只是去了趟塔公，我就愛上了中國西部的自然景觀

文章摘要：折多山的盤山公路九曲十八彎經停的第一站是折多山

Last weekend I had the privilege to visit the stunning and sacred destinations of Kangding and Tagong. Both are situated in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan, where Tibetans make up over 50% of the population. The 5 hour bus journey from Chengdu was scenically the most dramatic and grand I have ever embarked on. Travelling round progressively steep mountain and cliffside roads,we overlooked dams and lakes and leered up at rolling green rice fields and rocky peaks. Introduction to Kangding was marked by the colourful rock paintings on the sides of the mountains, expressions of Tibetan Buddhism. The paintings depict various figures of worship. The paintings, so detailed and clean, resembled stickers slapped and moulded perfectly onto the rocky interface.

四川西部的甘孜藏族自治州，50%以上的人口都是藏族，那裏有聖潔的景觀和文化。在成都InternChina的組織下，上週末我們去了甘孜州的康定市和塔公草原，5個鐘頭的車程，沿途風景的起伏和壯觀是我未曾見過的，令人震撼和敬畏。山峰佇立，大巴車從陡峭的沿山公路和崖壁邊駛過，我們路過大壩和江湖，麥浪也翻滾而過。印象最深刻的是路上藏傳佛教的彩色巖繪，岩石上的人物、花卉和動物都栩栩如生，與山野融為一體。

This, combined with the sharp blue sky and feathery white clouds, provided a sharp contrast to the dark wilting greens and fogged, dour sky of Chengdu. To get to our hostel we followed the Zheduo river, flanked on bothsides initially by a range of bustling shops and canteens and then the steep mountain sides. From the hostel we could view Pǎomǎ Shān, the famed mountain of the ‘Kāngdìng Qíng Gē’ – Kangding Love Song.

成都的天空平常多是灰色的，兩眼望出去總感覺陰沉沉的，而在前往康定的路上，柔軟的白雲懶洋洋地漂浮字湛藍的天空中，視野開闊起來，身心愈發舒暢。康定城在山谷中，折多河從城裏穿過，兩岸是熙熙攘攘的商鋪、餐館，建築背後相伴的是山體。從晚上我們在城裏住的賓館望出去，就能看到跑馬山，「跑馬溜溜的山上，一朵溜溜的雲喲。」一曲《康定情歌》讓跑馬山名揚天下。

As the sunset and the shadows sunk over the mountains, we descended into the city centre for the night. The town was vibrant and busy, alight with neon signs and sculptures. The central attraction was the broad peoples square, where the young and old scattered the space to partake in the local group dancing. The sense of community was clear with young kids weaving and crashing around on their rollerskates and men and women following the elder aunties who led the group dance with their booming speaker and breezy moves. There was complete acceptance of our group of westerners to their daily activity, with not an eyelid batted beyond a few regulation pictures one can expect throughout most of China. The small town really packed a punch in terms of what it had to offer, providing a real lively and inclusive energy.

最後一縷陽光落下山頭時，我們逛到了康定市區中心。夜幕降臨，而大山腳下的這個小城沒有歇下來，霓虹燈和雕塑相互交映，小城熠熠生輝。熱鬧的廣場很難不成為視覺焦點，廣場舞的音樂聲和吆喝聲此起彼伏，領舞的阿姨們活力十足，年輕人也加入隊伍，新老兩代人把本地廣場舞跳得有聲有色，另一邊小孩的劃旱冰運動也佔得一畝三分地。在英國，這種大規模的「佔地運動」本是不受人歡迎的，但在這個夜晚，我們一行人看到這樣的生活場景彷彿也被感染了，想要加入到舞動的人群中去。流過的折多河，周圍的群山，還有眾人樂我亦樂的廣場舞，康定包容著這一切。

The next day we set off early on our route to Tagong with our first stop being Zheduo mountain. Its name, meaning winding in Tibetan, certainly reflected the twisting tract of road we travelled on to arrive there. We rose rapidly into the mountains, suddenly in the company of the clouds as the cliff sides transformed from yellow and brown dusty sides into snowy tops. The mountain is the focal point of the pass and must be crossed if you want to get anywhere else in the Garze prefecture.The start of the path was marked by a stupa and continues upwards flanked by Buddhist prayer flags. Although the mountain does not belong to any one religion or represent religious grounds, there is certainly a sense of spiritual significance present. The sense of awe transcended through all visitors and there was a real atmosphere of joy and appreciation to witness this sacred site and its surrounding views. Indeed, the prayer flags do not carry prayers to the gods, rather the Tibetans believe the prayers and mantras illustrated on the flags will be blown by the wind to spread the good will and compassion into all pervading space, bringing benefit to all.

次日離開康定後，我們的下一個目的地是塔公草原，經停的第一站是折多山。「折多」，在藏語裡的意思是「彎曲」。的確意如其名，折多山的盤山公路九曲十八彎，我們的身體也跟著起伏環繞。大巴車沿著山壁一路爬升，山壁下部分還是棕黃色的岩土，上半部分已經白雪皚皚，潔白的山峰聳入雲霄。西出折多，要繼續川藏線，就必須翻過折多山埡口這個「康巴第一關」。路遇白塔，埡口的風吹動路兩旁的經幡，車子繼續往前走。折多山並不在神山之列，但我們仍然從他巨大的身體上感受到了藏區那種特殊的對山的精神寄託，他是神聖的，周圍的一切都是，眾生只能心生敬畏。禱告和祝願的文字被寫在經幡上，風一吹，就把美好生活吹到了人間，將福祉帶給了萬物……

After another long stretch of bending roads we moved into new landscapes. Groups of new Tibetan styled housing were scattered among the hillsides, most of which have been built in the wake of the 2014 earthquake. Jagged rivers and streams wound around, the most eye catching of which holding numerous Mani stones – large rocks inscribed with mantras and devotional designs.

九曲十八彎也終有盡頭，我們終於來到了有人居住的山谷。2014年的康定地震後，一一棟棟藏式民居又建起來了，新生活會繼續。山谷裡溪流交錯，水邊的瑪尼堆也會繼續護佑人們。

Arriving in Tagong,meaning 「the place Bodhisattva likes,」 my eyesight was instantly drawn to the gold roofed monastery decorated with prayer flags and writing. After a combination of Tibetan and Sichuan food for lunch we ventured up the grasslands for more bracing views. The top of the hill, perched at an elevation of 3730 metres, overlooked the Sakya temple, set to the backdrop of the Yala (eastern white yak) Mountain.

塔公，藏語指的是「菩薩喜歡的地方」。塔公草原上，塔公寺依山傍水而建，金色大屋頂在陽光十分奪目，風吹經幡動。中午吃完藏餐和四川菜，我們躍入塔公草原的壯闊秋色中，站在3730米的山頂，俯瞰塔公寺，更遠處是雅拉雪山……