Text & Photo by Miss Erminia

As our train drags out of Xining Railway Station in the moonlight, our Qinghai-Tibet Railway trip has formally begun. The next destination: Golmud.

Since the completion of China's new technological railroad, the city neighboring Tibet Autonomous Region has become the focus of increased attention.

Suddenly, my compartment becomes noisy. Before I raise my eyes from my computer screen, three people in Lamas' dress sit on the bunk beside me. Accompanied by a number of curious electronics, they have their cameras and recorders in hand.

9-year-old Renjin Jiancuo (ren 1 jin 1 jian1 cuo 4) and his mom and her brother were invited to the compartment by one of my colleagues, who is obsessed with Tibetan Buddhism and culture. I doubt they have known each other for a long time, since they are talking to each other in the Tibetan language and even the Tibetan Buddhist language.

The little boy shows great interest in my laptop and stretches his head close to the screen to try to find out what it's about. When I ask him if he wants to take a closer look, he repeats my last word and stares at me curiously. My colleague tells me they can't understand mandarin very well.

"Diannao (computer)."

"Is this for you the whichever time of going to Lhasa?"

"Third!"

"Huoche hao (taking the train is more comfortable)!"

Jiancuo tells us he wants to visit the sculpture of Sakyamuni as well as Potala Palace in Lhasa.

Finding it hard and boring to learn to answer our questions in Chinese, Jiancuo begins to murmur the prayers he has learned, which deliver good wishes.
 
Suddenly, I find it useless to ask any more questions. At this point, all I want to do is to pray with my new companions together.