Our First Trip
by William Liu, 2015
Before I traveled to Tibet, I could have never imagined just how poor and undeveloped a region could be. China to me was always just glittering cities, festive banquets, and overly extravagant penthouses. In fact, the night before we left for Ganzi (a Tibetan county), we stayed in the wonderful city of Chengdu, enjoying the food and lifestyle there. The next morning, we left for Tibet.
I was greatly confused upon leaving the metropolitan area. The road’s asphalt transformed into uneven gravel littered with potholes. Cell phone reception suddenly disappeared. Huge mountains with steep, unprotected roads loomed ahead. Civilization seemed far and distant; besides a few large trucks, we were the only ones on the roads. For three days straight, we traveled on a car for more than sixteen hours nonstop. There was not a lot of food (besides some snacks I brought along), there were no comfortable hotels (the one we found was dirty and did not have a functioning restroom), and I felt extremely bored. It seemed as if I was in a different world. The individual temples and landmarks we saw created only brief moments of excitement; I was simply exhausted and listless for a majority of the first few days.
Finally, we reached out destination, Tade Temple. It was nearly 18,000 feet in the mountains, shrouded with clouds and surrounded by beautiful canyons. Upon entering the flowering temple’s arch, my attitude completely changed. The realization of Tibet’s beauty and purity from the first world’s vices struck me. I saw jubilant Tibetan children run up with scarves and in their eyes, I saw nothing but innocence. This moment changed my entire mindset; I finally began to appreciate this arduous journey.
On the very next day, my family and I distributed some gifts to the children. We gave books, toiletries, American snacks, and many other first world luxuries. We could have left immediately after this process, but decided to stay and impart something more permanent; we ended up teaching the children basic English. They grasped the language’s basics very quickly and started running around shouting English greetings and names. We joined in with their laughter and fun at school (which was composed of only one log cabin at the time) for the rest of the day. These moments were truly memorable.
However, the time for departure soon arrived. We had to pack out camping gear and say our farewells. But before I left, I promised the children that I will return and I promised myself that I will spread awareness about these people’s hardships.
