People know that Tibet is likely one
of the few places with the most tough, natural and
indigent living conditions in the world. However, tourists
here have found that Tibetans are a people who
love smiling most in the world.
Language
experts said that words describing smile in any
language can have their equivalents in the Tibetan
language.
But the smile on the faces of
Tibetans are more impressive.
In Tibet,
whenever you ask Tibetan for directions, he or she
will give you a pure smile like an old friend. A
lama, a nun or an old man holding a canister for singing
sutras you meet with in the autonomous region often return
you a simple, honest and understanding smile when
you smile to them.
On the square in front
of the Potala Palace, an old Tibetan lady takes
out some change to alms-begging lamas. She also smiles
and it seems that every single wrinkle on her face
is filled with satisfaction.
A
palmer, who gets one yuan from a tourist and gives back nine
jiao (one yuan equals 10 jiao), will say that
"one jiao is enough" and smiles lightly and
unaffectedly.
At the Sera Monastery at
dusk, several young lamas, carrying sutras and
vegetables, were going back to their dormitories,
giggling all the way. But no one knows why they
are laughing.
Pilgrims who have trekked for
several months or half a year for a pilgrimage to Lhasa,
capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, also smile
to passersby on the road. Their smile is somewhat
mystic and it seems that they are carrying some
treasure.
Those Tibetan men who walk on
the street may sometimes sing suddenly and then
laugh frankly. And Tibetan girls, dressed as
fashionable as those in eastern coastal areas of
China, travel by tractors, laughing and singing in
Tibetan language all the way.
And there are
such occasions when a person laughs, others will
also laugh, even strangers nearby.
They love to smile when looking at animals such as
dogs and yaks, and the smile is calm and kind.
They also smile when making mistakes or jokes, and
they often smile like kids.
Even in the
remote areas of Tibet where people have no access
to electricity and no highways, Xinhua journalists
also find that local people love smiling.
They welcome people from the inland areas of China
with sweet smiles and they love making jokes when
working on the farmland and laugh amusedly. They
chant ballads which they have compiled praising
creditable living Buddhas and Communist Party cadres.
Some of the smiles are unforgettable to reporters.
Sangmu, 84, used to be a serf and could not keep
body and soul together before the liberation of the Tibet,
now has a large area of farmland of his own, herds
of domestic animals and household electric
appliances. He can not help smiling when talking
about his happy life today.
In
the pasture area, groups of Tibetan kids, dressed in
sheepskin, wave to reporters, smiling.
Xinhua reporters visited a Tibetan whose son was
hurt at the waist during a devastating flood. His
family now lives in houses built by the
government. His son has been sent to a local hospital for
treatment with the help of the government.
This Tibetan farmer smiled to reporters as if he
was meeting with their beloved family members,
with tears in eyes. Enditem