The story of meeting Potala in early October 2020

2020 is a special year. The epidemic that started at the beginning of the year has changed the world and everyone's lives. For me, who loves traveling, the epidemic has trapped my free walking feet and I can't go anywhere.

In the blink of an eye, October is approaching. The autumn is crisp and crisp, and it is a good time to travel. Seeing that the domestic epidemic is getting better and better, one day in late September, I said to my feet: Let's go, it's time to go out. It's time to have fun!

On September 23, I went to Shanghai first to let my body find the feeling of tourism. I went to Sixing Warehouse, Jing 'an Temple, and Qibao Old Street.

From September 28 to 29, I flew to Nanjing to quickly adapt my body to the rhythm of travel. They visited Jiming Temple (the first of the 480 temples in the Southern Dynasties), the Ming City Wall (preserved to this day in the Ming Dynasty), Xuanwu Lake (China's largest royal garden-style lake), Meiling Palace (the first villa in the Far East), and Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum (Zhu Yuanzhang's resting place), Nanjing Museum, Zhanyuan (one of the four famous gardens in Jiangnan), and Yuhuatai.

After returning from Nanjing, I immediately ushered in the eight-day Golden Week holiday. Based on years of tourism experience, traveling during the Golden Week is still a bit painful, and the experience of a sea of people will reduce the fun of traveling. So, I said to my couldn't help but my feet, don't worry, I'll take you to a place I've always wanted to go after the festival.

Yes, it is Lhasa.

I don't know if everyone has a few places they must go in life, but I have such dreams, such as going to Paris to see the Louvre and Arc de Triomphe, going to Rome and Venice in Italy, going to the Vatican to see the Cathedral, going to Egypt to see the pyramids, going to Tokyo and Kyoto in Japan, going to Mexico to see Mayan ruins, going to Canada to see Niagara, going to Easter Island to see stone statues, etc. Although it is very difficult to realize, this is my dream of traveling in the future.

Relatively speaking, there is another place I want to go that is not difficult, and that is Lhasa. Because of the distance and high altitude, I have never gone there. The original plan was to visit it sometime after retirement, but when you think about it carefully, if I am in my seventies and seventies, I am sure that I can go on a trip to Jiangnan. But if I am asked to travel to Xizang, I definitely can't go. Therefore, while my body is still strong now, I might as well realize this wish first.

Lhasa is not a place that you can go and go as you please. Because it is located on the plateau, you must make sufficient psychological and physical preparations and formulate a comprehensive travel plan before it can be implemented.

I read a lot of travel guides for Xizang before the festival and studied the routes that suit me. The original plan was to fly to Xining first, then take a train to Lhasa, and then fly home from Lhasa. The purpose was to slowly adapt to high altitudes by taking a train to reduce the impact of high opposition to the body. This is also the mainstream opinion of most strategies.

However, I saw an article that held the opposite view. The author is an expert from a hospital in Beijing. Simply put, he believes that when taking a train to Tibet, the train must first cross the high-altitude areas of Kunlun Mountain Pass and Tanggula Mountain Pass. It will quickly reach an altitude of more than 5000 meters, and more than 70% of tourists will have a high altitude. Moreover, if their condition is critical, they cannot be treated in time on the vast plateau, which is more dangerous. Lhasa is only 3650 meters above sea level. If you fly to Lhasa first, even if you feel unwell, you can be sent to the hospital in time because you are in the urban area, which is less dangerous.

After reading this subversive view, I believed it and began to formulate travel routes based on this view.

This time I went to Lhasa was my second time to the plateau. I went to Shangri-La many years ago. I remember the altitude was 3900 meters. Then I went to the Pudacuo National Park next to it, which was 4100 meters above sea level. There was also a high altitude reaction at that time, so I still have some experience in going to the plateau. Lhasa is only 3650 meters above sea level, so there is not much psychological pressure to decide to go to Lhasa this time.

After formulating a detailed route plan, I first went to the pharmacy to buy Rhodiola and glucose powder, and started taking Rhodiola one week in advance to prepare. Rhodiola is a commonly used drug to prevent high reactions and can improve the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood cells in the short term. Although the last time I went to Shangri-La, I had a high reaction even if I took Rhodiola in advance, this time I decided to give Rhodiola another chance.

Taking into account factors such as flights, fares, flight time and other factors, and based on the guide's suggestion to fly to Lhasa as much as possible in the morning, I decided to fly to Xi'an first on October 12 and then to Lhasa early the next day.

Before departing on the morning of October 12, I checked the weather forecast for Dalian for that day, which was 9 to 16 degrees, and issued a blue warning for strong winds, with north winds of 6 to 7 and gusts of 8 to 9.

Boy, the wind is blowing!

The plane arrived in Xi'an smoothly and took the airport bus to Xishaomen. Because I had to get up early to catch the plane the next day, for the convenience of travel, the hotel was booked at Xishaomen at the airport bus boarding and landing station.

After checking in to the hotel, I first came to visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Because I had climbed the Big Wild Goose Pagoda before, I didn't go in this time. I just came to see if the Tang Priest in front of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda was still handsome.

After exiting the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, walking east for more than 10 minutes, you will arrive at the Tang Dynasty Furong Garden. After taking a look, you can visit the park for free by making an online reservation in advance, and you can directly swipe your ID card to enter the park. In addition, when I saw the performance notice of the Tang Le song and dance drama "Dream Back to the Tang Dynasty" at the door, the VIP ticket was 518 yuan, and the regular ticket was 298 and 398 yuan. After thinking about his identity as a poor person, I decided to skip the drama.

After entering the park, I looked around everywhere. The place was quite big, and I felt that the construction was really good. The landscape design was quite distinctive, the Tang style was prominent, and the Tang culture also had a key display. It was very suitable for walking around.

When I arrived here, the sky began to drizzle, so I sat in the pavilion and took a rest for a while, while watching wild ducks and fish competing for food.

There are also many sculptures in the park. The theme of this sculpture is "Grind an Iron Pestle into a Needle".

What is the theme of this sculpture??

After strolling in the Tang Dynasty Furong Garden for about 2 hours, I left the garden and headed for the Tang Dynasty Sleepless City.

Since it is called the City that Never Sleeps, it means the most beautiful and lively at night.

Due to the rain, there were not many tourists here, but the lights were still dim. The light show with red as the main theme can well highlight the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.

This statue is of Li Shimin, with four big characters written below: "The Rule of Zhenguan".

After visiting the Tang Dynasty Sleepless City, I walked straight north. Not far away is the North Square of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. I came here at the right time because there is the largest music fountain in Asia, and performances are scheduled every day, especially at night. It is better to see.

After watching it at the scene for more than ten minutes, it was really shocking and majestic. It was just that the posture and style of the fountain were a little more rigid, a bit like a square dance. It would be nice if it were turned into Swan Lake.???

After watching the fountain, I went to the recently popular Xi'an Internet celebrity tumbler performance venue. However, I didn't expect that despite the large audience, there was no performance. I asked the venue security guard and found that the performance would be suspended on rainy days.

After leaving the North Square, I decided to take the subway to visit Xi'an Bell Tower and Drum Tower. I have seen Bell and Drum Towers in many places, including those in Beijing, Kaifeng, Datong, Luoyang, Xi'an, etc., each with its own characteristics. I am deeply impressed by the Bell and Drum Towers in Xi'an and especially like to watch the Bell and Drum Towers at night. Therefore, every time I come to Xi'an, whenever I have time, I will come and take a look. Every time I look, I feel very friendly.

Next to the Drum Tower is Xi'an's famous snack street "Hui People's Street". I have come here before to taste roujiamo and mutton steamed buns, so I won't eat it this time and just take a stroll. Due to the rain, the streets are no longer crowded with people, but the aroma of meat still fills the street.

I got up early the next day and got on the airport bus to Xianyang Airport at 5 o'clock. The breakfast I had at the airport was stewed eggs + beef noodles =35 yuan.

After getting into the plane, I found that it was still raining outside. Although the rain was not strong, it was foggy and the visibility was poor. I was a little worried.

In addition, it was found that unlike other flights, except for the crew chief who is female, the other crew members on this flight are all male. I guess the main reason is that this is a plateau route and has high physical requirements, so it must be mainly male.

The plane took off smoothly. Put on your headphones and close your eyes while listening to your favorite songs, while feeling the warm sunshine shining through the porthole on your neck, as if the world was only beautiful and happy.???

After flying over Xizang, the clouds gradually dispersed. Through the cloud gaps, we found that there were densely packed mountains below. It was difficult to find relatively large flat lands. Occasionally, you could see some snowy mountains standing proudly among the mountains, with their noble temperament firmly grasped.

After the plane landed smoothly, the ground temperature was reported on the plane as 25 degrees, much hotter than in Dalian.

Looking at the map, the airport is 96 kilometers away from the city. This is probably the farthest airport from the city I have ever encountered.

It took about an hour to get to the city center by taking the airport shuttle bus. I paid special attention to my physical reaction along the way. I felt a little stuffy and there were no other uncomfortable reactions.

This is a Tibetan-style hotel I stayed in and the service was good.

After checking in to the hotel, I left the hotel and headed straight for the Potala Palace, hoping to see that sacred place earlier.

It takes about ten minutes by bus to reach the Potala Palace Square. The square is quite big and open, and the majestic and sacred Potala Palace is displayed in front of you.

When I saw the Potala Palace, I was a little excited. My brain cells quickly concocted a prose poem, thinking it was not bad.

"The First Time in Lhasa to Potala"

Deep down in my heart,

There has always been a place where

The inexplicable direction of my heart,

Every time I t forget it,

a,

With a pious heart,

Came all the way to you,

Just to get a look at you,

Do you know that

The moment I looked up,

I feel moved,

It's called tears in my eyes.

(Original works)

Since you need to make an appointment in advance to visit the Potala Palace, I decided to visit the Palace tomorrow morning and visit the famous Jokhang Temple in the afternoon.

After leaving the Potala Palace Square, walk east for more than 20 minutes to reach the famous Jokhang Temple.

Jokhang Temple is the place with the highest status among Tibetan Buddhism believers. It is a place where various schools of Tibetan Buddhism are gathered together. Not visiting Jokhang Temple is equivalent to not having been to Xizang.

I visited the temple and found that there was not much space inside, but I could really feel the holiness.

This is a Buddhist debate among the monks and a method for learning from each other. The tour guide said that it is a one-on-one session between master and apprentice. The one standing is the master and the one sitting is the apprentice.

After visiting the Jokhang Temple for more than an hour, I walked to Bakor Street outside the temple. This is a thousand-year-old street with a long history and a variety of Xizang local specialties and souvenirs. The style is unique and unique.

After visiting Barkhor Street, I walked back to the Potala Palace Square and ate yak meat buffet hot pot next to the square. The roasted yak meat was very tender and delicious.

After eating the hot pot, night had fallen. When I arrived at the Potala Palace Square, I felt a little cold. Due to the large temperature difference between day and night in Xizang, the temperature at night was less than 10 degrees.

The Potala Palace stands quietly under the night, silently watching the people coming and going.

After returning to the hotel, I felt a little headache and thought that it was probably because I had a high altitude and had to rest quickly.

After midnight that night, the headache worsened and had affected normal sleep. Although it was not in severe pain, he tossed and turned and was worried.

The next morning, I still felt my headache, and moving around would aggravate it.

I compared the resting heart rate and blood pressure before and after entering Tibet, and found that the change was large, which should be caused by high reaction.

The original plan was to visit the Potala Palace and Drepung Monastery that morning, and to visit Sera Monastery and Norbulingka in the afternoon. However, considering the physical discomfort, he decided to rest in the hotel for a day.

After resting for most of the day, at noon, I felt a little better and my headache decreased. I left the hotel and went to the train station early to rest while waiting for the train.

In the waiting room of the train station, there was a Tibetan sitting next to me. He seemed to be about forty or fifty years old. While waiting for the train, he had been reading the unique scriptures of Tibetan Buddhism and kept chanting scriptures in his mouth, looking very pious.

There are currently no high-speed trains on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, only ordinary green trains. In order to experience the extraordinary Qinghai-Tibet Railway, I chose to take a train across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and see the magnificent plateau scenery.

Because the flight from Xining to Dalian was not suitable, I chose the train route from Lhasa to Xining and then to Lanzhou. The whole journey was 550 yuan. This should be the most expensive train route I have ever taken.

Due to the special nature of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, all passenger trains on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway have oxygen supply facilities on board to alleviate the symptoms of high passenger reaction.

After the train left Lhasa, it headed north. The train moved hard among the mountains. From time to time, yaks were seen grazing leisurely on the slopes or fields. Occasionally, you could see snowy mountains constantly emerging under the cover of the mountains. The scenery was beautiful.

After dark, the scenery outside was completely swallowed up by the night, and the people in the carriage began to burn hot.

My opposite shop was a young man who looked to be in his twenties. He was from Hunan, with an unknown occupation. He was carrying an oversized suitcase and looked very dry. I guess he was a soldier. Along the way, he would not only sleep, but also check his mobile phone. From time to time, he would take out a thick notebook and write something. It was probably an essay or travel note, with a slightly sloppy handwriting.

There are two people in the middle shop. One is a fat middle-aged woman who looks to be in her forties. She is from Xi'an, a traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture profession. She has a relatively cheerful personality and can talk with people around her at any time. She mainly describes her difficulty in starting a business and some of her experiences in Xizang.

The other person in the middle shop was a young man who seemed to be in his thirties. He was thin and basically did not speak. He was either sleeping or leaning against the window and looking at the scenery outside the window. He had a pigtail tied on his head. He was probably a literary man.

On the upper bunk were two Sichuanese who looked to be in their fifties. They were carrying a large empty bucket of paint filled with snacks such as instant noodles, bagged chicken feet, cans of beer and bottled wine. I guess they were migrant workers from outside. Along the way, they were the most open-minded. Although I didn't quite understand Sichuan dialect, I could still understand a few sentences. These two people ate and drank while setting up a Longmen Array. They could have a very in-depth conversation from why the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was built to the current situation in the United States. I like this state very much. When I come out to play, being happy is the most important thing. Life is so short, being angry or unhappy is actually a waste of life.

After midnight, the train arrived at the highest altitude on the Qinghai-Tibet line: the Tanggula Pass, with an altitude of 5231 meters, much higher than Lhasa. This is also the place with the largest number of high incidence. Headaches appear again, and the number of headache points has increased significantly. Although it is not severe pain, it will obviously affect sleep.

In the darkness, I could only gasp for breath to actively increase oxygen intake and alleviate the impact of high reactions. The carriage was relatively quiet, and the exhaust sound of the oxygen supply equipment could be heard from time to time. I had nothing to do and studied the exhaust rules. After listening for a long time, I found that there was really no pattern. I didn't know when to exhaust oxygen. The sound was a bit like the exhaust sound of a pressure cooker. In the silent night, although it was harsh, I always wanted to exhaust it several times.

After a slightly difficult night, I arrived in Golmud the next morning. The altitude here was already lower than that of Lhasa, and the symptoms of high fever had unknowingly subsided. After looking at the temperature, Golmud was only minus 4 degrees, which is equivalent to summer in Lhasa. After one night, I came to winter in Golmud. What a magical Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

As Gao Fan disappeared, the atmosphere inside the train began to become lively again. The people in the Longmen Array were chatting in Sichuan dialect that I didn't understand very well. The fat middle-aged woman began to take the initiative to find people to chat again. This time, she had gone deep into the next room. It was a hot chat.

This is the advantage of high EQ. After chatting, many people gathered around the middle-aged woman, and the topic has shifted to acupuncture treatment. After a while, the middle-aged woman returned to her bunk and took a few things back. There began to be bursts of surprise coming from the other side from time to time. I followed the sound and walked over to see that it turned out that the middle-aged woman had already started acupuncture for herself. This EQ is really high, and a few words can stab you.

I looked for a while and had already stabbed three people. One was an elderly woman in her seventies. She had to have a few stitches to clear the upper or middle energizer. One was a 62-year-old native of Zibo who said that his spleen and stomach were weak and had a puncture. There is also a 28-year-old girl from Fujian who is a makeup artist. If she wants to regulate her blood and blood, she has to be stabbed.

After watching the lively scene over there, I went back to the window to continue watching my scenery. After passing Golmud, the grassland landscape gradually increased, and flocks of cattle and sheep could be seen flashing on the roadside from time to time.

When I passed here, I saw three bright spots in the distance. At first, I thought it was a reflection of sunlight from a window or something. When I got closer, I realized that this was a solar reflection concentrated energy generation device. I had only seen it in books and online before, but this time I saw it with my own eyes.

When we were approaching Xining, we passed through the beautiful Qinghai Lake. The vast lake water was rippling with microwaves. It felt like watching a desert all the way and suddenly changing a channel. It was a different scenery.

The train was about ten minutes late and arrived at Lanzhou Station at around 7:40 p.m. In order to facilitate the flight the next day, I booked the hotel next to Lanzhou West Railway Station. Therefore, after getting off the train, I bought a ticket and took the train to Lanzhou West Railway Station.

After getting on the bus, I found a person lying across my seat, with a hat and hat covering my entire face, as if he was sleeping. I looked at my shoes and saw that it should be a child. Sitting in front of the seats was an old couple who looked to be in their 60s. They explained to me in Lanzhou dialect that they could hardly understand. I probably understood that the child was 14 years old and had some strange disease. He was sleeping. He hoped I could change seats.

I looked into the eyes of the two old people. They should be sincere and even said that it was okay. Afterwards, the old couple talked a lot and basically didn't understand it. The little girl in the middle woke up once, lifted her hat and looked at me quietly. It was a big fat face, a little empty. White, I couldn't bear to look at each other again after taking a few glances. Life is really not easy. I wish her a speedy recovery.

The next morning, I took the high-speed train to Lanzhou Airport. I originally wanted to eat a bowl of authentic Lanzhou ramen, but I couldn't find it. I only saw various beef noodles, egg noodles, etc., so I had to give up.

Lanzhou flew to Dalian for about 2 hours. I had a good sleep on the plane. I was approaching Dalian City and was awakened by the airflow. I even heard a woman's startled voice. This was probably the most severe bump I have ever taken, although it only lasted about 2 minutes.

The plane finally landed steadily. When I left the airport, I saw that it was raining lightly in Dalian. I looked at the weather forecast and found that there was still a blue warning for strong winds that day, and a gust of force 7 at its peak.

Boy, the wind is blowing again.

PS：

1. According to the information I have consulted, high reaction is not terrible. Normal people living at low altitudes will have a little high reaction when they reach more than 2700 meters. This is a normal stress reaction of the body and a proactive reminder that they are deprived of oxygen. People who do not have high reactions either have adapted to high altitudes or have problems with their physical stress response.

2. I do not recommend going to plateau for those with high blood pressure and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The risk is high. For those who are new to the plateau, you should reduce intense exercise and reduce your body's oxygen consumption level, which can reduce the impact of high reactions. In addition, you should rest more, drink more hot water, and be careful not to catch a cold.

3. Next: DL-WH-SY-XA-BJ-DL.

THE END

Thanks for watching!!