The Origin
Fall 2021: The segregation of normal relationships among people reached its most extreme form in the past 10 years. Global diseases, upheaval of wars, and economic downturns came in waves to make everyone at the edge of despair. The pressure at work was magnified into universal concerns about the world and people around us. We never felt so depressed, stressed and isolated in modern society, physically and mentally.
With an ambition towards freedom and relief, we escaped under the gazes of stars and mountains to “the last Shangri-la” - a sacred land towards the sun connecting with Qinghai-Tibet plateau, surrounded by three holy snow mountains ranging in a form of triangle.
It was not an easy journey. We decided to challenge ourselves by taking the direct flight to Daocheng airport that is at 4700m altitude, which was only usually recommended by professionals because our body can easily crush with a sudden rise in altitude. The purpose was to avoid laying off in the closest big city Chengdu and risking our travel code, since it is in control for too many Covid cases.
I immediately felt dizzy when I stepped out of the airport at Daocheng. I clasped my waterproof puffy jacket and took every effort on my nerve to support me to walk normally. Qi seemed to be fine at first, but was drawn in by the lack of oxygen on the way back to the hotel. That was a two-hour ride shared with two other passengers on a small sedan taxi. At the moment, both of us could hardly imagine how we would handle the two days of hikes at high altitude. Finally we got to the hotel. Rather than a hotel, it’s more like a hostel. The owner was nice enough that they gave us painkillers and plugged in the oxygen concentrator for us. For the rest of the night we laid on the bed with nasal cannulas, like two patients in an ICU.
The next day we did not make it to the top until early afternoon with the support of packages of glucose supplements. There was not much time for us to go down before the sunset. We stood at the end of the artificial trail, a wild road climbs all the way up to the mountainside. “I will get back before sunset…” I said to Qi. There was an insistence in my mind that I would never let this view from the top go unless I had to. Gripping my portable oxygen bottle in one hand, I held my camera on the other. It was so high that I had to suck oxygen every few steps. Looking up, the slope looks endless and merciless to us, tiny human beings. I did not know how many steps I had climbed until I reached a flat surface. I ran like I found precious to the side and tried to find the Milk Lake and Five-color Lake - it’s my last chance before I headed back. When I was almost out of breath, I found them: Milk Lake on the right and Five-color Lake on the left. Don’t get me wrong - I could not see both at the same time. That was how small we are when standing among the greatness of nature.
Five-color Lake in Cloudy Weather. Shot by Gen.
In Journey to the West (an ancient Chinese literature classic, the literature reference of a recent hit game Black Myth: Wukong), the master and his three disciples went through 81 trials and tribulations to get the True Scriptures. I could not help but to plug myself in - the “barriers” on the way and the intimidating nature were challenging us on the way to the pure land before its true power was revealed. Under the cloud, the mountains and the lake were not at their full vibration but it added a hint of mystery. It was like a lost heaven that was just discovered, brushing out all the anxiety and dirt in our heart as a reward for our courage of adventure and retreat from “what we deserved”.
To catch every trace of the greatness of nature, we stayed up every night with our exhausted bodies. We put cameras on tripods to try to capture the beauty of stars. However, things went contrary to one’s wishes, the clouds covered the stars for two nights. We decided to give ourselves one last chance last night before we had to head back to the city. Once again, we settled ourselves along with the equipment in the darkness, wind, and 0°C temperature. God eventually noticed these two tiny young ladies who chased all the way - the sky became clear. The stars are running out of the house.
Star Orbits beyond Snow Mountains.Shot and edited by Qi.
“I‘m freezing…”
“Me too…but I'm waiting for my camera to be done…”
“The stars are looking at us…”
Non-central Milky Way at the End of Summer. Shot and edited by Gen.
We sit quietly in the darkness of the long night, like two small cold stones, facing the eternal, sacred snow mountain. Only countless stars passing across the sky above us. They are the brightest stars at the end of summer.
