Leisurely Travels Through Four Seasons – Northwest by West (Part 13)
On this northwest journey, I joined a mixed group tour. Happily, I met two other solo travelers, and the three of us decided to team up, adding an extra dose of joy to the trip.
The elder Mr. Fei, from Jiangxi, was refined, calm, and amiable, with a kind and gentle countenance. He carried his own selfie stick, but occasionally let us take a picture or two for him. He was quite enthusiastic about group photos, never turning down our requests, his smile as brilliant as the plateau sunshine. At the Dunhuang night market, when we split the dinner bill, Mr. Fei ordered a beer. Since neither of us drank, the old gentleman insisted on paying separately. We couldn't dissuade him, so we let him have his way.
Xiao Zhou, from Anhui, was a handsome young man in his early twenties, warm, polite, and well-behaved. Along the way, he helped everyone take photos. At the Water Yadan, he sprinted to retrieve a lady's scarf blown away by the wind, then stood panting for ages due to altitude sickness, drawing good-natured laughter from all of us. I took many good-looking photos of him. Thanks to him, the Qinghai-Gansu route left countless memories in my phone, and I also left a traveler’s footprint on the vast Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
After our grand loop tour of Qinghai and Gansu, we all went home to rest. Only Xiao Zhou seamlessly boarded a train to Tibet. Seeing his photo in front of the Potala Palace on his social media, I couldn't help but sigh: it's great to be young.
Our guide, Xiao Yang, was a young man from Gansu in his early twenties. Not tall—far from the stereotypical burly northwest man—but he was very capable, decisive, and swift, never beating around the bush, with the forthrightness of a northwesterner.
A tourism graduate with good organization and a warm, friendly attitude is a basic requirement—not surprising. What amazed me was his professional knowledge. On this grand Qinghai-Gansu loop, Xiao Yang focused his commentary on the customs, history, and Buddhist culture of the northwest. He delivered it almost flawlessly. In particular, his explanations of Tibetan Buddhism included many tongue-twisting Buddhist terms—names, doctrines, sects—all pronounced clearly and fluently. Listening to him, I kept wondering: I stumble over these words even when reading from a book; how could he say them so smoothly? This is what they mean by 'specialization in a field.' It's rare to find such a young man so skilled.
Writing this, I can't help but recall two other guides from my trips to Guizhou and Fenghuang—that's a long story.
At the foot of Mount Hua, in Huayin County, there was an innkeeper whose surname I can no longer recall, but I will never forget his help.
This was a young man from Jiangxi who had moved alone to Shaanxi to start a business. Warm and gentle, but a man of few words, talking with him left you with a cozy feeling. After learning my itinerary, he proactively advised that I could travel directly from Huayin to Lanzhou, without detouring through Xi'an. The next afternoon, after I returned from Hua Shan to the inn, with the departure time to Lanzhou fast approaching, the innkeeper promptly hopped on his electric scooter and took me to the bus stop. At the stop, he estimated the time, then resolutely hailed a taxi, gave the driver instructions, and slung my suitcase into the trunk. Once in the taxi, I told the driver to head to the train station. The driver replied, 'That man already told me everything.'
More than a year has passed, and whenever I recall my northwest journey, I can't forget that innkeeper. Being far from home, to receive such help is truly unforgettable.
After all, it was just a group tour; though billed as retracing the Silk Road, it was still a quick, superficial glimpse. Today's Silk Road is no longer a place of swirling yellow sand as in the past, and its prosperity is not that of old. Straight, smooth highways, towering buildings, and green shelterbelts reaching straight into the eye—all are the face of modern civilization. The stories of Han and Tang, the legends of the Western Regions, either float in the desert sky, linger in our hearts, or await silently in museums for the next visitor.
Of the four commanderies of Hexi in the Han Dynasty, we spent a night in Dunhuang and brushed past the edge of Zhangye. As for Jiuquan, Wuwei, along with Yangguan and Yumenguan, we could only imagine them from the bus window as we traveled along. On this land long ago, Zhang Qian trekked thousands of miles, narrowly escaping death; Huo Qubing swept through like a hot knife through butter, awe-inspiring; later, Master Xuanzang endured great hardships and journeyed west alone. History has left indelible marks of the Chinese nation here.
Compared with these predecessors, how fortunate are Chinese people today. As we travel the new Silk Road, the great northwest greets visitors from across the country and the world with prosperity everywhere and smooth roads all the way. It offers not just a soul-cleansing, relaxing journey, but also a delightful pleasure that strikes straight to the heart.
