Mogao Caves

In early winter 2018, we held a tea gathering in front of the Mogao Caves, titled "Glimmering Light - A Visionary Experience." The tea practitioners scooped up the sand from Mogao and placed it into a glass hourglass. As the hourglass was turned over, the tea ceremony began. Water was poured, tea liquor extracted, served, and sipped. We did not invite many people; just a few tea lovers who had traveled far to sit with us in the desert. The transparent glass frames held tea notes, with sand and wind swirling outside, and the corners of the tea practitioners' robes and their footsteps. The tea wasn't scalding hot, but it still warmed us. Thinking about this tea, I returned again. Yangguan – Flickering Fires in the Wind I've been to Yangguan several times, each time bringing tea and a pot of wine. Zhao Wen carried her zither, saying she would play "Three Stanzas of Yangguan" there. On a clear winter day, the wooden walkway on the Gobi Desert was empty. The brown-red Gobi was protected by the boardwalk, the sandy and gravel ground layered deep and shallow, extending all the way to the horizon. Within these layers, air currents made…