甘南游Day1——到夏河啦
The first day of the MM Gannan tour, all the members gathered in Lanzhou. For the first
breakfast, of course, it was the most famous local snack – beef noodles ��.
The team members came from Beijing with a population of more than 20 million to
Lanzhou, the provincial capital city with a population of more than 3 million, and then to
Xiahe County with a permanent resident population of more than 80,000. The scenery
kept changing. On the way from Lanzhou to Xiahe, we saw a huge double-decker truck
full of mooing yellow cattle, and saw short green mountains and one sheep after another
as small as chess pieces on the mountains.
There are many more shops in Xiahe County. For dinner, we had a great Tibetan
restaurant. Highland barley yogurt, grilled lamb chops, Amdo fried rice, yak meat… were
all so delicious!
Today is also Nellie and Eric’s 20th wedding anniversary. Oh, bless them!
甘南游Day2——Labrang Monastery
Our tour guide is a monk who has been practicing buddhism for 20 years in Labrang and
he is also a philosopher.
He asked us:
What’s happiness?
What’s peace?
What’s zero? Zero isn’t empty and it creatives everything.
Is your body yourself? Is your soul yourself?
Who are you?—— Hope you find out answers.
甘南游Day 3——So fancy in Xiahe
我们都有自己的小佛——
来自加拿大的Crystal是我们在夏河的老朋友，她在夏河创办的Snow land arts school，招
募过很多来自甘肃贫穷家庭的孩子们，免费教育他们，让他们爱上艺术，且掌握了赖以生
存的一技之长。
她给我们讲起藏族的艺术、绘画来，眼睛都是放光的。
We all have our own little Buddha——
Canadian Crystal is our old friend in Xiahe.
She has found the SnowLand Arts School, which recruited many kids from poor families
in Gansu. She provided free education for them and made them fall in love with art. They
can depend on the skill to survive. So great job!
She spoke to us the Tibetan art painting and so on, and I saw her eyes sparkling with
enthusiasm.
Day4-从郎木寺到扎尕那
达仓 朗木 格尔底寺:
达仓是虎穴之意，朗木是仙女之意，格尔底是当地活佛的名字。
它位于甘肃四川交界，在甘肃境内的寺庙宇恢宏，金碧辉煌。四川界内的寺供奉着当地格
尔底活佛第五是世的肉身佛。
扎尕那是藏在山坳中的世外桃源，看山、看石、看阳光下在山顶上鳞次栉比的村庄，有东
方小瑞士之称。
Dacang means the tiger’s den, and Langmu means the fairy. Gerdi is the name of the
local Living Buddha.It is located at the border between Gansu and Sichuan.
The temples within Gansu are magnificent and resplendent.
The temple within the boundary of Sichuan enshrines the physical Buddha of the fifth
generation of the local Living Buddha Gerdi.
Zhagana is a paradise hidden in the mountain col. Looking at the mountains, the stones,
and the villages lined up on the mountain top under the sunlight, it is known as the “Little
Switzerland of the East”.
甘南游Day5——No hiking No our trip
甘南游Day6-A toast to friends!
The singing of Tibetan girls is sonorous and melodious. It’s so pleasant!
We made zanba together, tasted highland barley wine, and danced Guozhuang dance
together.
Raise the wine cups in this friendly place – to the heaven, to the earth, to our parents, and
to our friends!
The last——
In early July 2024, I believe it will surely become an unforgettable memory for you all,
and it will definitely be an unforgettable memory for MM as well.
Your performance along the way has been truly amazing. Although only two of you have
been to China before, most of you are setting foot on this land for the first time, where
both the diet and living habits are greatly different from those in the US.
You came with curious eyes and an exploring heart, constantly trying new things, never
being pretentious and never resisting.
“Would you like to eat 牛肚（tripe）? It’s the stomach of a cow.”
“Sure!”
“Would you like to eat 羊肚？ It’s the stomach of a sheep.”
“Yes!”
“This is chicken feet. Many foreigners are not used to it.”
“I can give it a try.”
Take off your hats when entering the temple and hold the hada with both hands. The
Chinese people have been friendly and enthusiastic towards you, and you have also
responded with warm smiles and the same kindness.
You have fully cooperated with the team leader teachers, making Li Laoshi and Tie
Laoshi extremely happy along the way.
This journey has been perfect because of all of you!
小故事——
甘南行趣事——当外国人住在智能酒店
我们夏日的甘南行，有MM的学生，还有他们的家人和朋友，多数人并没有学过中文，也
是第一次来到中国。
在AI时代，一些时髦酒店必须有AI小帮手，开灯关灯、开关窗帘此等小事只需喊几声“小度
小度”或者别的“小”朋友，智能家居就自己开始工作啦。
可是，这可太难为我们不会说中文的队员了。出发前在兰州那一晚的酒店是一个loft房间，
大家来到一层客厅，发现家居如此智能，领队铁老师头脑中出现了可怕的画面：由于无法
用中文来控制，队员们敞开着窗帘、大亮着吸顶灯睡觉，这太不能接受了！于是，铁老师
对着学生的手机一遍遍录音：“小度小度，打开窗帘”、“小度小度，请关灯”……，然后再请
手机对着桌子上的机器人说话，如此往来几次，这招成功了！
不过当我们来到二层床铺前，发现墙上有控制家电的按钮……
Our trip to Gannan this summer included MasterinMandarin’s students, as well as theirfamilies and friends. Most of them have not studied Chinese and it’s their first time in
China.
In the AI era, some fashionable hotels must have AI assistants. For such small matters
as turning on and off the lights and curtains, you just need to shout a few times “Xiaodu
Xiaodu” or other “little” friends, and the smart home will start working by itself.
However, this is too difficult for our team members who don’t speak Chinese.
The hotel in Lanzhou on the night before departure was a loft room. When everyone
came to the living room on the first floor and found that the home appliances were so
smart, a terrifying picture emerged in the mind of the team leader铁老师: Because they
couldn’t control it in Chinese, the team members would sleep with the curtains wide open
and the ceiling lights brightly on. This was unacceptable! So, 铁老师 recorded repeatedly
on the students’ cell phones: “Xiaodu Xiaodu, open the curtains”, “Xiaodu Xiaodu, please
turn off the lights”…, and then asked the mobile phone to speak to the robot on the table.
After doing this several times, this method worked!
But when we came to the beds on the second floor, we found that there were buttons on
the wall to control the household appliances……
甘南行趣事——卡拉永远OK
在甘南，我们按照地图上的路线行进。长途车中，休憩、观景、吃零食、卡拉OK那是一个
都不能少的。
我们包的中巴车上音响效果超棒，更棒的是，会说中文的营员们都有拿手的中文歌
。Gabby是13年前来中国留学的，她喜欢的是孙燕姿和林俊杰。Clayton跟着中文播客学会
了《小燕子》、《草原夜色美》等更加有年代感的歌曲。
我们车上的小型演唱会开始了，气氛到了那里，连五音不全的我也开麦了。嗨歌的劲头一
浪高过一浪。Eric唱起枪炮与玫瑰的《November rain》掀起了全场大合唱，这一车，可是
集齐了70后到00后的每一时代。事实证明，枪花和Bob Dylan属于所有时代。Max平日是
个I人，但他在中文老师的淫威下鼓励下也连唱了好几首歌，连他的妈妈都感到万分惊喜。
而我唯一会唱的英文歌是很古早的《昔日重现》，我以为算是家喻户晓的经典歌曲，没想
到一车人中只有00后的Max会唱。于是，一个人到中年的中国人和一个18岁的美国青年共
同合唱了一首已有50年历史的英文老歌，那一刻，感觉真奇妙。
In Gannan, we travel according to the route on the map. In the long-distance bus, rest,
sightseeing, eating snacks, and karaoke are all indispensable.
The sound effect of the minibus we chartered is excellent. What’s even better is that the
campers who can speak Chinese all have their own excellent Chinese songs.
Gabby came to China to study 13 years ago. She likes Stefanie Sun and JJ Lin. Clayton
has learned more nostalgic songs such as “Little Swallow” and “The Beauty of Grassland
Night” by following Chinese podcasts.
The small concert on our bus has begun. When the atmosphere reaches there, even I,
who am tone-deaf, also turn on the microphone. The enthusiasm for singing high-energy
songs is getting higher and higher. Eric sang Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain” and set
off a chorus from the whole audience. In this bus, people from every generation from the
post-70s to the post-00s are gathered. Facts have proved that GnR and Bob Dylan
belong to all times. Max is usually an introvert (I person), but he also sang several songs
in a row. Even his mother was extremely surprised.
The only English song I can sing is the very old “Yesterday Once More”. I thought it was
a household classic song. Unexpectedly, only Max, a post-00s among a busload of
people, can sing it. So, a middle-aged Chinese and an 18-year-old American youth jointly
sang an old English song with a history of 50 years. At that moment, it felt so wonderful.
甘南行趣事——祈雨
扎尕那这片山脉坐落着四个村子。视频中我们徒步的路线属于第二个村子。
午饭时间，我们恰走到了观景很美的平台。土拨鼠在对面的石头上看着我们吃随身带来的
简餐。
站在此处眺望前方，高高的山坡上有一片开阔地，绿油油的，用五彩经幡围着。我问漂亮
的带队小姐仁青草，那么高的地方人们去做什么呢？“去祈雨。”
哇！这些古老的仪式还在发生着。仁青草介绍，这个村子的祈雨仪式只有本村的妇女可参
加。主角是公选出的一名未婚女性，着新衣，双手托举着用树枝做成的人形支架，这个架
子也需穿上新衣。
大家来到高地，载歌载舞，或许唱的就是代代相传下来的咒语，望引得山神附体到树枝上
。然后把人形支架放在地上，观它是否可站立，是否会跳几下。每种结果都暗含着下雨或
无雨的神秘讯息。而后，再次载歌载舞，依次把山神送回。
旅行，观景，美哉。知民俗，幸哉。
In this mountain range of Zhagana lie four villages. The route we hiked in the video
belongs to the second village.
At lunchtime, we just reached a platform with a beautiful view. Marmots were looking at
us eating the simple meal we brought along on the opposite stone.
Standing here and looking ahead, on the high hillside there is an open area, green and
surrounded by colorful prayer flags. I asked the beautiful tour leader, Ren Qingcao, what
do people go to such a high place for? “To pray for rain.” Wow! These ancient rituals are
still taking place. Ren Qingcao introduced that only the women of this village can
participate in the rain-praying ceremony of this village. The protagonist is an unmarried
woman elected publicly. Wearing new clothes, she holds up a human-shaped support
made of branches with both hands. This support also needs to be dressed in new
clothes. Everyone comes to the highland, singing and dancing. Perhaps what they sing is
the spell passed down from generation to generation, hoping to attract the mountain god
to possess the branches. Then place the human-shaped support on the ground and see
if it can stand or jump a few times. Each result implies a mysterious message of rain or
no rain. After that, everyone sings and dances again and sends the mountain god back in
turn. Traveling and viewing the scenery, wonderful. Knowing folk customs, fortunate.
还发了一个都是李老师拍的拉不楞寺的人，这些照片你要不要？
