The Smile ofTibetans

       People know that Tibet is likely one  of the few places with the most tough, natural and indigent living conditions in the world. However, tourists here have found that  Tibetans are a people who love smiling most in the world.
  Language experts said that words describing smile in any  language can have their equivalents in the Tibetan language.
  But the smile on the faces of Tibetans are more impressive.
  In Tibet, whenever you ask Tibetan for directions, he or she  will give you a pure smile like an old friend. A lama, a nun or an old man holding a canister for singing sutras you meet with in the autonomous region often return you a simple, honest and  understanding smile when you smile to them.
  On the square in front of the Potala Palace, an old Tibetan  lady takes out some change to alms-begging lamas. She also smiles  and it seems that every single wrinkle on her face is filled with  satisfaction.
  A palmer, who gets one yuan from a tourist and gives back nine  jiao (one yuan equals 10 jiao), will say that "one jiao is enough" and smiles lightly and unaffectedly.
  At the Sera Monastery at dusk, several young lamas, carrying  sutras and vegetables, were going back to their dormitories,  giggling all the way. But no one knows why they are laughing.
  Pilgrims who have trekked for several months or half a year for a pilgrimage to Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region,  also smile to passersby on the road. Their smile is somewhat  mystic and it seems that they are carrying some treasure.
  Those Tibetan men who walk on the street may sometimes sing  suddenly and then laugh frankly. And Tibetan girls, dressed as  fashionable as those in eastern coastal areas of China, travel by  tractors, laughing and singing in Tibetan language all the way.
  And there are such occasions when a person laughs, others will  also laugh, even strangers nearby.
  They love to smile when looking at animals such as dogs and  yaks, and the smile is calm and kind. They also smile when making  mistakes or jokes, and they often smile like kids.
  Even in the remote areas of Tibet where people have no access  to electricity and no highways, Xinhua journalists also find that  local people love smiling.
  They welcome people from the inland areas of China with sweet  smiles and they love making jokes when working on the farmland   and laugh amusedly. They chant ballads which they have compiled  praising creditable living Buddhas and Communist Party cadres.
  Some of the smiles are unforgettable to reporters. Sangmu, 84,  used to be a serf and could not keep body and soul together before the liberation of the Tibet, now has a large area of farmland of  his own, herds of domestic animals and household electric  appliances. He can not help smiling when talking about his happy  life today.
  In the pasture area, groups of Tibetan kids, dressed in  sheepskin, wave to reporters, smiling.
  Xinhua reporters visited a Tibetan whose son was hurt at the  waist during a devastating flood. His family now lives in houses  built by the government. His son has been sent to a local hospital for treatment with the help of the government.
  This Tibetan farmer smiled to reporters as if he was meeting  with their beloved family members, with tears in eyes.  Enditem