Finding Hidden Treasures With Visiting Parents
Because China is undeniably hot, living here means receiving a constant stream of visitors, ranging from colleagues to best friends and everything in between. They come just to see us or for tours, business trips and fact-finding missions. Our entire family enjoys the company and the care packages as well as the prompted visits to tourist-site that are often otherwise overlooked. Still, because we are not on permanent vacation, we have also developed a retinue of guides, drivers and tour companies to assist guests in getting around town.
But parental visits are different, and when my folks arrived about two weeks ago, I put virtually everything on hold to accompany them on their outings. It was wonderful to have them here just a year after my father was diagnosed with bladder cancer and things looked bleak. None of us ever lost our sense of amazing grace at his ability to simply be here, seemingly good as new; anything we actually did felt like gravy. But, boy, did we do a lot.
We made our way to several popular tourist destinations, including the Forbidden City, which I had shamefully never entered. My trumpet-playing father even made his China debut, performing with a friend's band at a downtown club. Everything was going great. Then I decided to take them on a wild Wall hike, in large part because of their enthusiastic reaction to my recent column about hiking outside the city.
Alan Paul
Alan Paul's father makes local friends.
Because the first week of October is one of the busiest travel times of the year, with a national holiday celebrating the 1949 founding of the People's Republic of China, we battled dense get-out-of-town traffic for a solid hour. We finally left the masses far behind by heading up and over a twisty mountain road, plowing deeply into neighboring Hebei province. Finally, guide Tony Chen pointed me toward a sharp turn off.
We slowly bounced up a severely rutted dirt road, the drop-offs just to our right growing ever more precipitous as we ascended impossibly steep switchbacks. Feeling my parents' unease rising I struggled to focus on driving and stave off panicked thoughts that I was insane to drag my folks to such a remote spot. This highlighted the conundrum one can easily face; visitors expect you to take them off the beaten path, but how far off do they really want to go?
We finally arrived at a virtually abandoned village cut hard into a hillside. Tony explained that only about 15 mostly elderly people now lived here, lack of water and opportunities causing the others to move on. My anxiety began to melt away as we walked through a verdant valley and I sensed my folks' wonder and delight, taking in the vistas and the peasants picking crabapples off of fruit-laden trees. This is a part of China tour members rarely see but one I think is crucial to even begin understanding this vast country.
We hiked up a hill into increasingly arid mountains, which stretched as far as the eye could see. After about an hour, we came to a gorgeous section of the Great Wall, approximately 400 years old and totally unreconstructed. Though grass grew waist high on the top, the Wall was in great shape and we trekked atop it, my father marveling at both the construction and the solitude. Neither of us realized it was just our first course of outback exploring.
Tony Chen
Alan Paul and his father at the Great Wall
Two days later, we flew to Lijiang in Southwest China's Yunnan Province. The postcard-perfect old city has become increasingly popular with Chinese tourists in the last decade and was packed for the holiday. Though the central square was wall-to-wall people, our lovely little hotel was down a quiet alley. It was easy to escape by wandering through the perimeter's narrow, cobblestone streets, which were reminiscent of Jerusalem's ancient markets.
The area is the home of the Naxi minority, natives whose fascinating culture includes the world's last living hieroglyphic language. We spent a day in Yuhu village with guide Lushan Nguloko, who works for the Nature Conservancy and whose family runs a guesthouse out of their traditional courtyard home. Her mother and sister cooked us lunch, then we all toured the village on horseback. We also stopped by the former home of Joseph Rock, a self-trained botanist and anthropologist who lived there from 1922-49 and wrote extensively about the area for National Geographic.
On day four, we loaded into a van and headed north for Shangri-La. People have been searching for this fictional paradise since it was described in James Hilton's 1933 novel "Lost Horizon." In 2002, the Chinese government changed the name of Yunnan's Zhongdian County to Shangri-La. As cynical as that ploy sounds, it actually seemed likely we were heading toward paradise as we left a gorgeous locale only to watch the scenery grow ever more stunning.
The expansive, snow-capped 16,778-foot Jade Snow Mountain, which had been hidden behind clouds our entire stay in Lijiang, was finally visible, looming outside our right window for close to two hours. We stopped to descend into the belly of the 3900-foot deep Tiger Leaping Gorge, gawking at the Yangtze River pounding over rocks at the bottom, before sending two of the kids back up in a shoulder-carried rickshaw. We paused again for lunch, then pushed onward.
After nearly five hours of endlessly climbing to over 10,000 feet, we reached a level plateau that was both achingly beautiful and distinctly different. We were in Tibet, no matter what the borders say, with a huge sky that stretched from mountain range to mountain range. White stupas (Buddhist prayer monuments) dotted the landscape, surrounded by free-roaming giant yaks and whole families of pot-bellied pigs rooting around freshly plowed fields. A few farmers trailed yaks, with plows attached to their animals by large nose rings.
It was mesmerizing, but the kids were deliriously ragged out from the drive and at least one total meltdown seemed imminent. When we turned onto the heavily rutted dirt road leading to the Banyan Tree resort I flashed back to our hairy drive up to the Hebei village. As we bounced and jiggled around, my father sarcastically said he had to hand it to us for finding such a place and I was certain I had gone a step too far dragging my children and parents into these wilds.
Then we pulled up to the hotel's main lodge and everyone, kids included, instantly knew the journey had been worth it. Simply put, it was the most remarkable place I've ever stayed. Both the setting and the buildings were somehow indelibly soothing and inspiring, so much so that it would have been hard to argue with the inflated tab even if my parents hadn't insisted on picking it up.
Walking by the nearby river we watched yaks, sheep and pigs heading home on their own as dusk approached. We were trailed by three Tibetan children, curious to peer at our kids and delighted when we gave them gum, granola bars and fresh fruit. The next morning we went for a short trek to a nearby village, with the kids riding horses. We drank yak butter tea and ate yak cheese inside a home with elaborate woodwork and intricate, brightly painted beams but no toilets. My father again said he had to hand it to us, but the sarcasm was gone. And then it was time to leave, our visit too short but incredibly memorable.
The six-hour trip home was mercifully uneventful and the next morning we had to face up to a return to reality -- kids to school, mom and dad to work and my parents back to the airport. A few days later, we all have a post-trip hangover, exacerbated by missing my parents and feeling a little extra isolated in their absence. But the true mark of a successful visit is feeling sad to see it end.
和父母一起探寻中国
中国现在无疑是个旅游热点。在这里生活就意味着不断会有客人来访－－同事、好朋友以及其他人。他们来中国，有的只是为了看看我们，有的来观光旅游，有的来出差或进行一些实地调查。我们全家都十分喜欢与他们共度的时光及他们带来的礼物。在他们的“敦促”下我们还能去一些平时会忽略的景点。不过，由于我们的假期也很有限，因此我们有时候会请导游、司机或旅行社带着客人四处转转。
但是父母来访就完全不同了。在我父母两周前抵达的时候，我基本上暂停了所有工作，全心全意陪伴他们。我父亲一年前被诊断出患有膀胱癌，那时候一切似乎都黯淡无光。现在他能来这里真是太好了。我们每个人对父亲能做这样的安排感到很欣慰，他充满活力，好像什么都没发生一样。我们作任何事情感觉都像是额外的收获。不过，我们确实做了很多努力。
我们去了几个非常受欢迎的旅游景点，其中包括我从来没有进去过的故宫。我父亲会吹小号，他甚至还在北京进行了首场演出－－和朋友的乐队在城里的一家俱乐部表演。所有的事情都十分顺利。之后，我决定带他们进行一次野外远足。这样的安排很大程度上是因为他们对我最近一篇有关远足的专栏文章表现出很大兴趣。
十月的第一周是中国的“黄金周”，也是这里一年之中的旅游旺季，我们在拥堵不堪的出城公路上着实花费了不少时间。在崎岖的山路上一阵颠簸之后，我们终于远离喧嚣的人群，向河北省挺进。走了一段之后，向导Tony Chen让我拐入一条很陡的岔路。
我们缓慢地在一条尘土飞扬、车辙很深的路上蹒跚而行。转过又一个陡峭的急转弯后，我们右边的坡似乎更陡。我感觉到父母的不安情绪在加重，我只能集中精力开车，尽量赶走脑子里的胡思乱想：我简直是疯了，把家人拉到这么偏远的地方。这也体现了人们经常面临的两难境地：客人总是希望你能够带他们离开那些毫无挑战的地方，但是他们真正想要走多远呢？
经过一番周折，我们终于到达一个位于半山腰、近乎废弃的村落。Tony介绍说，现在这里大约有15位居民，而且大多数都是上了年纪的老人，这里不仅缺水，也没什么前途，因此其他人都搬到别的地方去了。我们徒步穿过一片青翠的山谷，透过树林看到了远处的景色，还看到当地的农民在果实累累的山楂树上采摘，这时我感到了家人的惊奇及愉悦，心中的焦虑也渐渐散去。那些参加旅行团的人很少有机会看到这样的景色，不过我认为这样的地方对了解这个地域广阔的国家非常重要。
我们翻过一座小山，眼前是一片更荒凉的山脉，它一直延伸到我们的视线之外。爬了大约一个小时之后，我们到了万里长城上景色很壮观的一段，这一段大约有400年的历史，而且完全没有重新修建过。尽管顶部的草已经长到半人多高，但是墙体保存得十分完好。我们跑到长城顶上，我父亲不禁对城墙的建筑及此地的偏僻感慨不已。不过，我们俩都没有意识到这是我们第一次共同进行郊外探险。
两天之后，我们飞往地处中国西南部的云南丽江。这个风景如画的古城在过去10年越来越受到游客的青睐，节假日常常是人满为患。尽管中心广场上人山人海，但我们寄宿的那家可爱的小旅店却坐落在一条安静的小路上。在旅店周围鹅卵石铺就的狭窄小道上漫步，你就能轻松地逃离人群的喧嚣，这些小道不禁让人联想起耶路撒冷的古代集市。
丽江是纳西人的聚居地，纳西族拥有迷人的文化，比如世界上唯一“活着的”像形文字。我们在玉湖村呆了一天，导游Lushan Nguloko为自然保护协会(Nature Conservancy)工作，她的家人借自家传统的庭院式住宅开了一家客栈。她的母亲和妹妹给我们做了午饭，之后我们骑着马游览了村子。我们还参观了约瑟夫?洛克(Joseph Rock)曾经住过的地方。他是一位自学成才的植物学家及人类学家，曾在1922-49年间住在玉湖村，并为《国家地理杂志》(National Geographic)写了大量专门介绍当地风土人情的文章。
在丽江的第四天，我们全家乘坐一辆面包车前往香格里拉。在詹姆斯?希尔顿(James Hilton)在1933年出版的小说《消失的地平线》(Lost Horizon)里描述了天堂般的香格里拉之后，人们就在不断找寻这个传说中的美丽天堂。2002年，云南省中甸县被更名为香格里拉。我们离开一个景色如画的所在、只为见到更让人 叹的风景，就像是在
风尘仆仆地赶往天堂，这和中缅人的做法似乎有某种相似的追求“脱俗”的意味。
绵延起伏的玉龙雪山海拔高达16,778英尺，山顶终年被皑皑白雪覆盖。我们在丽江停留的几天里，它一直躲在重重云层背后，现在终于能看到它的真面目了。在将近两个小时的行程中，它一直在右侧车窗外面若隐若现。我们中途下车进到3,900英尺深的虎跳峡，长江水重重拍打峡底岩石的壮观场面让我们口瞪目呆。之后两个孩子坐着轿子回到车上。后来我们停下来吃了午饭，然后继续前进。
经过近五个小时的颠簸，我们来到一处海拔约10,000英尺的高原平地，这里的景色非常美且非常独特。不管界碑上怎么写，我们实际上已经身处西藏了，一望无际的天空在群山峻 之间延伸开来。白色的佛塔点缀着美丽的画卷，壮硕的旄牛在悠闲地散步，一群肚子圆滚滚的猪在新翻过的土地上四处觅食。几位农民拉着旄牛耕地，牛鼻子上拴着大大的鼻环。
这风景实在迷人，不过孩子们由于长时间乘车已疲惫不堪，似乎马上就要瘫倒了。当我们再次踏上通往仁安悦榕庄(Banyan Tree)的尘土飞扬的道路时，我的脑海里闪现出险象环生的河北驾车之旅。在我们左右摇晃颠簸前进的路途中，我父亲不无揶揄地说：我真佩服你们能找到这样的地方。当时我就想，我拖家带口来这种荒山野 的地方真是有点过分。
但是，当我们到达旅馆主要住宿区时，每个人－－包括孩子们，马上明白这次长途跋涉是值得的。简单来说，这个地方是我住过的最棒的地方。这里的布置及建筑都是那样的令人放松，而且十分壮观，以致于我们都没有为房费上调而讨价还价，虽然我父母并没有坚持要住在这里。
黄昏来临了。我们到附近的河边散步，看到旄牛、羊群和猪在暮色中自己回到牲口棚。三个藏族小孩一直跟着我们，好奇地偷看我们的孩子，当我们送给他们口香糖、燕麦棒和新鲜的水果时他们特别开心。第二天早上大人们徒步、孩子们骑马前往附近的一个村落，在当地村民的家中品尝了酥油茶和 牛奶酪。屋子里摆放着很精致的木家具，房梁的图案复杂但色彩鲜艳。不过屋子里没有厕所。我父亲再次表示他十分钦佩我们，但是这次他没有半点讽刺的语气。很快我们就得离开了，这次旅行虽然短暂，但却十分令人难忘。
六个小时的回家旅程平安无事，第二天早上我们不得不重新回到现实生活－－孩子要上学，我们要工作，我的父母要去机场。几天之后，我们一家仍对这次旅行意犹未尽，对父母的思念让我们的这种感觉更加强烈，没有他们的陪伴我们甚至感到有点孤独。不过，每次成功的旅行都是这样的：在它结束的时候，你会非常伤感。
Alan Paul
（编者按：本文作者Alan Paul是《吉他世界》(Guitar World)的高级编辑，同时也为美国篮球杂志《灌篮》(Slam)撰写文章。因妻子工作需要，他举家从美国新泽西迁住中国，现居北京。）
