出手放到铜盘上，他马上弯腰致敬。

我只停留了一会儿，看到一些人来了，另一些人走了，可围的堆子还是那么大。孩子们兴趣不减，在选中的最好位置处靠着课桌坐下。

除了这些杂耍之外，也有像样的歌舞表演。

杂耍的人通常是一个拖拉机或者类似大篷车的装来镇上。选好位置，卸下装备，音箱、桌子还有表演者。不用吆喝，人自然便围了上去，舞台就有了。

歌舞表演显得正规多了。表演前，通常有宣传的红色纸单子在街上发。表演场地也相对正式，都在什么院子内。门口贴有大幅海报，人们互相转告“明星来了，明星来了”。

在住的青年旅馆对面的大院子里，听说有表演，还听说其中一个歌星是郎木寺当地人。演出前几个小时，院子里的人就已经挤到了门口、还有门口的公路上。大家都伸长脖子等待。时间过去了，表演没有按时开始，可没有人离开，不断地又有人冲了进去。我的朋友也夹在人群中，一会儿被挤到这边，一会儿被挤到那边，再一会儿就不见了人影。

摩托车塞住了路口。还有摩托车不断地从山上的土路上冲下来，挂着白灰，冲入人群中。

我可没有勇气挤进去，只是站的远远的观望。没见了朋友的人影，我也离开了，上了屋顶。

桌子搬到了外面的露台上。老板和一个朋友坐在那里。我加入她们。大家问好后，各自沉入午后的阳光中。

头顶的天空没有一片云，蓝色径直地一泻而入我的双眼。下面街道上尽是摩托喇叭声、拖拉机“砰砰”声、去夏河汽车的揽客“呜呜”声。奇怪的是，这些对我来说都是安静和惬意。

只一条的街上，临街的台阶上都坐着人。长袍的、长靴的、挂刀的、盘头的、长辫子的、裹头巾的，一个挨一个地坐着。有的和站着的聊天，有的到处张望，有的只是坐着。

这好像也是一种娱乐节目，而且最流行，随时随地受欢迎。满脸皱纹的老婆婆单脚盘坐在地上，旁边放的包袱塞得满满的。羞涩的女孩子把头藏在衣袖里，但还是不小心地露出了红红的脸颊。老爷子们有的干脆敞着胸脯，瞪着街上的行人。带到镇上来的小孩子们安静地坐在旁边，双眼忍不住地四处打望，镇上的孩子则满街疯跑。平时喜好溜达的小黑猪们时务地从街上消失，逃到河边。
每个人这样都可以坐整整一个下午，什么也不干，只是坐着。

寺院法会也是最大节目之一。

每有法会时，都是全家出动。女孩一手搀扶着拄拐棍的老婆婆，一手牵着小孩子。男子通常是皮衣或者崭新的短藏袍、皮裤，还有皮靴，看得出来他们住的地方离郎木寺不近。孩子们高兴地聚集一起，在大经堂前你追我赶。好不容易地将他们拦截了下来，被要求磕头。孩子们马上收起脚步，双膝跪地，必恭必敬地磕下头，直到碰触到地。整个磕头完成后，他们兴奋地又你追我赶起来。
大经堂门前的山头已经没有空地，整一片全是人。其他的自然地在经堂门口围成一个圈，法舞就跳在圈中央。孩子们都坐在圈的最里面，双腿盘着坐好。
大家一直看到法会结束，又是磕头，然后互相搀扶着离开。拖拉机、摩托车、小面包车还有轿车在人群中慢慢往山下挪动。

穿多袋背心的人们，更是大老远跑来，飞机、火车、汽车的颠簸到郎木寺。他们也很喜欢各类节目，因为他们可以抓到构想中的画面。

最近，街上又有了新玩意，类似我们的彩票。立在门口的高音喇叭不间断地喊叫着“23，45，36…”。虽然看不到有人围观，但总有人从门帘子进进出出。我的朋友对这个很感兴趣，可听说他目前为止还没有赢过，他很失望。

最受欢迎的节目 remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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I was told that once I had been in Tibetan areas, wherever it is, I would go there again and again, addicted to it. I had no idea what it really meant. I looked at her face while she was describing her exciting experience in Hongyuan, one small Tibetan town in Sichuan. Her face was shinning brightly and voice was louder excitedly.

I was too upset not to think about any danger or uncertainties I would encounter on my first time to Tibetan area. I called my friend to ask her idea on slide sand. It was ringing for several minutes but nobody answered.

“There is no big deal if I buy the ticket. They will know better about road condition than I do,” I thought and then bought the first ticket to go to Tibetan area, the unknown place for me.

I cannot remember if I knew anything about Tibet. It seemed that I had not read, listen to or watch a little about Tibet and Tibetan. However I had my first little adventure.

I forgot to be afraid when I just stepped into the bus to Zoige. I enjoyed the whole bus trip instead. When the bus was approaching to Zoige, everything was changed without any telling and expectation. Grassland was spreading out to reach me. It was so soft and I would like to roll down from the top of a little hill. It rained suddenly and then hailstone hit the front glass of the bus. Everyone was screamed at this sudden change. But the most shock happened later after we drove some minutes. Someone started to shout, “the rainbow”, then every of us turned our heads to that direction and I held my breath while staring at it flying over the road. The one after one appeared before us or next to us. The rainbow is quite rare in the cities, especially in Chengdu. No matter whatever the explanation is, because of landform or pollution, there is not much rainbow representing in the city.

It happened once in my memory after the pouring-down rain for one night. Then it was caught by somebody accidentally. The news spread very soon in that morning. It took a long time for people to talk about the rainbow.

Zhuoma remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We got the chance to see Wuhan. This is completely different city from Chengdu where we come from. We were all impressed by the weather first off when we stepped out the train. It was hot, just like summer. But Chengdu was raining by that time. We were told when we came back from the cruise that it kept raining for the whole holiday.

There are some old buildings from colony time and the first Changjiang Bridge. I was so curious to see so many people playing majiang or poker just next to the security area of the Changjiang Bridge. Nobody cared about if there was any soldier standing so close to them.

We even found out a little beach by the river. A few people were playing there, with weaves and sand. Some couples were sitting on the bank in the sunset, just like us.

There is also one shopping street as the one in Chengdu. It is obviously very popular and modern, because most were young people. I only saw less than 10 persons around mid-ages that day when we were there.

I like to see those ferries to get people moving about in such a giant city. That is really cool.

It was just a short stay in Wuhan for one and half days. And then we went to Yichang to get aboard.

The cruise was nice and cozy. Everyone was kind and friendly. Of course, we met some interesting people too.

She is the only and first one I did not ask for cell phone number while I meeting some new friends from the trips. But I regret now.

She is the tour guide, young and mild. At least I did not see her bad temper. She took all the complaining from her group and still did her best to offer them better and cozy service. She complaint too, but only when we had meals together. She asked us for a picture and I am so glad we did. She is in my memory anyway. I guess she will try to learn English well, because she witnessed how different people treat their guides.

The other one is him. He is able to speak very fluent Germany and this let both of us, me and my husband, jealous of him. That is a so complicated language, but he does. I tried to learn Germany for one year, but gave up eventually because of too much grammar. I even wonder how Germany could organize their sentences before speaking out.

Most of people think Chinese is difficult, like my husband. However, except four tones we don’t have any complicated grammar at all. At this point, Chinese is even easier than English. English has tenses, but Chinese doesn’t have. You may just add one more word to change its time. Does it sound easier?

The other him is the guide from the cruise. He is the guide for everyone. He impressed us by his so-strong American accent. I was almost puffed off by his accent. But he is nice guy and works very hard. He is the guide in suit in daytime and is the host of the shows at nights. It is hard to believe what his trick is to keep so energetic.

The other thing about the cruise is I wanted to know how local people lived after the dam built up. And it is not so difficult. Just looking at the both sides of the boat, there are still some bricked small cottages set along the hill, but there are more new apartment buildings.

The guide told us in his American accent that for the old, who did not want to move out, they would still stay there, but they got help to move higher than now and the younger, they move to those new buildings and start their new lives.

It is still hard to believe that those old cities were just under our feet, in the water.

We stepped onto the bank of Chongqing 3 days later. I want to have this cruise again, but need to remember to bring more summer clothes.

Yangtse River Cruise National Holiday 07 remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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平湖号 remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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At the beginning several hours, it was ok. Everyone had been seated luckily.

Some time later some girl was approaching to the woman, who was sitting next to me. She asked for seat since the seat was still empty till that time. Actually it was empty till we got Beijing. I noticed some ones they did not have any seat, but with the same price we paid for seats.

With time on, the people became more and more and everyone of them just stood in the aisle, watching the situation if there was any seat empty.

It became worse with those people standing. The way was all blocked to everywhere, toilets, wash rooms and any place they could put their feet in.

I guess this would be my last time to take seat to somewhere by train. But this experience is not bad at all, at least I see something I have not seen before.

25h50m From Chengdu To Beijing By Train, Seat remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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爬山 remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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I was asked about what his name was. I always introduce Xiaoyu firstly as his name. I put accent on YU and told the people that it was fish, which was swimming in water.

I was looking for fish patterns on T-shirts and there they are. Three of angelfish are here, swimming to me together. They look so lovely and there is no doubt that they are the happy family.

The fish market in Kunming impressed him a lot. He did not expect to see so many fish in one room. Fish was everywhere, swimming from here to there, around us. “I need to take the pictures for my brother, he will be stunned by this,” his camera kept flashing all the time.

His father is a big fan of fishing. He showed me from one map of the 2nd biggest lake in Sweden, telling me he drove some places to fish. It is not difficult to tell that he had a great time by fishing.

Angelfish remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We took taxi to the guesthouse, which I found by internet. The guesthouse was unexpectedly deserted to some empty street.

The guesthouse was empty too, and we were only two guests.

The room assigned to us was down to the other end of the hall way. Some others'doors were open. I was scared to see that darkness in the rooms, but I still tried to search for something.
The night was frozen. My husband did not have a good sleep. He spent most of time recording my sleeping noice.

He insisted that it was snoring. But from his evidence, I did not hear anything.

Next early morning, we took the bus to Tongren, the town of Tangka, Buddihm painting.

We met some other backpackers at the bus station. It was surprised to meet the ones like us, especially during this time.

Xi'ning remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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When the door opened, we flooded out.

The people started to entain themselves by taking video of self-created dance, which originated from Majiang playing.

While we moved our eyes away from them, they tracked us, my husband and I, by their video sneakly.

Even it was winter, there still were a lot of people to Lasha, Tibet. Lasha is not only the holy place for Tibetan, but the others as well.

The idea was approaching to me from timeto time, probably we might get off when it stopped in Lasha.

The train has the signs and remindings in Chinese, English and Tibetan. It also has oxygen supply system.

Chengdu to Xi'ning by train remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The Sea Aain remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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I had no idea that how long it would take from Chengdu to Nanjing. But now I am able to list the time here:
Leaving on 8pm. on 4 of June, and arriving on 9.10am 6.

The train started crowded and became half less till 9pm. on the next night.

I often remembed the time spent on train with Fredrik. It is full of fun and happiness. I forgot how aweful it was to take those long-time-train trips. Those memories also helped me out this time for spending 37hours in train. We were at Nanjing eventually.

Chengdu to Nanjing, 37h in Train remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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棒棒冰 remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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杏、西瓜还有自行车 remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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The same afternoon after we arrived Dali from Kunming, we went to drink tea. We were searching for the seats in the sun after 4 o’clock. Most of the seats were hidden in the shadow. Going left to one small alley, we saw surprisingly the seats shinning under the sun.

We were seated there, lifting the faces to the sun, the sunlight spreading over our bodies. Not in a long time we got heat coming underneath the skin.

We went to Mont. Cang. The air was quite chilly in the mountain’s morning. I asked Xiao Yu to walk fast to chase after the sun rays in front of us. Once we went out from the shadow to the bright spots, the bodies got warmth immediately. I preferred to stay in the sun much more time and we picked up one stone seat to expose ourselves to the sun, even our feet did not want to hide in the shoes either. We took them out and enjoyed the sun bath together.

One day’s cycling let us become even suntanned. I took the pictures of Xiao Yu’s redness on the neck, the forehead and the arms. I was much better from red, because I got deep tanned just skipping becoming red. Our T-shirts were in the sun dust too. They looked yellow on the front. We could not help laughing and let us with those sun-dusted T-shirts together in the pictures, into our memories on Dali too.

Suntanned in January, in Dali remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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We were looking for something to eat for dinner. I suggested curry, because I started to miss the favor of it. But it was really difficult while the streets were stuffed with pizza, steak, Japanese Sushi and so on. After a while, wandering almost the busiest streets, I was stopped by one restaurant named Tibet something. We opened the menu, and surprised to notice they had the curry there. So lucky we are! And the luck came again later. After we went back to the guesthouse, we found out one steamed buns restaurant at the corner.

We went there directly next morning without any doubt. It had already been crowded around 8 o’clock. We shared the table with the others.

The smell of the steamed buns was coming from the bamboo-made basket and it spread to everywhere. Luckily we did not need to wait since it is kind of Chinese fast foods. We had those a little white, but a little brown and round buns put before us on the table soon.

After the first taste, our appetite was aroused by this small, oily on the floor restaurant. We went there everyday for breakfast. Surprisedly, we had two baskets of steam buns the next morning, and they were 16 buns. Even after several days for the same breakfast, we had not lost our good appetite on them.

Steamed Buns in Dali remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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There were some small fruit stalls along the road. We stopped at one of them. They had apricot there. It was brightly yellow, even by looking it seems very yummy, especially under the noon sun.

The owner had the apricot field just behind us. She went to the field with the other to pick up some more fresh apricot from the little trees. The fruit was covered all by brown paper. They told us it was for the birds. It is a sort of trick actually they playing with the little birds.

The yellow apricot tasted like peach, only the last bite was quite different but similar to the camond I tasted before.

The friend she wanted to rest there much longer time, but the other couraged her by watermelon. She was told that we would have another stop to have some watermelon. She got all the strength back all in a sudden. “Let us go,” she said excitedly to us. And we rode to the watermelon stall.

She admired the fruit owner very much and said, “if I could become farmer one day, I could take a seat here all the day relaxing myself.”

The watermelon owner just broke her dream, by saying “that is really difficult to be a farmer, never earned some money,” while she was smiling.

She told us the watermelon was just picked up this noon and it was so fresh and sweet. She did not lie to us and it was indeed sweet and watery enough for our thirsty.

Watermelon and Apricot remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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With the husband of my friend, we discussed to choose the easy cycling route for the first time, this Saturday, yesterday. But the girl, the other friend, she really wanted to try the better option to go to Huanglong Xi brook, with ups and downs, good for the beginners.

Not to ruin her decision or imagination with passionate strength, we went there.

The boy has one race bike and the girl and me we have mountain bikes.

Yesterday was very hot and the road was steaming hotness, we were trying to go up and down. She was almost tearful when she saw another slope in front her, she told us later, again and again.

With the hotness and tireness and pain, we eventually arrived home. Every of us was smiling at that 116km virgin cycling experience.

the 1st cycling remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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春天，韩国大叔和日本小子 remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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植树 remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Just 2h and 15m we arrived at Zorge from Langmu Si.
With one Korean and one Japanese, we went to have dinner.
We discussed about what to eat before, then we got the agreement on having meat, vegetable and rice.
We went to one restaurant to check their menu. Everything is expensive and everyone will be charged 2yuan for rice. We changed the mind to have fried rice.
Four of us ordered the different rice. The owner murmured to us,"you are good at bothering the others."
We finished one small plate of pickled raddish and then asked for the second one. The owner put the plate on the table, saying"raddish here is 2.5yuan per 500grams."
We were wondering if we asked for one more cup of tea, they would charge us 10yuan every drop.

Chunxia asked the Japanese to leave some words in Japanese for her husband and we did 3-times to shot a little movie. The Korean said something in Korean too to our friend, who is the big fan of Korean fashion TV plays.

2 May remains copyright of the author minfreya, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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