[1] Early that afternoon, 24 hours after my arrival at Lhasa, we were on the way back from the marvelous lake. I was very tired, and took a nap on the bumpy, jumpy road. Upon waking up, miraculously, the stubborn headache was gone. And it never came back. (Go back)

[2] My deadly cough, however, did come back when I returned to America after the exhaustive trip. I was fighting it, and have won. ( Go back)

[3] According to "Lonely Planet," the best tour guide, if anything happens to you in Tibet, it is likely to be severe. And you'd better be prepared for it. Because of the extreme weather conditions, the tremendous day/night difference, the scarcity of food, the hygiene threat of the water (not to the locals), and of course, the oxygen. When you move, you've got to be aware of it. Anyone heard of the death toll of soldiers on the Sichuan-Tibet road? When your truck is down, and you have to restart it by manually rotating the engine? That of course is a story from years back. But a girl from Hong Kong told me in Lhasa that she took that route on the way in, three Hong Kongers and 10+ Tibetans, and it was horrible, but beautiful. (Go back)

[4] I understand that it is too much to ask for every ordinary Tibetan to be impartial. However, I was emotionally charged when living with the hatred day by day. I felt lucky to be able to go to Tibet at all, as a Han Chinese. (Go back)

[5] The next morning, at the Lhasa airport, I shook hands with an armed policeman stationed at Lhasa, a 22 year-old, junior high school graduate, a sergeant, who was my roommate at the airport hotel that night. I said:"Take care of yourselves. We in America all hope that you guys are safe and in peace. Nobody wants to hurt, nobody wants to be hurt. My best wishes to you." (Go back)

[6] I became acquainted with a Han Chinese officer, working at the Yamdo Tso Lake, on my flight back to Beijing from Lhasa. A military college graduate, he was a technical officer. He told me that, contrary to what the outspoken Tibetan girl told me, most of the officials in Tibet are Tibetans, with Han Chinese as their associates. To my amusement, he also told me that the monks can marry, and that they earned a monthly salary. (Go back)

A text-only version of this article has appeared in the Chinese Community Forum (CCF), edited by Ji Wang.