Inside the tears shed
The small cafeteria is a home away from home for many visitors, to relax drinking barley wine and chatting with friends. |
Behind this poem, said to have been written by the Sixth Dalai Lama (1683-1703) more than 300 years ago, lies a sad story. It is said that the Sixth Dalai Lama caught sight of a stunningly beautiful girl while drinking at a wine shop around the southeastern corner of Lhasa's Barkhor Bazaar. The smiling face of that girl made such an impression on him that he could not erase it from his mind. Even though, it is said, he went to that shop several times, he never saw the girl again.
No one knows for sure whether or not the story is true. But the wine shop, which the Sixth Dalai Lama is said to have frequented in disguise as an ordinary man after stealing out of the Potala Palace in the evenings, became famous with travelers to Tibet, thanks to the story about his imaginary mistress, Makye Ame.
Travelers from Beijing share their stories and photos of their trip around Tibet in Makye Ame. |
What is unique about this place is the visitors' book, in which any customer can write about his experiences of traveling in Tibet and personal feelings or anecdotes. Even if one does not feel like writing, one is free to browse what others have contributed.
"The notebooks provide an opportunity for travelers from all over the world to share their personal stories, their thought and feelings," said Zelang Wangqing, owner of the cafeteria.
Zelang, 41, a Tibetan born in southern Sichuan Province, started this cafeteria in 1997, when he was roaming around Lhasa and became obsessed with this place and the beautiful story associated with it.
At that time, the place was a wine shop run by three American girls, with whom Zelang made friends. He recalled that when they asked him whether he could find someone to take care of the shop while they were away, he made up his mind to take over.
He did, and gave it a beautiful name Makye Ame, hanging a portrait of the imaginary beauty at the gate of the 300-square-meter cafeteria.
Many foreigners were attracted to it because they liked the place and the story associated with it. An Italian suggested that a notebook be made available to visitors to share their stories, experiences and unique views of life.
Zelang accepted the advice, and the notebooks have now become a major draw for both foreign and domestic travelers. They are a hotchpotch of travelogues, love letters, ads for boyfriends or girlfriends and even wills of those wanting to take their own lives.
Some not only feel at home in this cafeteria, but treat it like one. Zelang recalled the case of an American, whom he remembered as Mike, who came everyday, drinking and eating here and even cooking his own food in the kitchen. As a retired engineer, Mike took on the task of rearranging the electric lines when he found that they were not laid as they should have been.
Zelang also related a moving story that dates back to 1998. Two middle-aged women happened to sit at the same table and were surprised to find that they were both from the southwestern city of Chongqing after chatting for a while. Finally, both burst into tears when they found out that they were actually sisters, who had got separated many years ago.
"It is real pity that I have lost contact with the sisters," Zelang said.
Then there was this couple from the United States. They both came here to drink and eat every evening and fell in love. Zelang recalled happily that they came back with a baby when they returned a couple of years later.
Makye Ame is primarily a place for travelers and Zelang wants to keep it that way. He sees himself as a herdsman having been born into a herdsman's family, although he is not one in any real sense anymore.
He has worked in a song and dance ensemble, at a broadcasting station and an advertisement company. "I have the blood of a herdsman" he said to explain why he had not stuck to any job long enough.
"Where there is water and grass, there is home for a herdsman. So most herdsmen don't have a long-term plan for the future. It's the same with me," Zelang said. "My motto is: Do well whatever I am doing right now."
But he has run this cafeteria for almost 10 years, and opened his second one in Beijing in 2001 and a third in Kunming, capital of southwestern Yunnan Province, in 2005.
How has he lasted for so long in this line? He said it was because he had someone else to take care of the cafeteria on his behalf while he took time off for sightseeing enroute Lhasa to Beijing or to Kunming.
In this sense, Zelang said, he was still always on the move like a typical nomad.
(China Daily 03/29/2007 page19)
