Yangtze River Headwaters Volunteering Day 31 长江源志愿工作第31天

This is the last journal of a series recording my days in the Yangtze River Headwaters volunteering project. Like it? Follow my Instagram (@anar.chica.yichenguo) for more updates!
这是我参与长江源志愿工作的一系列记录的最后一篇。喜欢的话，关注我的Ins账号(@anar.chica.yichenguo)获取更多更新吧！

Today is the last day of the volunteering program, but so far we didn’t feel anything special. No one has even started packing yet until now (noon).

It was snowing in the morning, then turned to rain later on. The planned trash investigation couldn’t be carried out so I stayed at the post office to read books. There was one paragraph suitable for the life here:

Leisure is a virtue. It is different from laziness. Laziness is simple negativity, while leisure is physical rest and spiritual pleasure. Recognizing leisure is a sign of social progress. Being able to create leisure from a busy life, and being able to enjoy leisure is an ability and cultivation.
— Ye Tian <Humans Are Not Dolphins – a reflection of a simple environmentalist>

In the drizzles, I received two tourists from Beijing who are over 60 years old. They started out on 10th May to travel together by train, bus and hitchhike. From Beijing to Yunnan, going north along the Nu River, went back south and then north again along Lancang River to enter Tibet. They went to the Ali area through Changdu, went along the southern border to the east through Shigatse and Lhasa, and today they arrived Tuotuo River. The rest of their trip plans are almost the same as mine – they will visit Mangya and Dunhuang on their way back. We left our contact info, maybe in a few days, we will be traveling together. 

I thought the last day would not be peaceful, but in reality, it is very calm. There were new thoughts or insights every day here and in the end, it became normal life. 

Let me end this period of time and welcome new adventures with the words by the great adventurer Livingstone’s wife Mary before she died:

My dear, don’t be like some I’ve seen. Before they die, they already stopped moving forward like a tombstone. I have only one wish — please be like what you’ve always been, keep going forward.*

*note: I can’t find the original words. If anyone knows please let me know. Thanks!!!

今天是义工项目的最后一天，可是直到现在都没有感觉到与往日有何不同。大伙到现在（中午）为止没有一个人开始收拾行李。

早上下了小雪，上午又继续下小雨，原先安排好的拉调无法进行，于是呆在邮局看书。看到一段话，与这里的生活很配：

闲是一种美德。它不同于懒散。懒散是简单的消极，闲是身体上的休息，心理上的愉悦。认可闲适是社会进步的标志，会创造闲或忙里偷闲，并且能够享受闲是个人的本事和修养。
——叶天《人非海豚——一个简易环保者的反思》

细雨中接待了两位六十几岁的北京游客。她们从五月十日起，结伴坐火车、坐大巴、搭车一路从北京到云南，沿着怒江一路向北，再折下沿澜沧江北上进藏，经过昌都到阿里，再沿南部向东，途径日喀则、拉萨，今天到了沱沱河。后面的行程与我差不多，计划回去的路上去茫崖、敦煌。我们互留了微信，或许后几天可以同行。

原以为最后的一天会很不平静，现实却是波澜不惊。在这里的每一天都有所感悟，到了最后，便成了正常的生活。

以探险家李文斯顿的妻子玛丽临终前对他说的话来结束这一段日子，并迎接新的旅程吧：

亲爱的，不要像以前我看过的一些人，还没有死以前，已经像个墓碑一样裹足不前。我只有一个愿望——你要像以前一样，一直往前去。