It’s pretty difficult to take photos on a train from Nanjing to Lanzhou, largely because the blessed thing spends most of its time in tunnel after tunnel after tunnel.

在從南京到蘭州的火車上拍照相當困難，主要是因為受祝福的東西大部分時間都在一個又一個的隧道中度過。

At least it does on the interesting part of the journey.

至少在旅程中有趣的部分做到了。

Truth is nothing much happens for almost 5 hours. Until the train reaches the ancient capital of Luoyang, and latterly, Mianchi.

事实是，在将近5个小时的时间中，没有什么事情发生。 直到火车到达古都洛阳，以及后来的Mianchi。

Then things start getting interesting, and fast. Right after the Zhongtiao Mountains on the horizon appear, the train begins its plunge into the tunnels. That’s also when the wind starts whistling through the carriage.

然后事情开始变得有趣，而且很快。 地平线上的中条山出现后，火车开始跳入隧道。 那也是风开始在马车里呼啸的时候。

Hats off to the engineering, but there ain’t nothing to see. Another 4 hours in and we were here, in the very centre of China.

向工程部门致敬，但没什么可看的。 又过了4个小时，我们到了中国的中心。

After an evening feasting on the best lamb this correspondent has ever encountered, followed by a lousy breakfast, it was time to head. Not to the massive sand dunes of northwest Gansu, but to the plains and mountains of the south. 

晚上，这位记者享用了有史以来最好的羊肉，然后吃了一顿糟糕的早餐，就该出发了。 不是去甘肃西北部的巨大沙丘，而是去南方的平原和山脉。

For we were off to “Little Tibet”.

因为我们要去“小西藏”。

Before that though, we need traverse the Gansu grasslands that earlier in the year pull in the tourists in their hundreds of thousands for their endless carpets of verdant green. But The Nanjinger, always forging a different path, made the trip at the end of September.

然而，在此之前，我们需要穿越今年早些时候吸引数十万游客的甘肃草原，因为他们无尽的绿色地毯。 但南京人总是开辟一条不同的道路，在9月底进行了旅行。

With our long train journey behind us, it was now time to spend 4 days in a car. So we chose a big one.

漫长的火车之旅已经过去了，现在是在车里度过4天的时候了。 所以我们选了一个大的。

And what did we find? The Highlands of Scotland, basically. But on an epic scale.

我们发现了什么？ 基本上，苏格兰的高地。 但以史诗般的规模。

Then, in the wonderfully named Hezuo (Cooperation), a couple of free hours led us into the unknown…

然后，在名为Hezuo（合作）的奇妙中，几个小时的空闲时间将我们带入了未知……

It was there that the vultures circling overhead alerted our driver (a Buddhist convert) to the fact that we had inadvertently stumbled upon a sky burial site. Fortunately, no pieces of the diseased were evident but we kept well back nevertheless.

正是在那里，在头顶盘旋的秃鹰提醒我们的司机（一个佛教皈依者），我们无意中偶然发现了一个天空墓地。 幸运的是，没有明显的疾病，但我们还是退后了。

Night 2 was spent in Xihe, a place which draws significant numbers of foreign tourists, judging by the amount of English on display in hotels and restaurants offering pizza and cocktails.

第2个晚上在西河度过，从提供披萨和鸡尾酒的酒店和餐馆里展示的英语数量来看，这个地方吸引了大量外国游客。

Why the latter remains a mystery since they come for the only draw in town, the largest Buddhist university in the world. This of course means it’s a pretty big temple, one in fact completely surrounded by prayer wheels. If you don’t turn every single last one in a clockwise direction as you encircle the temple’s perimeter, your mantra recitation is invalid. And likely some curse awaits around the next corner.

为什么后者仍然是个谜，因为他们来到镇上唯一的抽签，这是世界上最大的佛教大学。 这当然意味着这是一座相当大的寺庙，事实上完全被祈祷轮包围。 如果你在环绕寺庙的周边时没有顺时针转动每一个咒语，你的咒语背诵是无效的。 下一个角落可能会有一些诅咒在等着。

Forging on, day 3 took us to Zhagana, located on the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. 

继续锻造，第3天带我们去了位于西藏高原东南边缘的扎加纳。

With Tibetan chants on the car stereo, Tibetan script replacing English on the road signs and mists enveloping the mountains all around, it was hard to not feel spiritual.

汽车音响上的藏语诵经，路标上的藏文取代了英语，四周的雾气笼罩着群山，很难不感到精神。

Zhagana in Tibetan literally means “rock box” and with 80 percent of local people being Tibetan, it’s easy to see from where the nickname comes.

Zhagana在藏语中的字面意思是“摇滚盒子”，80%的当地人是藏族人，很容易看出这个绰号的由来。

Along the way, slowing down, stopping and backing up become commonplace, on account of the various livestock which take to the road in front of their own free will, sometimes with or without their herder.

一路上，减速、停车和倒退变得司空见惯，因为各种牲畜在自己的自由意志面前上路，有时有或没有牧羊人。

And livestock a plenty there is. In fact, it would appear that the majority of the Gansu landscape is given over to sheep, cattle or horses. Few vegetables were spotted being grown, a fact reflected on the tables of almost every restaurant in which we dined.

那里有很多牲畜。 事实上，看来甘肃的大部分景观都交给了绵羊、牛或马。 很少有蔬菜被发现种植，这一事实几乎反映在我们用餐的每家餐厅的桌子上。

We spent our final night in Langmusi. And to be honest, it felt like the last night of our lives. If there is an end to the world, this is it. 

我们在Langmusi度过了最后一晚。 老实说，这感觉像是我们生命中的最后一晚。 如果世界有尽头，那就是它。

But that there is a pub run by an Englishman (allegedly; it was closed for renovation during our visit) is testament to it attracting more of those Buddhist-loving cocktail drinkers, perplexedly in town for a visit to two nondescript temples.

但有一家由英国人经营的酒吧（据称；在我们访问期间，它因装修而关闭），这证明它吸引了更多喜欢佛教的鸡尾酒饮用者，在镇上困惑地参观两座不起眼的寺庙。

In fact, that the town straddles Gansu and Sichuan provinces may well be its most redeeming feature. That, and the sign in the local café which reads, “Flirting is encouraged upstairs”.

事实上，该镇横跨甘肃省和四川省，这可能是其最值得称道的特色。 那个，还有当地咖啡馆的牌子，上面写着“楼上鼓励调情”。

With our trip topping out at 3,568 metres above sea level, The Nanjinger advises in-advance medication for altitude sickness. Knowing full well how unpleasant that is, we popped pills for 2 weeks.

由于我们的旅行在海拔3568米处，《南京人》建议戒毒。 知道那有多不愉快，我们吃了2周的药。