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翻译／张 晓
绿如翡翠的流水、雄伟的山峰、雷鸣般的瀑布、柔软的白云、清如水晶的蓝天……如果我是一名游记作家，我将用这些词语形容我的贵州旅行。但我不是，作为一个中文能力有限的外国人，我独自在中国旅行，以此讲述我的贵州之旅。
我的一位成长于贵州的朋友向我推荐了三个景点（线路）：黄果树瀑布和龙宫、织金洞、荔波（大七孔）。这三个景点都美丽得令人窒息，尤其是其原始、自然的外貌。
首先，在我的酒店预定行程就像一项不可能完成的任务，但无论如何我完成了。他们要求我填写一份3页的中文合同，合同声明旅行公司不对任何伤害和财产损失负责任。
交上了新朋友
当我走上旅行巴士的过道，所有人的视线都投向我，身后，乘客都向我扭头。过道两旁都是耳语声——“外国人”。在贵州，外国人是不常见的，所以我就像一个名人，或者像动物园里的动物。我更喜欢做名人。
“嗨，你从哪儿来？”英语！有人对我说英语。我转过头，一个迷人的年轻女孩在我旁边，微笑着。这简直太好了，令人难以相信。我们就像在一个充满了雕像、树木、花儿的美丽花园。其他人也蹭过来想听这位“名人”的讲话。注意到周围的聚拢的人群，我准备着自己的标准答案。
“我？我是中国人，你看。”我微笑着，指了指自己的脸，表明自己明显的中国人特征。如往常一样，大家都迟疑了，因为他们并不明白为何一个外国人称自己为中国人。
“我和你们开玩笑，我是美国人。”我再次指了指自己。现在他们明白了，笑了起来。
“你呢？你是美国人吗？”更多的笑声。靳丝婷（音译）——我新交的中国朋友——是和她的男朋友田侃（音译）、表妹尤月（音译）（被介绍为她的妹妹，我以为中国人这样做是为了表明比表妹更近的关系）和她的姨妈，即尤月的妈妈（她的名字我不知道）一起来旅行的。我们说汉语和英语，并很快成为朋友。
回贵阳的路走了很长时间，并经过了一些非常贫穷、闭塞的村庄，这样我更好地理解了很多中国人仍然过得非常困难。回到贵阳，我的新朋友们邀请我去一家地道的贵州餐馆吃饭，我可以总结为一个词——辣，尤其是鱼，但仍然可口。饭间，他们邀请我加入他们第二天的去织金洞的行程，那也是个非常棒的地方。靳丝婷、尤月和田侃将会在8月底、9月来北京——我生活和教书的地方——参与一个他们大学的研究项目。游完后，我们相互道别，并希望在北京再见。
中国司机
我稍微偏离一下主题，讨论一个稍敏感的问题：中国司机。毫不夸张地说，我在美国已经驾车行驶了大约100万英里，遇到过各种各样的困难情况，大城市的高峰时刻、糟糕的交通拥堵、年久失修的公路、崎岖狭窄的盘山公路、破旧的汽车和卡车，凡是你想得起来的，我都开过。在这100万英里的行程中，我有过一次轻微事故。所以我自认为是一个极好的（也非常自信的）司机。
但是，在看过中国的交通（更加准确地讲是北京）30秒后，即使坐在方向盘后的这种想法都令我害怕。在聽到这些后，中国人都大笑，表明他们理解我的害怕。我提及这些是因为，在坐过各种旅行巴士后，我不得不说每一个巴士司机的技术都令我印象深刻。他们以安全的速度行驶，路面颠簸时减速，尤其值得一提的是，他们有能力穿过山间公路的狭窄通道，通过山村，村里的道路停满了拖拉机和卡车，几乎不可能穿过。我可不愿意做这样的司机。但是，在下坡路时，依照中国传统的驾驶习惯，每个司机都会在接近路上的另一辆车时鸣喇叭，接近时再次鸣喇叭，好让另一个司机知道我们的车将要通过。每一次经过山路的拐弯，司机会多次按响喇叭。这些（对我来说）是刺耳的、痛苦的噪音。我明白，这些都是为了安全起见，但仍然难以习惯。和我一起的中国乘客似乎很健忘。
好奇与善良
第二天，因为长途的车程和旅行我决定休息，所以我去了贵阳的黔灵公园。公园很大，很漂亮，在几个小时的爬山和散步后，我坐在了一个长椅上，一个年轻妇女的旁边，因为其他的长椅都坐满了人。她问我从哪儿来，你可以猜出我的答案。很快，大约十来个人围过来，问问题。他们知道的唯一英语通常是“你好！”只能讲中文，我的答案99%都是“听不懂”，但他们并不觉得沮丧。还是不断地说着，问问题，时而微笑时而大笑。一个年龄稍大的妇女离开时，她对我说“再见”，还给了我一个飞吻。太可爱了！
接下来的两天，我参加了一个荔波两日游，来回各6个小时的行程。酒店预订办公室的女职员坚持把我送上旅游巴士，她怕我自己根本找不到车。早晨6点半，下着糟糕的雨，她在酒店等我，我们打车到了一个喧闹、拥挤的地方，成百上千的旅游巴士排成了队，到处是人，一片嘈杂。她给导游打了两次电话，然后说，“这边，”就带我穿过人群、车队，在一片雨水、泥泞中找到了车。导游非常友好地和我打招呼，我上了车，又一次成为大家关注的中心。
事故
大自然赋予荔波的美将永远是我的美好回忆，但发生在荔波的一次意外事故也让我记住了这个旅游景点：一个女性差一点就丢掉了性命，而且这一切就发生在我旁边。事故发生得特别突然。一家人让我给他们在美丽的瀑布前拍照，他们是我刚认识的朋友。正当我调整焦距，突然有人尖叫，相机镜头中，这家的女主人正惊慌地指着。向下看去，石桥上石洞众多，在我旁边的一个石洞下面，一只手伸出水面向石桥上爬。水面正贴着桥底，看上去很平静，其实不然。水流很急，正是上边瀑布冲下来的激流，如果抓不住，她就会被水流冲下去，通过桥下的水面，一瞬间，我确认我看到的是一只手。幸运的是，当我俯身去抓她，另一个人，他应该看到了落水并意识到了危险，跳进了水里，托起了那个气喘吁吁的、被吓坏了的落水者，我顺势抓住了她，并把她从水里完全拉了上来。她仍然大口地喘气，所幸并没有受伤。
长途旅行后，我回到酒店，在贵阳的最后一晚，我回想了自己的旅程：美丽的风景、嘈杂、偏远地区人们的困难生活、当地人的善良和好奇和我新结识的朋友，对自己的所见和经历我感到愉悦。
Emerald green water, wispy fingers of fog, majestic mountains, thundering waterfalls, pillowy white clouds, crystal-clear blue skies ... these are phrases I would use to describe my vacation in Guizhou if I were a travel writer. But I'm not, I'd rather talk about my experience as a foreigner, with limited Chinese skills, traveling alone in China.
Three tours were recommended to me by a friend who grew up in Guizhou: Huangguoshu Waterfall and Dragon Palace Cave, Zhijin Cave, and Libo (Da Qi Kong ). All three places are breathtakingly beautiful, nature in its purest form; (fill in above phrases here).
First of all, booking the tour in my hotel is like a new release of Mission Impossible, but somehow I accomplish my mission. They ask me to sign a 3-page contract, all in Chinese, of course, no doubt stating that the tour company would not be responsible for any injury or property damage.
Making New Friends
As I walk down the aisle of the tour bus, all eyes are on me, heads turn as I walk past. Whispers of "waiguoren" criss-cross the aisles. In Guizhou, foreigners are still uncommon, so I'm like a celebrity ... or an animal in a zoo. I prefer celebrity.
"Hello, where are you from?" English!! Someone is speaking English to me. Turning my head, there's an attractive young woman beside me, smiling. It's almost too good to be true. We're in a beautiful garden with statues, trees and lovely flowers (don't ask what kind). Others on the tour discreetly creep closer to hear their "celebrity" speak. Noticing the gathering crowd, I prepare my standard answer to the question.
"Wo? Wo shi Zhongguoren. Ni kan. " Then, smiling, I point to my face to indicate my "obvious" Chinese features. As usual, there's a little hesitation because they don't quite know what to make of a foreigner saying he's Chinese.
"Wo gen ni men kai wan xiao. Wo shi Meiguoren." as I point again to my face. Now they get it, and start giggling.
"Ni ne? Ni shi Meiguoren ma?" More giggles. Jin Si Ding, my new friend, is traveling with her boyfriend, Tian Kan, her cousin (introduced as her sister; the Chinese do that, I believe, to indicate a closer relationship than mere cousins), You Yue, and her aunt, You Yue's mother, whose name I never got. We speak in English and Chinese and become friends quickly. After the long bus ride back to Guiyang, through some really poor, remote villages, which give me a better understanding and appreciation of how difficult many Chinese people's lives still are, they invite me to dinner at a restaurant that serves traditional Guizhou food. I can sum it up in one word ... H-O-T, especially the fish, but still delicious.
During dinner, they invite me to join them the next day on their tour to Zhijin Cave, which turns out to be another excellent tour. Jin Si Ding, You Yue and Tian Kan will be in Beijing, where I live and teach, for a research project for their university from late August through Sept. We say good-bye after the tour, but look forward to seeing each other again in Beijing.
Chinese Driver
I need to digress for a few moments to discuss perhaps a slightly sensitive topic; Chinese drivers. I've driven approximately 1,000,000 miles in the US, no exaggeration, in all kinds of difficult conditions; rush hour in big cities, awful traffic congestion, bad roads, winding narrow mountain roads, bad cars, bad trucks, you name it, I've driven it. In driving those one million miles, I've had one fender-bender. So I consider myself a pretty good (and confident) driver.
However, after about 30 seconds of observing traffic in China (more precisely, Beijing), I became terrified at even the thought of getting behind the steering wheel in Beijing traffic. Even Chinese people laugh when I mention this, indicating they understand my fear. I mention all this because after all those hours as a passenger in various tour buses, I have to say I was very impressed at the skill demonstrated by each of my tour bus drivers. They drove at safe speeds, slowed down for bumps in the road, and especially noticeable was their ability to maneuver through impossibly tiny openings on mountain roads, or through mountain villages where workers left their tractors and trucks on the side of the road, forcing the tour drivers to squeeze big buses through impossibly narrow passages. I wouldn't want to be those drivers. However, on the down side, following Chinese driving tradition, each driver blasted his horn as it approached another vehicle in a different lane, then blasted again as it sped closer, to let the other driver know our bus was about to pass. At each curve in the mountain roads, and there were many, the driver blasted his horn a couple of times again. These were (to me) ear-splitting, torturous noises. All this, I understand, was for safety purposes, but still impossible to get used to. My fellow Chinese passengers seemed oblivious.
Curiosity and kindness
The following day, I need a break from long bus rides and tours, so I go to Qianling Park in Guiyang. It's a big, beautiful park, and after a couple of hours walking and climbing small mountains, I sit next to a young woman on a bench, as all the other benches are full. She asks where I'm from. You can guess my reply. Soon, there are about ten people gathered around asking me questions, speaking the only phrase they know in English, usually "How are you?" But mostly they speak Chinese and aren't at all discouraged that 99% of my answers are, "Ting bu dong." They keep speaking, asking questions, smiling and laughing. As one older woman leaves, she says "bye bye" and blows me a kiss. So cute!
The next day I join a two-day tour to Libo; six-hour bus ride each way. The woman in the hotel booking office insists on accompanying me to the tour bus as she fears I might not be able to find it by myself. She meets me at the hotel at 6:30am on a miserable rainy morning, and rides with me in a taxi to a crowded area with a million tour buses lined up, people everywhere; total chaos. After two phone calls to the tour guide, she says, "Zhe bian," and leads me through the mass of people, buses, rain, and puddles to my bus. The friendly guide greets me and I get on the bus, once again the center of attention.
The Accident
The natural beauty of Libo will forever be a wonderful memory, but I will also remember Libo as the tour in which a woman was nearly killed right next to me. It happened so suddenly. A family that I'd become friends with asked me to take their photo in front of a beautiful waterfall. As I'm focusing the camera, suddenly people are screaming, the woman in the camera lens is pointing frantically. Looking down, into one of the many holes in the stone bridge above the rushing water from the waterfall, there's a hand extended from below the water, barely clinging to the surface of the bridge, just beside my foot. The water on the surface just below the bridge, visible through the hole, seems calm, but that's an illusion. This is rushing water from the waterfall, and if the person's hand slips, she'll be swept down the river rapids through rocks at high-speed. All this takes a moment to register in the instant that I see the hand. As I bend down to grab it and try to pull up, fortunately another man, who must have seen the woman fall in and immediately realized the danger, jumps into the water, pulls up the gasping, terrified woman from her lower body, allowing me to grasp under her arms and pull her completely out of the water. She continues to gasp for air but otherwise seems unharmed.
After the long bus ride back to my hotel, my last night in Guiyang, I reflect back on my trip; the beauty, chaos, living conditions in the remote areas, the kindness and curiosity of the local Chinese people, the new friends I'd made, I can't help feeling almost euphoric about all I saw and experienced.
绿如翡翠的流水、雄伟的山峰、雷鸣般的瀑布、柔软的白云、清如水晶的蓝天……如果我是一名游记作家，我将用这些词语形容我的贵州旅行。但我不是，作为一个中文能力有限的外国人，我独自在中国旅行，以此讲述我的贵州之旅。
我的一位成长于贵州的朋友向我推荐了三个景点（线路）：黄果树瀑布和龙宫、织金洞、荔波（大七孔）。这三个景点都美丽得令人窒息，尤其是其原始、自然的外貌。
首先，在我的酒店预定行程就像一项不可能完成的任务，但无论如何我完成了。他们要求我填写一份3页的中文合同，合同声明旅行公司不对任何伤害和财产损失负责任。
交上了新朋友
当我走上旅行巴士的过道，所有人的视线都投向我，身后，乘客都向我扭头。过道两旁都是耳语声——“外国人”。在贵州，外国人是不常见的，所以我就像一个名人，或者像动物园里的动物。我更喜欢做名人。
“嗨，你从哪儿来？”英语！有人对我说英语。我转过头，一个迷人的年轻女孩在我旁边，微笑着。这简直太好了，令人难以相信。我们就像在一个充满了雕像、树木、花儿的美丽花园。其他人也蹭过来想听这位“名人”的讲话。注意到周围的聚拢的人群，我准备着自己的标准答案。
“我？我是中国人，你看。”我微笑着，指了指自己的脸，表明自己明显的中国人特征。如往常一样，大家都迟疑了，因为他们并不明白为何一个外国人称自己为中国人。
“我和你们开玩笑，我是美国人。”我再次指了指自己。现在他们明白了，笑了起来。
“你呢？你是美国人吗？”更多的笑声。靳丝婷（音译）——我新交的中国朋友——是和她的男朋友田侃（音译）、表妹尤月（音译）（被介绍为她的妹妹，我以为中国人这样做是为了表明比表妹更近的关系）和她的姨妈，即尤月的妈妈（她的名字我不知道）一起来旅行的。我们说汉语和英语，并很快成为朋友。
回贵阳的路走了很长时间，并经过了一些非常贫穷、闭塞的村庄，这样我更好地理解了很多中国人仍然过得非常困难。回到贵阳，我的新朋友们邀请我去一家地道的贵州餐馆吃饭，我可以总结为一个词——辣，尤其是鱼，但仍然可口。饭间，他们邀请我加入他们第二天的去织金洞的行程，那也是个非常棒的地方。靳丝婷、尤月和田侃将会在8月底、9月来北京——我生活和教书的地方——参与一个他们大学的研究项目。游完后，我们相互道别，并希望在北京再见。
中国司机
我稍微偏离一下主题，讨论一个稍敏感的问题：中国司机。毫不夸张地说，我在美国已经驾车行驶了大约100万英里，遇到过各种各样的困难情况，大城市的高峰时刻、糟糕的交通拥堵、年久失修的公路、崎岖狭窄的盘山公路、破旧的汽车和卡车，凡是你想得起来的，我都开过。在这100万英里的行程中，我有过一次轻微事故。所以我自认为是一个极好的（也非常自信的）司机。
但是，在看过中国的交通（更加准确地讲是北京）30秒后，即使坐在方向盘后的这种想法都令我害怕。在聽到这些后，中国人都大笑，表明他们理解我的害怕。我提及这些是因为，在坐过各种旅行巴士后，我不得不说每一个巴士司机的技术都令我印象深刻。他们以安全的速度行驶，路面颠簸时减速，尤其值得一提的是，他们有能力穿过山间公路的狭窄通道，通过山村，村里的道路停满了拖拉机和卡车，几乎不可能穿过。我可不愿意做这样的司机。但是，在下坡路时，依照中国传统的驾驶习惯，每个司机都会在接近路上的另一辆车时鸣喇叭，接近时再次鸣喇叭，好让另一个司机知道我们的车将要通过。每一次经过山路的拐弯，司机会多次按响喇叭。这些（对我来说）是刺耳的、痛苦的噪音。我明白，这些都是为了安全起见，但仍然难以习惯。和我一起的中国乘客似乎很健忘。
好奇与善良
第二天，因为长途的车程和旅行我决定休息，所以我去了贵阳的黔灵公园。公园很大，很漂亮，在几个小时的爬山和散步后，我坐在了一个长椅上，一个年轻妇女的旁边，因为其他的长椅都坐满了人。她问我从哪儿来，你可以猜出我的答案。很快，大约十来个人围过来，问问题。他们知道的唯一英语通常是“你好！”只能讲中文，我的答案99%都是“听不懂”，但他们并不觉得沮丧。还是不断地说着，问问题，时而微笑时而大笑。一个年龄稍大的妇女离开时，她对我说“再见”，还给了我一个飞吻。太可爱了！
接下来的两天，我参加了一个荔波两日游，来回各6个小时的行程。酒店预订办公室的女职员坚持把我送上旅游巴士，她怕我自己根本找不到车。早晨6点半，下着糟糕的雨，她在酒店等我，我们打车到了一个喧闹、拥挤的地方，成百上千的旅游巴士排成了队，到处是人，一片嘈杂。她给导游打了两次电话，然后说，“这边，”就带我穿过人群、车队，在一片雨水、泥泞中找到了车。导游非常友好地和我打招呼，我上了车，又一次成为大家关注的中心。
事故
大自然赋予荔波的美将永远是我的美好回忆，但发生在荔波的一次意外事故也让我记住了这个旅游景点：一个女性差一点就丢掉了性命，而且这一切就发生在我旁边。事故发生得特别突然。一家人让我给他们在美丽的瀑布前拍照，他们是我刚认识的朋友。正当我调整焦距，突然有人尖叫，相机镜头中，这家的女主人正惊慌地指着。向下看去，石桥上石洞众多，在我旁边的一个石洞下面，一只手伸出水面向石桥上爬。水面正贴着桥底，看上去很平静，其实不然。水流很急，正是上边瀑布冲下来的激流，如果抓不住，她就会被水流冲下去，通过桥下的水面，一瞬间，我确认我看到的是一只手。幸运的是，当我俯身去抓她，另一个人，他应该看到了落水并意识到了危险，跳进了水里，托起了那个气喘吁吁的、被吓坏了的落水者，我顺势抓住了她，并把她从水里完全拉了上来。她仍然大口地喘气，所幸并没有受伤。
长途旅行后，我回到酒店，在贵阳的最后一晚，我回想了自己的旅程：美丽的风景、嘈杂、偏远地区人们的困难生活、当地人的善良和好奇和我新结识的朋友，对自己的所见和经历我感到愉悦。
Emerald green water, wispy fingers of fog, majestic mountains, thundering waterfalls, pillowy white clouds, crystal-clear blue skies ... these are phrases I would use to describe my vacation in Guizhou if I were a travel writer. But I'm not, I'd rather talk about my experience as a foreigner, with limited Chinese skills, traveling alone in China.
Three tours were recommended to me by a friend who grew up in Guizhou: Huangguoshu Waterfall and Dragon Palace Cave, Zhijin Cave, and Libo (Da Qi Kong ). All three places are breathtakingly beautiful, nature in its purest form; (fill in above phrases here).
First of all, booking the tour in my hotel is like a new release of Mission Impossible, but somehow I accomplish my mission. They ask me to sign a 3-page contract, all in Chinese, of course, no doubt stating that the tour company would not be responsible for any injury or property damage.
Making New Friends
As I walk down the aisle of the tour bus, all eyes are on me, heads turn as I walk past. Whispers of "waiguoren" criss-cross the aisles. In Guizhou, foreigners are still uncommon, so I'm like a celebrity ... or an animal in a zoo. I prefer celebrity.
"Hello, where are you from?" English!! Someone is speaking English to me. Turning my head, there's an attractive young woman beside me, smiling. It's almost too good to be true. We're in a beautiful garden with statues, trees and lovely flowers (don't ask what kind). Others on the tour discreetly creep closer to hear their "celebrity" speak. Noticing the gathering crowd, I prepare my standard answer to the question.
"Wo? Wo shi Zhongguoren. Ni kan. " Then, smiling, I point to my face to indicate my "obvious" Chinese features. As usual, there's a little hesitation because they don't quite know what to make of a foreigner saying he's Chinese.
"Wo gen ni men kai wan xiao. Wo shi Meiguoren." as I point again to my face. Now they get it, and start giggling.
"Ni ne? Ni shi Meiguoren ma?" More giggles. Jin Si Ding, my new friend, is traveling with her boyfriend, Tian Kan, her cousin (introduced as her sister; the Chinese do that, I believe, to indicate a closer relationship than mere cousins), You Yue, and her aunt, You Yue's mother, whose name I never got. We speak in English and Chinese and become friends quickly. After the long bus ride back to Guiyang, through some really poor, remote villages, which give me a better understanding and appreciation of how difficult many Chinese people's lives still are, they invite me to dinner at a restaurant that serves traditional Guizhou food. I can sum it up in one word ... H-O-T, especially the fish, but still delicious.
During dinner, they invite me to join them the next day on their tour to Zhijin Cave, which turns out to be another excellent tour. Jin Si Ding, You Yue and Tian Kan will be in Beijing, where I live and teach, for a research project for their university from late August through Sept. We say good-bye after the tour, but look forward to seeing each other again in Beijing.
Chinese Driver
I need to digress for a few moments to discuss perhaps a slightly sensitive topic; Chinese drivers. I've driven approximately 1,000,000 miles in the US, no exaggeration, in all kinds of difficult conditions; rush hour in big cities, awful traffic congestion, bad roads, winding narrow mountain roads, bad cars, bad trucks, you name it, I've driven it. In driving those one million miles, I've had one fender-bender. So I consider myself a pretty good (and confident) driver.
However, after about 30 seconds of observing traffic in China (more precisely, Beijing), I became terrified at even the thought of getting behind the steering wheel in Beijing traffic. Even Chinese people laugh when I mention this, indicating they understand my fear. I mention all this because after all those hours as a passenger in various tour buses, I have to say I was very impressed at the skill demonstrated by each of my tour bus drivers. They drove at safe speeds, slowed down for bumps in the road, and especially noticeable was their ability to maneuver through impossibly tiny openings on mountain roads, or through mountain villages where workers left their tractors and trucks on the side of the road, forcing the tour drivers to squeeze big buses through impossibly narrow passages. I wouldn't want to be those drivers. However, on the down side, following Chinese driving tradition, each driver blasted his horn as it approached another vehicle in a different lane, then blasted again as it sped closer, to let the other driver know our bus was about to pass. At each curve in the mountain roads, and there were many, the driver blasted his horn a couple of times again. These were (to me) ear-splitting, torturous noises. All this, I understand, was for safety purposes, but still impossible to get used to. My fellow Chinese passengers seemed oblivious.
Curiosity and kindness
The following day, I need a break from long bus rides and tours, so I go to Qianling Park in Guiyang. It's a big, beautiful park, and after a couple of hours walking and climbing small mountains, I sit next to a young woman on a bench, as all the other benches are full. She asks where I'm from. You can guess my reply. Soon, there are about ten people gathered around asking me questions, speaking the only phrase they know in English, usually "How are you?" But mostly they speak Chinese and aren't at all discouraged that 99% of my answers are, "Ting bu dong." They keep speaking, asking questions, smiling and laughing. As one older woman leaves, she says "bye bye" and blows me a kiss. So cute!
The next day I join a two-day tour to Libo; six-hour bus ride each way. The woman in the hotel booking office insists on accompanying me to the tour bus as she fears I might not be able to find it by myself. She meets me at the hotel at 6:30am on a miserable rainy morning, and rides with me in a taxi to a crowded area with a million tour buses lined up, people everywhere; total chaos. After two phone calls to the tour guide, she says, "Zhe bian," and leads me through the mass of people, buses, rain, and puddles to my bus. The friendly guide greets me and I get on the bus, once again the center of attention.
The Accident
The natural beauty of Libo will forever be a wonderful memory, but I will also remember Libo as the tour in which a woman was nearly killed right next to me. It happened so suddenly. A family that I'd become friends with asked me to take their photo in front of a beautiful waterfall. As I'm focusing the camera, suddenly people are screaming, the woman in the camera lens is pointing frantically. Looking down, into one of the many holes in the stone bridge above the rushing water from the waterfall, there's a hand extended from below the water, barely clinging to the surface of the bridge, just beside my foot. The water on the surface just below the bridge, visible through the hole, seems calm, but that's an illusion. This is rushing water from the waterfall, and if the person's hand slips, she'll be swept down the river rapids through rocks at high-speed. All this takes a moment to register in the instant that I see the hand. As I bend down to grab it and try to pull up, fortunately another man, who must have seen the woman fall in and immediately realized the danger, jumps into the water, pulls up the gasping, terrified woman from her lower body, allowing me to grasp under her arms and pull her completely out of the water. She continues to gasp for air but otherwise seems unharmed.
After the long bus ride back to my hotel, my last night in Guiyang, I reflect back on my trip; the beauty, chaos, living conditions in the remote areas, the kindness and curiosity of the local Chinese people, the new friends I'd made, I can't help feeling almost euphoric about all I saw and experienced.