新疆是我出生的地方，是位于中国西北部的一片广袤大地，是中国面积最大的自治区，旧时被称作西域，现在有数十个民族居住于此。其中，作为大部分少数民族聚居的区域，南疆不仅有一座世界第二大流动沙漠，也拥有着中国最长的内陆河——塔里木河。沿着河流行进，不仅能见到社会体制迅速发展的现在，还能依稀瞥见千年以前人类文明的遗留。十九世纪末，年轻的瑞典探险家斯文·赫定来到西域，沿着丝绸之路开始了他传奇的探险生涯。在罗布人向导奥尔德克的帮助下，赫定在荒漠之中发现了对他而言如同“庞贝古城”一般的楼兰故城遗址。百年以后，我与奥尔德克的子孙立于奥尔德克的雕塑前，看着已被黄沙埋没的坟墓，想象着他与赫定彼时的风采。如果没有亲眼见到那些曾被掩埋于沙丘下的佛寺遗址和壁画文物，很难想象这个清代被称为回疆的地方曾经在公元六世纪时是大乘佛教的圣地。就像命运相似的君士坦丁堡一样，文明的换代更替便是如此，被劲风吹过而现世，被黄沙遮蔽而消亡。
Xinjiang is the largest autonomous region in northwestern China, where I was born. It used to known as the Western Regions for hundreds and thousands of years and is now a place where dozens of ethnic groups inhabit. As the region where most minorities live, southern Xinjiang has the world's second largest mobile desert, the Taklimakan desert, and also has the longest inland river in China, the Tarim River. Walking along the river, you can see the rapid development of the social system, while seeing the legacy of human civilization from thousands of years ago. At the end of the 19th century, the young Swedish explorer Sven Hedin came to the Western Region and began his legendary adventure along the Silk Road. With the great help of the Lop man guide, Ordek, Hedin discovered the ancient city ruins of Loulan in the Lop Nor wildness. For him, it was like found the ancient city of Pompeii. After a century, I and Ordek's descendants standing in front of his sculpture, watching the grave that had been buried in the yellow sand, imagining the moments that only belong to them. If you haven't seen the Buddhist temple ruins, murals and artefacts that were buried under the sand dunes, it is impossible to imagine that the place that was once called Altishahr in the Qing Dynasty was a holy place of Mahayana Buddhism in the sixth century. It reminds me of Constantinople, which has a similar fate with here. The replacement of civilization is just like a city in the desert, appears after being blown by the wind, eroded by the wind, and at last, obscured by the sands.
公路沿着塔河主干与支流延伸开来，沿途而行，不仅可见社会体制迅速发展的城镇，还能依稀瞥见千年以前人类文明的遗留。若未亲眼见到那些曾被掩埋于黄沙之下的佛寺遗址和壁画文物，很难想象这个清代被称为回疆的地方曾经在公元六世纪时是大乘佛教的圣地，是佛教东传的咽喉。然而旧时西域荒漠中的绿洲文明皆难逃同一种命运——因地表径流而孕育，因河床干涸而迁移，最终被黄沙吹蚀而消亡。
新疆是我出生的地方，是位于中国西北部的一片广袤大地，是中国面积最大的自治区，旧时被称作西域，现在有数十个民族居住于此。其中，作为大部分少数民族聚居的区域，南疆不仅有一座世界第二大流动沙漠，也拥有着中国最长的内陆河塔里木河，一条养育了全疆半数人口的母亲河。
十九世纪末，年轻的瑞典探险家斯文·赫定来到新疆，沿着古丝绸之路开始了他传奇的探险生涯。在罗布人向导奥尔德克（维吾尔语意为“野鸭子”）的帮助下，赫定在荒漠之中发现了对他而言如同“庞贝古城”一般的楼兰故城遗址。百年之后，我与奥尔德克的子孙立于奥尔德克的雕塑前，近旁埋没坟墓的黄沙，似乎在为他盖棺定论，而那些胡杨枯枝让人想起在麻扎会插着的木枝，也像极了奥尔德克在1934年引领贝格曼发现的小河墓地的木桩。
