BODY RAINBOW

Chapter Fourteen
Phubu was in a police car traveling to Lhasa. Sitting in the backseat, Phubu was sick with nerves. He was afraid that Zhang would detect the unusual smell of the sack and find out that it contained Phumo＇s body. To Phubu, these cops had almost magical powers and he did not know how Zhang would react if he knew Phubu＇s secret…… maybe Zhang would kick him out and confiscate the sack.     

Body Rainbow

Chapter Four The next morning, Phubu was awoken up by a group of monkeys fighting over peas and barley in the field. It was broad daylight. The long calls of the so-called ＂slow birds＂ came from afar. Phubu looked over to the bed to check on Phnmo and saw her sitting cross-legged and chanting sutras. Phumo saw him get up, so she got off the bed, took out a handful of dried apricots, opened the door, and threw them to the monkeys who, instead of running away when they saw her, came up to her chattering. Fearing that they would climb up and steal things, Phubu drew them away. The morning sun rose from the mountains by the Nujiang River in the east. After a good night＇s sleep, Phumo felt much better and had a nice breakfast. After the sun had reached the whole valley, they set out. Phubu carefully dowsed the fire in the stove and cleaned the Tsampa crumbs off the stove. He made sure everything was in order before leaving after fastening the door to prevent those cunning monkeys from entering and making a mess there. Having finished this, Phubu then put the ladder away in the barn on the ground floor to shield it from sun and rain, put the bags on his back and ran after Phumo. Other than a short fur jacket, Phubu was dressed in modern Chinese-style clothes that were more convenient for walking, but Phumo did not want to give up her a cumbersome long dress. Phubu was determined to make her put on the pants he prepared for her once they reach the paved road, otherwise when they start prostrating, she would most likely trip over her long dress, and bave a nasty fall. Phubu soon caught up with Phumo. She walked rather briskly through the forest with a stick picked up from by the road. They breathed in deeply the fresh air of the forest in the morning.., and gained strength from it. Phumo said, ＂Now I＇m feeling much better. I want to start prostrating.＂ Phubu objected, ＂Wait a minute. Haven＇t we already agreed on it？ We don＇t prostrate on Dosenla Mountain. The mountaintop is covered with snow now. It is hard to find a spot to spend the night up there. We＇d better get to the township today.＂ Phumo thought for a while, and agreed. They crossed the forest and climbed up to an alpine meadow. On a gentle slope facing the sun, lots of marmots were standing straight, basking in the sunshine. When the two of them got close, the marmots quickly jumped back into their burrows. Phumo and Phubu carefully avoided the holes on the snow-covered ground, and reached the mountaintop. Dosenla Mountain has a long ridge. The peak in the east is called Dosen and the one sitting five kilometres to the west is Doshong. Once they were on Dosen, a strong west wind blew straight at them. Phumo staggered, Phubu held her, and they rested in the sheltered side by the Mani stones on the peak. Phubu took out his thermos, a gift from a Chinese friend of his in Lhasa. He poured hot tea into the cap, and they enjoyed the heart-warming drink. Phumo took out the prayer banners from their luggage and was about to hang them with other prayer banners on the peak. Phubu stopped her, ＂We＇ll be passing by many mountains. If you start hanging them now, we won＇t have enough for later.＂ ＂I＇ll leave them at the right places. There＇s no such thing as ＇not enough＇.＂ Phumo replied. Phubu had no choice but to help Phumo hang the banners in the strong wind. ＂Let＇s not hang the wind-horse banners here, at least wait until we get to Doshong.＂Phubu said. ＂OK.＂Phumo strode forth. The small path from Dosen to Doshong winds along the high mountain ridge. If looked at from afar, Phumo and Phubu were like two moving exclamation marks. Then some ellipsis points appeared behind them. Those were the three sons of Gar Phuntsok of Sengo Village. They went up the mountain to collect logs, and were now coming back down. They were going to build new houses in the winter. ＂A hard trip, isn＇t it？＂ said Sonam, Gar Phuntsok＇s eldest son, when he caught up with them. Phubu didn＇t react, so Phumo answered in haste, ＂No problem＂ Not knowing what else to say, she asked, ＂Carrying logs＂ ＂Yep,＂ Sonam said, ＂Patri and his company have gone for over two months. What kept you so long＂ Sonam and his brothers had been working at their county seat; they did not know what was going on in the village. ＂We just finished the farm work at home.＂ Phumo replied. Sonata and his brothers were famous for their good looks in the village. They got that from their beautiful mother. Sonam used to be Phumo＇s childhood sweetheart, a fact the narrow-minded Phubu had never let go. The Sonam brothers were all married and had children now, but rumour had it that they were getting a divorce, because their wife was a tough woman who ran a tight ship     

BODY RAINBOW

Chapter Six
A puddle of meltwater was blown down from the top of the tent. It splashed on Phubu＇s face and woke him up. It was broad daylight. Phumo looked to be sleeping soundly and peacefully. So he did not wake her, just quietly sneaked out of the tent. The frozen surface of the Ra-og Lake was covered by snow. Everything was in white. A rainbow arched across the snow-clad mountain top. Phubu breathed in deeply, taking in the cold and crisp air. He stretched his legs for a bit, and came back into the tent.     

Body Rainbow

Phubu did not know how long hehad walked after leaving Baxoi, buthe did know that he was halfwaybetween home and Lhasa. Feelingthe weight of the sack containingPhumo＇s body on his back, Fhubuhad calmed down from the grief anddesperation. He had just one wish：to carry Phumo to Lhasa. He knewthat Phumo had gone, and her soulwas no longer in this body. But hewas determined to finish the trip, notonly because he had promised so, butalso that he believed that it would beredemption for him.     

TIBET’S LAST CARAVAN WITH TRANSPORTING SALT (IV)——WORKING WHILE SINGING

When the director woke us early in the morning, twinkling stars filled the sky amid dead silence; the mountains could be seen dimly snaking away to the far horizon. We drove to the Salt Lake. The distance was only a little over 10 km, but the way was blocked by a river and the road was rough. So, we all began to judge the direction and searched for the little path leading to the Salt Lake. Northern Tibet in the early spring was still covered with ice and snow. We continued to walk along the…     

THE MAGNIFICENT LANDSCAPE AT THE END OF THE DANGEROUS PATH ---THE ROAD TO CHAMDO

<正>People say the road between Sichuan and Tibet is rather dangerous,especially the section close to Chamdo. My first experience of this road worried me a lot because of its poor condition.That was in the middle of June in 2010,just several months before the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Chamdo.I, together with my colleagues,was sent to there to report on the associated celebrations.Our destination was Gatar Township of Tengchen County,where we aimed     

WU YUCHU AND THE YAK MUSEUM OFTIBET

<正>It was the spring of 2011,in Beijing Capital International Airport,when Wu Yuchu was about to fly to Lhasa again.This marked his full-time return to Tibet after working in Beijing for 20 years.His mission this time was to establish a state-level museum dedicated to yaks to express his love and respect for the Tibetan Plateau and its people.Ever Thankful to Yaks On March 13 and 19,Wu Yuchu,curator of the Yak Museum of Tibet,gave     

Through Tanggula

<正>This is the origin of three of the most famous rivers in China:the Yangtze River,River Lancangjiang and Nujiang. Here,the attempt by Genghis Khan to advance into the Indian subcontinent was thwarted and crushed. This is the gateway from Qinghai Province to Tibet and the natural boundary between the administrative regions of Qinghai and Tibet. This is also the highest point on four highways into Tibet:Sichuan-Tibet,Qinghai-Tibet,Yunnan-Tibet, and Xinjiang-Tibet,as well as the highest point on the highest railway in the world. It was more than 50 years ago that the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Highway(China National Highway 109)was begun.The Qinghai-Tibet Railway was opened in 2006.This was the most challenging section during the constructions(due to its high elevation). Between 1991 and 2009,I drove through Tanggula four times.     

GRANDPA PEMA AND HIS DAUGHTER SANGMO

<正>The first time I met Grandpa Pema,he was being pestered by some giggling children.When he saw me and Gioro,he stood up and greeted us,shaking off the kids and starting to boil tea for us.It was in June,when the rainy season was yet to come,but the weather had turned warm.This was the season when the flies ran wild.With the movement of the kids and Grandpa Pema,swarms of     

TRACKING THE SNOW LEOPARD IN THE WILD

<正>It was November in Changtang.Temperatures during the cold nights could reach as low as-20℃.Before brushing my teeth,I had to hold the toothpaste close to my chest to warm it up.Otherwise,it would not come out no matter how hard I squeezed the tube.During the day,the howling wind carrying sand and dust was so strong that I could lean directly into the wind and not fall to the ground.