Miscellaneous Notes on Xining

——This article is written for Left Bank

When I checked in at a youth hostel in Xining, a girl saw that I was looking a little wild with a big bag on my back, so she greeted me casually and asked: "Hey! Brother, Where did you come on foot? "

I replied awkwardly: "I took the bus and then walked here from the station. "

The girl's eyes were slightly disappointed, but she did not give up, and then asked: "Are you going to Tibet? "

I answered: “I am going to Dunhuang.”After I said it, I felt very boring.

The girl nodded again, said in a long voice"Oh", turned around and left. Probably what she was thinking was —— It turned out to be a rookie.

At that time, young travelers regarded Tibet as a holy land, as if everyone who came to Xining was going to Tibet, or coming back from Tibet. It is said that the Qinghai-Tibet line is the most basic route to Tibet, whether by train or other means. In short, when the summer vacation comes, the brave, artistic, or those who want to show off in the future all head towards that holy place. At that time, the term "cleansing the soul" was not too derogatory, and it seemed that it was okay for literary and artistic young people. I admired and envied everyone who achieved their wishes, and I really wanted to go. But at that time, I just stood frozen at the front desk, feeling the embarrassment that a rookie should have.

If I were really a rookie, I wouldn't be so embarrassed. The key is that before I came to Xining, I no longer regarded myself as a rookie. I am also a man who has slept in parks, been to grasslands, and ridden in hard seats on trains. The backpack on my shoulders has several layers of dust, and both the length of my hair and beard have also undergone considerable changes. The results of it?

The result is that I heard most people in the hall discussing the route to Tibet. Objectively speaking, in fact, no one has been to Tibet, but because they are leaving soon, I feel that I am a little short. . This idea seems silly now, and it’s not wrong to say that there is a problem with values, but that’s what I thought at the time.

Listening to the discussions about Tibet, my wishes before departure and my reflections after returning, I felt bored and went to do laundry.

Regarding Tibet, I always feel that I am not ready to go. I also thought about taking a train from Shanghai and arriving there in two days and two nights, but a few months ago I met a buddy in a youth hostel in Longji Rice Terraces in Guangxi. His words were very inspiring to me. He was very solemn. Said: “For travelers, Tibet is a sacred place, but taking the train is the easiest way, and I don’t want to get there so easily. " After hearing what you said, I completely gave up the idea of ​​taking the train to Tibet, but other methods have not yet been developed for me, so I just " entered in a fancy way. Hidden ” as an ideal and postponed indefinitely. Later, I almost stopped being interested in it and didn’t go there. That’s a story later.

I stayed in the cheapest bed room in the youth hostel. 7 bunk beds were arranged in various directions, which meant that this room could accommodate 14One person, once his backpack is thrown away, he can hardly squeeze through. I climbed up to my upper bunk in the corner and read the messages on the wall from the people who had stayed in my bunk before. The most popular decoration in youth hostels of that era was to clean the walls and wait for guests to fill them with paintings. Most of the messages are very uncreative. They basically record that you came here, like this place, a line, year, month, day, and name. This is the same as Monkey Sun's " Come here for a visit " . After reading a few lines, it will be boring.

I thought my days in Xining would pass quietly, eating and traveling alone, but just when I was about to fall asleep, a complete novice broke in. The rookie threw away his luggage, looked around, and when he saw a girl on the opposite bed, he screamed in surprise and shouted " Why is there a girl? Did I go to the wrong room? ” After confirming again and again, he finally discovered that this was a mixed-gender housing. The rookie's mood couldn't calm down for a long time, as if what he saw in front of him was not a girl, but an Indian...Next, the rookie immediately dialed his friend's phone number and asked everyone in the room. A voice from a corner shouted to the other end of the phone: "Hey! Guess what! I live in a youth hostel, which is a bunk bed room where many people live together. This guy Mom is a prostitute with a girl! "

As soon as the rookie finished speaking, the room burst into laughter. I thought the Xianheng Hotel when Kong Yiji was there was just like this.

After the rookie hung up the phone, he was in great spirits. He would chat with everyone he met. The lone rangers who were working in separate camps actually started to communicate with each other. They were already planning to go out together as a group tomorrow. I also joined in with them. Tomorrow's team.

Oh, by the way, the rookie is also planning to take the train to Lhasa.

Everyone got up very early the next day. In a room like this, the first person to get up was a personal alarm clock. No matter how cautious and cautious it was, it would wake up everyone. Some people would turn over and continue sleeping, but they had agreed to use it the day before. The people in the team got up after rubbing their eyes a few times.

I don’t know where someone heard the gossip, saying that “Eid al-Fitr” You can eat meat for free when you go to the mosque. In the end, it was just like the real thing. Everyone said they didn’t believe it, but they walked towards the Grand Mosque honestly. When we walked hungry to the deserted entrance of the Grand Mosque, we looked around for a while. We did not see the cook delivering the meat, but the doorman selling tickets, so we had to leave in frustration. I feel that I really lack the ability to think independently, and I have not yet entered a communist society. How could such a thing as eating meat for free happen? I actually fantasize about coming to the mosque to get meat during Eid al-Fitr, just like queuing up to get Laba porridge at the temple during Laba Festival.

The five of us, who only had a little hope for something that was impossible to happen, were now very disappointed, and in the end we had to pay for breakfast ourselves.

After breakfast, we went to the Qinghai Provincial Museum. It is my habit to check in to the provincial capital museum. Although for me, the collections in each museum are similar, the advantage is that the museum does not cost money and the environment is good. Unfortunately, not only the collections of Qinghai Provincial Museum are not eye-catching, but the environment is also quite ordinary. It took me a long time to find the toilet, and the toilet is very small and not impressive at all. This is my whole impression of Qinghai Provincial Museum.

The biggest attraction in Xining is the Kumbum Monastery. As I mentioned before, among the Tibetan Buddhist temples in Gansu and Qinghai, the Kumbum Monastery ranks second in influence, second only to the Labrang Monastery in Xiahe. Longwu Temple, which is higher than its colleagues. However, Kumbum Temple gives me the worst feeling among these temples, even worse than Daza Temple in Zoige. The reason is very simple. As a must-visit attraction in Xining, there are too many tourists here and the popularity is too strong.

After we spent a lot of money to enter the temple, the strong incense smelled like a Han temple at the 15th day of the Lunar New Year. There are no monks in red robes here, and there are not even many Tibetans. The eyes are full of tourists posingpose for photos, and the aunts are wearing bright silk scarves, each showing off The peacock will open its tail when seeing it. The lively scene brought me a burst of incomparable loss. I began to miss the tranquility of Daza Temple on the grassland, the red robes all over the Labrang Temple, and Longwu Temple. Although it requires admission, After all, the prayer corridor is outside ... In short, a burst of worldliness has covered up the charm that Kumbum Temple should have.

During the hour I stayed at Kumbum Monastery, what I remember most was a cat with dull fur. There was a scar on its forehead, which was probably a seal after a fight. I am a person who can't help but tease a cat when I see it, so I squat down to greet it. It approaches me very obediently and makes a sound of "coo coo "'s coquettish voice. I touched its head and scratched its cheeks, but it didn't bite me and I had nothing to feed it, so the story ended abruptly.

On one photo, Zuo An secretly took a photo of me from the side. She showed the photo to me. I looked at the cat and I in the photo, looking almost homeless, and said: "Look, it and I look alike! "

Zuo An is the person I admire the most during this journey. She is a very small girl, but has a very strong body, and her dark skin has been baptized by countless scorching suns. She was alone, hitchhiking and being a sofa guest from Guangdong to Inner Mongolia, and then from Inner Mongolia to Xining. She lived frugally and only spent more than 600 yuan on the whole journey. I opened my eyes wide and listened in disbelief. This is a traveler who has broken away from the ranks of rookies, but at that time, the Left Bank was still one step away from "A veteran ", that is Tibet.

After they separated, Zuo An went to Tibet. I don’t know how she went there, but the story of her leaving Tibet and going to Xinjiang is thrilling. The Xinzang Line is the most difficult route into and out of Tibet. There are large sections of inaccessible places in the middle. People call those places no man's land. Zuo An embarked on the journey with her small body. She experienced a long period of loneliness, the panic of not being able to catch a ride, and was almost defiled on the way. Thank God, she successfully completed the journey. A long time ago, she left me a message, the content of which was:

I drove from Yecheng to Kashgar, Aksu, and all the way to Kuqa. Unexpected situations kept happening. The day I got off the expressway in Kuqa, it was already dark. I waited in the darkness for half an hour before I took a Uyghur car. A tricycle came into the city, and it was already eleven o'clock at night when I settled down. The psychological defense line that I had been careful and vigilant about for half a month finally collapsed, and I burst into tears.

I imagined the scenery I saw on the left bank during my journey, the snow-capped mountains and grasslands, the cattle and sheep everywhere, the bright Milky Way, and the warmth and coldness of the world. I felt envious and timid at the same time. I thought I could never be like her, but she gave me real courage. Whenever I hesitated about a journey, her little girl stood alone on a deserted road in the night. The body will appear in front of my eyes, as if asking me: "What are you afraid of?"

After leaving Kumbum Monastery, the rookie asked me to help him pick up the train ticket. He seemed to have other things to do, and it was too late anyway. I agreed and picked up my ticket to Delingha as well. When the train ticket from Xining to Lhasa was in my hand, it was probably the closest I had ever been to Tibet. If it hadn't been for the real-name system, I would have almost lost the ticket with a newbie.

In the end, I got on the green car heading to Delingha, and all the friends who were in the team with me in Qinghai went to Tibet.

Postscript: Now, Zuo An has been a mother for several years. She sometimes complains to me about her current life. She works hard to make her son’s life as rich as possible. I once thought she would be on the road her whole life, but in the long river of life, which day are we not on the road? Her life was not smooth, but I want to recall for her that she was helpless, panicked, and lonely in the night. I hope that she can bring courage to me as well as to herself. Bring strength.