In Maesalong,there are three ways to meet a friend – by tea, by coffee, and by the smile on the face. In this peak area in northern Thailand, languages become nothing but an ignorable, even useless medium. While walking on the streets, all one has to do is show the smile to other people, and whoever it is, they would greet back to the person in the same way. As if a smile is the easiest and clearest greeting to identify each other. Coming to this pure corner of the world, a refreshing touch of this place blows the stone-heavy stress in mind far away, easily as blowing away a feather.

 

    On the main street of Maesalong sits quite a few tea shops, if smiling and greeting to the hospitable shopkeepers, they would kindly have anyone in, serving tea and having a chat. A morning passes by with pots and pots of tea drunk up. The lifestyle here is unlike other world-famous tour spots, and everything including people, animals, and wild flowers makes up a picture looking so incredibly slow-paced and relaxing that no one would like to bring the touchingly beautiful scenery away. It can be compared to a pot of tea, which carries such a calm and mellow characteristic; around here, people have reached such a state that even a plain life can taste sweet.   

 

    According to the local Yunnan people, Chinese, who fled from Yunnan during Chinese Civil War, still make up ninety percent of the population in Maesalong, with the rest ten percent being the combination of seven minority groups. More often than not, this is a place that reminds me of my hometown, Kaohsiung, because of the similarities. For one thing, unlike those in big cities, the houses here are built low enough to make the sky look as if to touch the ground, and crowds of dark clouds look as if they were an army ready to march and step onto earth. For another, it’s often observed that a mother is being busy doing house chores while looking after several little children. Asian culture stays complete and it has been carried on by Yunnan people for decades. Aside from Asian people, the same picture can be found in Akaha (a local minority group) tribes. This place has such a warmth that caresses me like a mother gently touches and pats on my head.

 

    Since the first day of our visit, it was cloudy every night until on supposedly the eleventh day, the weather cleared up and the stars became seeable to us. The sky was turned into a stage, and on the stage, there was the performance of dances given by those shining stars. The nights in Maesalong has an appearance of nothing like those in a city; it’s lighted up by stars and the music being played in the background comes all from insects and birds inside the bushes and on the mountains. To locals, it’s the moment when families gather together in a day. I met a Akaha girl, Lizhu Huang, during this trip. Lizhu has a family of seven, herself the second oldest child. Her family is supported by the long-hour works of both mother and father, and by Lizhu’s sister, the oldest child who work in Bangkok after graduation. House chores that her mother has no time to do are taken care of by Lizhu, which include making breakfast and dinner and looking after rest of the children. She, too, has to study in Thai school, in order that in the future she can find a job in Bangkok as well. From my observation, I found her daily life such a busy and tiring one. Even so, Lizhu is an unpretentious person, with whom I can stay without a moment feeling uneasy, and she seems never to be nervous and hurried. People don’t have much wealth in Maesalong, it seems even less to us who live in the cities. However, Lizhu always welcomes me at home and would give me many bananas picked up just in the morning; there was once she gave me a bag of honey along with a piece of beehive. On one evening, she had me in for dinner when I walked by. I was struck speechless by the sudden flash of thought; the simplest idea of richness, regardless of wealth, is kindness and people’s care.