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Afterthatyouetoastonebridge：nobodyodourhereandthere’sacool；refreshingbreeze。Thebridgespanningthebroadriverhasabitumensurfacebutthecarvedmonkeysonthewornstonepoststestifytoitslonghistory。Youleanontheconcreterailingandsurveythetownshipalongsidethebridge。Onbothbanks；blackroof…topsoverlappinglikefish…scalesstretchendlesslyintothedistance。Thevalleyopensoutbetweentwomountainswheretheupperareasofgoldpaddyfieldsareinlaidwithclustersofgreenbamboos。Theriverisblueandclearasitleisurelytricklesoverthesandyshoresbutclosetothegranitepylonsdividingthecurrentitbeesinkygreenanddeep。Justpastthehumpofthebridgetherushingwaterchurnsloudlyandwhitefoamsurfacesfromwhirlpools。Theten…metrehighstoneembankmentisstainedwithwaterlevels：thenewgreyish…yellowlineswereprobablyleftbytherecentsummerfloods。CanthisbetheYouRiver？AnddoesitflowdownfromLingshan？
Thesunisabouttoset。Thebrightorangediscisinfusedwithlightbutthere’snoglare。Yougazeintothedistanceatthehazylayersofjaggedpeakswherethetwosidesofthevalleyjoin。Thisominousblackimagenibblesattheloweredgesoftheglowingsunwhichseemstoberevolving。Thesunturnsadarkred；gentler；andprojectsbrilliantgoldreflectionsontotheentirebendoftheriver：thedarkblueofthewaterfusingwiththedazzlingsunlightthrobsandpulsates。Asthereddiscseatsitselfinthevalleyitbeesserene；awesomelybeautiful；andtherearesounds。Youhearsounds；elusive；distinctlyreverberatingfromdeepinyourheartandradiatingoutwardsuntilthesunseemstopropitselfuponitstoes；stumble；thensinkintotheblackshadowsofthemountains；scatteringglowingcoloursthroughoutthesky。Aneveningwindblowsnoisilybyyourearsandcarsdrivepast；asusualsoundingtheirdeafeninghorns。Youcrossthebridgeandseethereanewstonewithengravedcharacterspaintedinred：〃YongningBridge。BuiltinthethirdyearoftheKaiyuanreignperiodoftheSongDynastyandrepairedin1962。Thisstonewaslaidin1983。〃Itnodoubtmarksthebeginningofthetouristindustryhere。
Twofoodstallsstandattheendofthebridge。Intheoneontheleftyoueatabowlofbeancurd；thesmoothandtastykindwithalltherightingredients。Hawkersusedtosellitinthestreetsandlanes；itpletelydisappearedsometimeagobuthasnowrevivedasfamilyenterprises。Inthestallontherightyoueattwodelicioussesame…coatedshallotpancakes；straightoffthestoveandpiping…hot。Thenatoneofthestalls；youcan’trememberwhichone；youeatabowlofsweetyuanxiaodumplingsbroiledinricewine：theyarethesizeoflargepearls。Ofcourse；you’renotasacademicaboutfoodasMrMatheSecondwhotouredWestLakebutyoudohaveaheftyappetite。Yousavourthisfoodofyourancestorsandlistentocustomerschattingwiththeproprietors。They’remostlylocalsandallknowoneanother。Youtryusingthemellifluouslocalaccenttobefriendly；youwanttobeoneofthem。You’velivedinthecityforalongtimeandneedtofeelthatyouhaveahometown。Youwantahometownsothatyou’llbeablereturntoyourchildhoodtorecollectlonglostmemories。
Onthissideofthebridgeyoueventuallyfindaninnonanoldcobblestonestreet。Thewoodenfloorshavebeenmoppedandit’scleanenough。Yougetasmallsingleroomwhichhasaplankbedwithabamboomatonit。Thecottonblanketisasuspiciousgrey；eitherithasn’tbeenwashedproperlyorthat’stheoriginalcolour。Youthrowasidethegreasypillowfromunderthebamboomatandluckilyit’shotsoyoucandowithoutthebedding。Whatyouneedrightnowistooff…loadyourluggagewhichhasbeequiteheavy；washoffthedustandsweat；strip；andstretchyourselfoutonthebed。There’sshoutingandyellingnextdoor。They’regamblingandyoucanhearthempickingupandthrowingdownthecards。Atimberpartitionseparatesyouand；throughtheholespokedintothepapercoveringthecracks；youmakeouttheblurredfiguresofsomebare…chestedmen。You’renotsotiredthatyoucandropofftosleepjustlikethat。Youtaponthewallandinstantlythere’sloudshoutingnextdoor。They’renotshoutingatyoubutamongstthemselves：therearealwayswinnersandlosersandtheloseristryingtogetoutofpaying。They’reopenlygamblingintheinndespitethePublicSecurityOfficenoticeonthewallprohibitinggamblingandprostitution：youdecidetocheckwhetherthelawhasanyeffect。Youputonsomeclothes；godownthecorridorandknockonthehalf…closeddoor。Yourknockingmakesnodifference；theykeepshoutingandyellinginsideandnobodytakesnotice。Soyoupushopenthedoorandgoin。Thefourmensittingaroundthebedinthemiddleoftheroomallturntolookatyou。Butit’syouandnottheywhogetsarudeshock。Themenallhavebitsofpaperstuckontheirfaces；ontheforehead；lips；noseandcheeks；andtheylookuglyandridiculous。Theyaren’tlaughingandareglaringatyou。You’vebuttedinandthey’reclearlyannoyed。
〃Oh；you’replayingcards；〃yousay；puttingonanapologeticlook。
Theygoonwiththeirgame。Thelongpapercardshaveredandblackmarkingslikemahjong；there’saGateofHeavenandaPrisonofHell。Thewinnerpenalizestheloserbytearingoffastripofnewspaperandstickingitonadesignatedspot。Whetherthisisaprank；awayoflettingoffsteam；oratally；isagreeduponbythegamblersandthereisnowayforoutsiderstoknowwhatit’sallabout。
Youbeataretreat；gobacktoyourroom；liedownagain；andseeathickmassofblackspecksaroundthelightglobe。Millionsofmosquitoesarewaitingforthelighttogooutsothattheycanedowntofeastonyourblood。Youquicklyletdownthemosquitoandareenclosedinanarrowconicalspace；atthetopofwhichisabamboohoop。It’sbeenalongtimesinceyou’vesleptunderahooplikethis；andyou’velongsincepassedtheageofbeingabletostareatthehooptoloseyourselfinreverie。Today；youcan’tknowwhattraumastomorrowwillbring。You’velearntthroughexperienceeverythingyouneedtoknow。Whatelseareyoulookingfor？Whenamangetstomiddleageshouldn’thebelookingforapeacefulandstableexistence；findanot…too…demandingsortofajob；stayinamediocreposition；beeahusbandandafather；setupafortablehome；putmoneyinthebankandaddtoiteverymonthsothere’llbesomethingforoldageandalittleleftoverforthenextgeneration？
ChapterTwo
ItisintheQiangregionhalfwayupQionglaiMountain；intheborderareasoftheQinghai…TibetanhighlandsandtheSichuanbasin；thatIwitnessavestigeofearlyhumancivilization；theworshipoffire。Fire；thebringerofcivilization；hasbeenworshippedbytheearlyancestorsofhumansbeingseverywhere。Itissacred。Heissittinginfrontofthefiredrinkingliquorfromabowl。Beforeeachsipheputsafingerintoitandflickssomeonthecharcoalswhichsplutternoisilyandsendoutbluesparks。ItisonlythenthatIperceivethatItooamreal。
〃That’sfortheGodoftheCookingStove；it’sthankstohimthatwecaneatanddrink；〃hesays。
Thedancinglightofthefireshinesonhisthincheeks；thehighbridgeofhisnose；andhischeekbones。HetellsmeheisoftheQiangnationalityandthathe’sfromGengdavillagedownthemountain。Ican’taskstraightoutaboutdemonsandspirits；soItellhimI’mheretodosomeresearchonthefolk…songsofthemountain。Dotraditionalsongmastersanddancersstillexisthere？Hesayshe’soneofthem。Themenandwomenallusedtoformacirclearoundthefireanddancerightthroughtodaybreak；butlateronitwasbanned。
〃Why？〃IknowquitewellbutIask。I’mbeingdishonestagain。
〃ItwastheCulturalRevolution。TheysaidthesongsweredirtysowechangedtosingingSayingsofMaoZedongsongsinstead。〃
〃Andwhataboutafterthat？〃Ipersistinasking。Thisisbeingahabit。
〃No…onesingsthoseanymore。Peoplearedoingthedancesagainbutnotmanyoftheyoungpeoplecandothem；I’mteachingthedancestosomeofthem。〃
Iaskhimforademonstration。Withouthesitation；heinstantlygetstohisfeetandproceedstodanceandsing。Hisvoiceislowandrich；he’sgotagoodvoice。I’msurehe’sQiangevenifthepoliceinchargeofthepopulationregisterinsistthatheisn’t。TheythinkanyoneclaimingtobeTibetanorQiangistryingtoevadebirthrestrictionsandhavemorechildren。
Hesingssongaftersong。Hesayshe’safun…lovingper