Chapter 4 2. Love in Golmud

It is said that you rely on your parents at home and friends when you go out.If on a special journey, you meet an irresistible friend, it will be even more precious... Golmud - the Mongolian language means "the birthplace of auspiciousness".Golmud City is known as the largest city in the world, with a total administrative area equivalent to the entire Jiangsu Province; however, the urban area is only 15 square kilometers, with a population of about 19,000.Golmud is located in the middle of the Qaidam Basin, at an altitude of 2,800 meters; this area is rich in a large amount of potassium salt mines and crude oil, and the related industries developed from it have become the pillar industries of this emerging industrial city.Golmud is located in the fortress of the Qinghai-Tibet Highway. It is a gathering place for material transportation in Tibet. It has the largest military depot and transportation team in the country. It has become a strategic place connecting the inland and Tibet.

Following the crowded flow of people, we walked out of Golmud Railway Station and saw Xiaorui's mother who had been waiting outside the station for a long time.Xiaorui once again sincerely invited me to go to her house to rest for a whole day. I thought it would not be good to refuse again, so I agreed.Xiaorui first took me to the bus station in front of the train station, bought a bus ticket to Lhasa the next day, then took a taxi and went straight to her home.Xiaorui's house is located in a row of bungalows in the family compound of Xige Office in the West District of Golmud River, which is very similar to the structure of two bedrooms and one living room in the city. July and August coincided with the rainy season in Tibet. Xiaorui's father is currently working day and night on the Dangxiong section of the Qinghai-Tibet Highway to repair the Qinghai-Tibet Highway that was destroyed by successive days of heavy rain. There are only their mother, daughter and Xiaorui's younger brother at home.Xiaorui's mother cooked a hearty lunch. The rice in Golmud was really delicious, like glutinous rice.Xiaorui introduced that such an excellent variety was formed due to the abundant sunshine in Golmud and the large temperature difference between day and night. This kind of rice can be used to make a special snack "japonica skin" in Golmud, and they agreed to eat it together in the afternoon.After a full meal, I went to Xiaorui's brother's room to rest.

Desert on the outskirts of Golmud The days on the plateau are very long, it is already six o'clock in the evening, and the sun is still hot.The sky is still so blue, and people living in the city can never imagine such a sky.After recovering from a nap, we started to walk around the streets of Hexi District with Xiaorui. The first place Xiaorui took me to was her alma mater——Xigeban Middle School. The office is an important liaison between Tibet and the mainland.This is a very ordinary middle school located in a one-story building area. The school's outer wall has the slogan "Work hard and get into university with excellent grades".Xiaorui told me how she studied hard day and night to pass the Beijing Second Foreign Language School.I am very emotional, how difficult it is for children living in remote areas!Who can understand the hardships they have paid to achieve their life goals?We went to the largest farmer's market in Hexi District again. I was very disappointed.I ate Golmud's specialties - yogurt and japonica bark. The yogurt is too sour, and the japonica bark is not as delicious as Xiaorui described. Seeing Xiaorui eating the japonica bark with relish helped her realize a homesick dream. .We went home early to prepare for our departure the next day.

When I woke up the next morning, the first thing I felt was a sore throat. I was shocked, thinking it was a sign of a cold, and it was terrible to catch a cold before I left the school.After hastily eating breakfast, he quickly took Xiaorui to look for a pharmacy in Hedong District.In a pharmacy, the clerk told me that it might be caused by the dry climate on the plateau, and suggested that I use Golden Throat Lozenges, which I bought without hesitation.Experience the heartbeat of the first plateau, strolling on the street with Xiaorui, many Tibetan handicraft shops attracted my footsteps, looking at the dazzling array of Tibetan handicrafts displayed inside, including silver bowls, small prayer wheels, Tibetan Necklaces etc.If Xiaorui hadn't persuaded me to buy them after I arrived in Tibet, I really wanted to buy a few.

In Hedong District, I really got a taste of Golmud's snacks, and there are dozens of pasta dishes.Especially a kind of noodle bread called "naan", which is yellow and shiny, really gluttonous; there is also Golmud's kebabs, which can be smelled from a long distance.Unfortunately, since arriving in Golmud, due to altitude sickness, my stomach is always bloated and I have no appetite at all.In order to prepare for the future trip to Tibet, Xiaorui took me to a supermarket to buy two catties of chocolate, and recommended me to buy some mineral water produced by Nachitai Mineral Water Factory.According to Xiaorui, there is a spring named "Kunlun Spring" in Nachitai, and the water quality is very good.And she was born there, when Xiaorui's father was building roads on the Nachitai Road Class on the Qinghai-Tibet Line.Xiaorui also told me that when she was a child, she accidentally fell into the spring because of her mischief.

Wind Horse Flag beside the Qinghai-Tibet Highway It was already ten o'clock in the morning, and the time to leave Golmud was approaching.Xiaorui insisted on taking me to the starting point of the Qinghai-Tibet Highway. We took a rickshaw and went straight to the destination.At the starting point of the Qinghai-Tibet Highway, there is a majestic road-building monument, which is composed of two triangular yellow-brown steel anchors butted, with a black marble base underneath, and an inscription "Civilized Qinghai-Tibet Highway Transport Line" is engraved on it.The monument was jointly built by the governments of Qinghai Province and the Tibet Autonomous Region to commemorate the builders and maintainers of the Qinghai-Tibet Highway, which is a symbol of Golmud City.Xiaorui and I took a group photo in front of the monument.Xiaorui told me that more than 2,000 PLA ​​engineering soldiers died during the 1,200-kilometer journey from Golmud to Lhasa. On average, two soldiers sacrificed their precious lives for every kilometer of road built.What an arduous journey it has been!Seeing things and thinking about others, Xiaorui had tears in her eyes, I was speechless, I could only pat her on the shoulder lightly to express comfort.Thinking about the Qinghai-Tibet Highway that is about to be embarked on, many people, including Xiaorui's father, have paid huge sacrifices for it.In just two days together, Xiaorui and I seem to have been friends for many years.I really want to have such a cute little sister!

Hurrying home, Xiaorui's mother had already prepared lunch and baked a bunch of naan for me to eat on the road.I tasted a piece and it was so delicious that I unceremoniously started eating naan from lunch.Xiaorui's mother told me that naan is baked from eggs, lard and noodles, which can be preserved for a long time and is a must-have food for people traveling in Northwest China.After dinner, Xiaorui insisted on taking me to the station.We walked out of the family dormitory of Xige Office side by side, looking back at the life station where we once stayed, and felt an inexplicable feeling in our hearts.For those who have given me selfless help, I can only bless them silently in my heart.

After arriving at the bus station, I arranged my luggage and prepared to say goodbye to Xiaorui; but she still insisted on waiting for the car before leaving, and said that she had to go to the end to see her off.So, some time before the ride, Xiaorui and I sat in the station for a while.Xiaorui told me that she might also go to Lhasa and hoped to see me again.I left her my cell phone number and told her to contact me when she arrived in Lhasa.After exchanging treasures with Xiaorui, I got on the bus, and Xiaorui ran to the window of my seat, and I stretched out my hand from the window to hold her tightly.Just two days together, such a tacit understanding and harmony, is a beautiful moment in our long life journey...

In fact, Xiaorui actually arrived in Lhasa later.In Dangxiong, she met her father as she wished.Xiaorui also went to Chubu Monastery and received the touch of the living Buddha Karmapa and the yellow ribbon to bless her with safety and happiness in her future life journey.At that time, I was bumping in the wilderness of Ali's no-man's land, and my mobile phone could not receive any signal at all. My eyes were a little wet, and Xu Zhimo's "Farewell to Cambridge" came to my heart: "Gently, I leave, just as I came lightly; I gently waved my hand, bid farewell to the clouds in the western sky... "

In the sad parting, the bus left Golmud Bus Station.