【正文】 At one poi nt we were so hi gh that we found oursel ves cycli ng through clouds. Then we began goi ng down the hi l s. It was great fun especi al l y as i t gradual y became m uch warm er. In the val eys col ourful butterfli es fl ew around us and we saw m any yaks and sheep eati ng green grass. At thi s poi nt we had to change our caps, coats, gl oves and trousers for Tshi rts and shorts. In the earl y eveni ng we al ways stop to m ake cam p. We put up our tent and then we eat. After super Wang Wei put her head down on her pil ow and went to sl eep but I stayed awake. At mi dni ght the sky becam e cl earer and the stars grew bri ghter. It was so quiet. There was alm ost no wi nd—only the fl ames of our fi re for pany. As I l ay beneath the stars I thought about how far we had already travel ed. We wil reach Dal i i n Yunnan Provi nce soon, where our cousi ns Dao Wei and Yu Hang wi l joi n us. We can hardl y wait to see them! PART 6 TH E END OF OUR JOUNEY Cam bodi a was i n m any ways simi l ar to Laos, al though i t has twi ce the popul ati on. At another inn, we tal ked with a teacher who tol d us that hal f of the peopl e in her country coul dn’t read or write. H er vil age coul dn’t even afford to buil d a schol, so she had to teach outside under a l arge tent. When we said goodbye, we al fel t very lucky to have studi ed i n col ege. Back on the road, we pased between m any hil ls and forests. Then we cam e to the pl ai ns and entered Phnom Penh,the capi tal of Cam bodi a. In m any ways i t l ooked l i ke Vi enti ane and H o Chi Minh Ci ty。 i t al so had wi de streets wi th trees i n rows and ol d French houses. Unl i ke Vi enti ane, shi ps coul d travel the Mekong Ri ver here. In the center of the ci ty we vi si ted the pal ace and a beauti ful white el ephant. It can onl y be seen outsi de the pal ace on speci al days. We ate an earl y supper and went to see a great templ e wi th fl oors made of sl i ver. The next m orni ng our group sl ept l ate. We were very ti red from the l ong bi ke ri de the day before. Cycli ng i n the hil l s had been di ffcuil t. N ow our coui ns had the chance to m ake jokes about Wangwei and m e. Perhaps, they sai d,they were the strong ones!We had l unch at a ni ce outdoor cafe, then rode out of the city. Two days l ater we crossed the border into Vietnam. We began to see many more peopl e,but I wasn’t surprised . I read in an atl as before our tri p that Vi etnam has al most seven tim es the popul ati on of Cam bodi a. We m et a farm er who gave us di recti ons and tol d us that he grows a new ri ce crop four ti mes every year so he can feed m ore e al so tol d us that the northern part of his country has m any m ountai ns and it i s m uch cool er than here i n the south, where i t is fl at. Al though the fl at delta m ade i t easi er for us to cycle. we got warm very qui ckl y. So we drank l ots of water and ate l ots of bananas. Soon the del ta separated i nto ni ne sm al l er ri vers. Two days l ater, after we had passed thousands of ri ce fi el ds, we cam e to the sea. We were ti red but al so i n hi gh spiri ts: our dream to cycl e al ong the Mekong Ri ver had fi nal ly e true. Uni t 4 A NIGHT THE EARTH DID’T SLEEP Strange things were hapeni ng i n the countri si de of northest H eBei . For there days the water i n the vil l age wel s rose and fel , rose and fel l. Farm ers noti ced that the wel wal l s had deep cracks in them. A smel y gas cam e out of the cracks. In the farm eryards, the chickens and even the pi gs were too nervous to i ce ran out of the fi el ds l ooki ng for pl aces to hi de. fi sh jum ped out of their bowl s and ponds. At about 3: 00am on Jul y 28,1976, som e peopl e saw bri ght li ghts i n the sky. The sound of the pl anes coul d be heard outsi de the ci ty, who thought l i tl e of these events, were asl eep as usual that ni ght. At3: 42 am everythi ng began to shake. It sem ed as i f the worl d was at an end!El even kil om etres di rectl y bel ow the ci ty the greast earthquake of 20th century had begun. It was fel t in Bei ji ng, whi ch i s more thantwo hundred kil om etres away. O nethird of the nati on felt i t . A huge crack that was ei ght kil om etres l ong and thi rty m etres wi de cut across houses, roads and canal s. Steam burst from hol es in the ground. Hard hi l s of rock becam e ri vers of di rt. In fifteen terri ble seconds a l arge l ay i n rui ns. The sufferi ng of the peopl e was extrem e. Towthi rds of them di ed or were i njured duri ng the earthquake. Thounds of fami li es were kil l ed and m any chi dren were l eft wi thout parents. The num ber of peopl e who were ki l ed or i njured reached m ore than 400, 000. But how coul d the survivors believe it was natural ?Everywhere they l ooked nearl y everything was destroyed. Al of the city’s hospi tals, 75% of i ts factori es and bui l di ngs and 90% of i ts hom es were gone. Bri cks covered the ground li ke red autum n l eaves. N o wi nd, however, could bel ow they away. Two dam s and most of the bri dges al so fel or were not safe for travel ing. The rail way tracks were now usel ess pi eces of steel . Tens of thousands of cows woul d never gi ve mil k agai n. H al f a m il li on pigs and m il li ons of chickens were dead. Sand now fi l ed the wel ls i nstead of water. Peopl e were shocked. Then l ater that afternoon, another bi g quake whi ch was alm ost as strong as the fi rst one shook Tangshan. Som e of the rescue workers and doctors were trapped under the rui ns. More buil di ngs fel down. Water, food, and el etri city were hard to get. Peopl e began to wongder how l ong the disater woul d last. Al l hope was not l ost. Son after the quakes, the arm y sent 150, 000 soli ders to Tangshan to hel p the rescue workers. H undreds of thousands of peopl e were hel ped. The arm y ani zed team s to di g out those were trapped and to bury the dead. To the north of the ci ty