The same neighborhood, the same streets, the same city... everything returns to the same. But I'm not the same person anymore. I don't want to keep the same life, I want to get out of here, really really want to.
Looking at the pictures I took in Tibet, I miss it a lot. Given me an opportunity to work in Lhasa, I'd happily take it.
Before I got to Lhasa, I didn't know much about it. From TV, pictures and books, Tibet seemed to be a mysterious place with unique scenery and exotic culture; people there were religious, probably not easy to talk with. And almost everyone I knew all thought Tibet was kinda a dangerous place to go-- travelling there wasn't safe.
The last night in Chengdu, I went to supermarket to get lots of stuff: water, instant noodles, biscuit, slipper, cup, napkin... I thought it might be hard or very expensive to get these things in Tibet. What an idiot. I was totally wrong. Lhasa actually has everything. Cheap and good. I used to think Tibet was a remote and undeveloped area, but as the capital city of Tibet, Lhasa was pretty modern, many parts of Lhasa were just like other regular towns in China. There were several main streets, full of stores and people. I love these streets. In one street, I could find everything. All kinds of stores, cheap hotels, restaurants, bars, Internet cafes...So convenient. But isn't that boring? No, not at all. There're many boring street in Hangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing... But not in Lhasa. Because it's...mixed. Some corners looked very Tibetan, some corners turned out to be totally Chinese, and some corners probably looked Western And people, there were various types of people in the streets: Tibetans, Chinese, travelers from all over the world, business people from all places Lots of new things to see, like local people's outfits, their houses, new food I was exciting about seeing different things. Tired of walking in Hangzhou Streets. All Chinese. And they all speak Chinese. I understand everything. Nobody would ever look at me because I look exactly like them, I'm just one of them. But in Tibet, I was just a tourist, I was not one of them, and I didn't understand everything. Sometimes I got lost, and sometimes I got confused. I like that feeling.
Religion is another important part of Lhasa, which makes this city more interesting. Monks were everywhere, and there were many monasteries in town. I wasn't into Buddhism, but I liked visiting these monasteries. I enjoyed the atmosphere inside these monasteries. Some monasteries were even built among high mountains, the views were awesome. Tibetan architecture interested me a lot, especially the way they used the colors. After the visit, I learnt nothing about their religion, but the buildings of monasteries and the natural views around alone were attractive enough to me.
Tibet people are friendly, warm and generous. People here all say they might be unfriendly to people from mainland China. No such thing. Walking in the street, I saw Tibetans smiling to me from time to time. Asking them directions,they'd try their best to help me, even take me to where I wanted to go. Curious about what they were eating, they'd give me the food for free. Most Tibetan living in Lhasa and other big cities could speak Chinese, and they were really easy to talk with. I talked to people in the streets, in teahouses, on the buses, on the planes... the conversations went on really well. Apparently, people here have some misunderstanding of Tibetan people, assuming they are brutal and unfriendly. Completely wrong. I wish everyone could get the chance to visit Tibet to see what the real Tibetans are. And Tibet isn't a dangerous place at all. Two in the morning, I was walking in the street alone. Nothing happened. Tibet is as safe as any other place of China. |
