I once travelled 6,000 miles from Chengdu in Western China overland through southeastern Tibet to Lhasa with a young colleague, and it was only when I got to Lhasa that I understood the face behind the statistics you hear about: 6,000 sacred monuments torn apart to dust and ashes, 1.2 million people killed by the cadres during the Cultural Revolution.
Jednom sam putovao 6.000 milja od Chengdua u zapadnoj Kini zemljanim putem kroz jugoistočni Tibet do Lhase s mladim kolegom, i tek kad sam došao do Lhase razumio sam lice koje se krije iza statistika o kojima slušate. 6.000 svetih spomenika pretvoreno u prah i pepeo, 1,2 milijuna koje su ubili regruti u periodu Kulturne revolucije.