All language subtitles for Delamu (Zhuangzhuang Tian, 2004) ENGLISH

The mountain village Bingzhongluo-Tibetan,
'Village of the Tibetans'...

...situated on a high plateau
in the western province of Yunnan.

Along the river Nujiang you can reach
the border town Chawalong-Tibetan ...

...or 'the Valley of the Dry Heat'.
There are no roads between the towns...

...and traditionally everything
is transported by horse caravan.

The journey of 90 km goes over high
mountains and through forests and canyons.

Aunt, you've got mail. A lot of mail.

Aunt, this is from Guangdong.

And this from Beijing.

- Come in and have some tea.
- No, thanks. Next time.

I have to go to the City Hall.

The family consists
of fifteen members.

Also counting all my sons
and daughters in law...

...we have many ethnical groups:
Bai, Tibetan, Nu, Lisu and Zhuang.

Many languages are spoken
in this family.

In the past only a few tourists came here.
Some had a camera.

I gave them a tour.
I invited them for tea at my home.

We are a large family.
Guests have always been welcome.

It became known
and more tourists came.

If the road was bad,
we couldn't refuse them.

We didn't have beds.
They slept on hay.

We didn't like that. They came
all the way to this remote place.

If these people couldn't spent the night
anywhere, they would stay away.

We decided to borrow money,
so we could build a bigger house.

We have to buy bitter buckwheat.
The guests like that.

The road at Shuangla is closed again.
The cars can't pass.

We don't know yet
whether we can get that loan.

They've been talking about it
for so long now.

They still haven't approved it.

It's not easy.

The tourist service spent tens of thousands
on new toilets and we didn't get anything.

We need an interest-free loan.

They spent 300.000
on twelve toilets...

...but the road is still broken.

The government said it
should be repaired.

Then more tourist will come.

One thing at a time.

We have to do it ourselves.

The household is my responsibility.

And also the church.

Every day when I go to church...

...I feel happy.

The construction of the road from Yunnan
to Tibet, near Bingzhongluo-Chawalong.

It should be ready in
three to five years.

The Lanka-valley: a mountain road,
made by the caravans.

So narrow, only one person at once can pass.

This church is built using money
of the congregation.

Without help from the outside.

It felt good to stand on a new pulpit.

I was very happy.

These days a lot of people come.

Also believers from other villages come.

Until he got home, after he was
released from prison...

...we thought he had passed away.

He was gone for fifteen
or sixteen years.

But he wasn't dead.

We were very surprised to see him.

When he heard his family
was still here...

...and the kids were grownups now...

...he immediately went
to the working camp.

He fetched his belongings and came home.

I am converted b Ah Di. After his return
he became a preacher again.

Now he is old. He doesn't preach often
anymore. Now I'm a preacher myself.

In the past we would just read to them.
Now we go deeper.

I often ask him for advice.
He supports me.

Our sermons are more suitable
for the common people.

Here he is the most respected person.

The preacher was an American.

He taught my father about the
Scriptures and he converted me.

He lived in Dandan and
later he went back to America.

He really looked like a foreigner.
Very white.

The preacher had three sons
and one daughter.

And two translators.
Eight people in total.

They've been at my home once.

I began learning the Lisu-scriptures.

When I got married, already
the whole family was converted.

During the time I got married,
I became a preacher.

She died two years and three months ago
during the planting season of the taro.

Since then there have been
two taro-harvests.

Already two years and three months.

In the past you were locked up
because of your faith.

I wrote her from the prison.
I knew she wouldn't marry another.

If she knew I was still alive,
she would wait for me.

That's the kind of woman she was.

Now I'm old.
I don't have a lot of energy left.

But there are young preachers
who can take over.

Then I can die in peace.

These days faith is allowed.

That makes me feel at ease.
I can't preach anymore.

I don't see so well anymore and my
hearing is also not so good anymore.

All rise.

A member of our congregation
has passed away.

We pray today,
so she can go in peace.

Everybody, listen well.

The sermon will be done tonight
by preacher Yu Jianhui.

We would have read this passage earlier,
but there weren't enough people then.

I read one line...

...and then everyone will repeat it.

Go to Luc 16:24
in the New Testament.

Repeat after me.
'Then he cried and said:

Father Abraham...

...have mercy on me,
and send Lazarus...

...that he may dip the tip
of his finger in water...

...and cool my tongue.'

A lot of high mountains,

if we hold each other's hands

we can cross them together.

Our parents took care of us
when we were little.

When we've grown up, we have
to do something in return.

Big Brother found a woman
and said we could share.

That way I found a woman.
Big Brother is very smart.

He hides himself, while my sister in
law teaches me things that men do.

I respect her as an older sister.
I can say anything to her.

When I come back from a journey,
brother gives her to me.

Big Brother said to me:

Brother, you are only nineteen years old.
When I'm old, you can help her.

It's better for the family,
if we're living together.

We bought a sieve,
rope and sheep.

Because we had put our money together,
we had more to spend.

Thereby we could buy animals.

We could buy boots, tea, salt,
mattresses and blankets.

This way it is better
for the family.

A man can't always think of women.
He has to make money.

My brother is getting older.
It is hard for him.

My brother and I take care of the
household. I think I should do more.

Big Brother manages the savings.

We now have two children.
One of them is eleven years old.

They call me uncle. I love
children. We've already got two.

We can't allow to have more.

My sister in law already
had an operation.

It's just the two of us.

One of us has to stay home...

...while the other is
making money outdoors.

I like to wear woollen clothes
that she made for me.

She likes me to wear them, so I do.

When I go into town,
it isn't a big city off course.

But when I go into town...

...I buy her trousers,
shirts and hairpins.

I hope she looks nicer that way.

I've been ill.
I walked to the toilet.

A big gust blew sand into my eyes.

My eyes were bad already
and then I was blind.

I've been blind for four years.

I'm very tough.

Some families can't bring up
their children.

The man walks out
and marries another woman.

You have to be strong.

Whatever happens to your family...

...you must accept what life brings you.

Now thirty families live...

...east and west of the river.

In the past there were only twelve.

There weren't any fields then.
Not even rice fields.

You had to look everywhere
for land to work.

My father was the stable-boy
of the priest.

Everyone here is Catholic or Tibetan
Buddhist. There aren't any Protestants.

Before his death my husband was
messenger of the church.

We had a French priest.

He is buried next to the church
in the village Zhongding.

Ever since my my childhood
we've been Catholic here.

The Protestants came later.

I never went to school.
I had to work for a living.

When I grew up...

...I collected mountain herbs,
to exchange for rice.

I was busy whole day long
the get a bowl full.

When I was young...

...there were three officers
who wished to marry me.

I rejected them all.

Even when I had been married
for five years and had children...

...officers still came to
ask me to marry them.

To get rid of them,
I went to Kegedang.

I've been married two times.

The first time with
someone from here.

He was lazy. He didn't even
take care of me if I was ill.

I chased him away.
Later I married the other one.

I couldn't marry an officer.

They let themselves be carried by litter.
A completely different class.

I was eighteen years old
when I met my first husband.

He didn't have a family
and was roaming aimlessly.

A night in one house, a night in
another house. I pitied him.

I took him in my home.

He was lazy. He didn't look
after me if I was ill.

I got angry and kicked him out.

My second husband came to me by himself.

He was a man who was able
to do a lot. He was a real man.

When he was with me, we never had we never
had too little oil, salt or whatever.

He was stonemason and blacksmith.

he had to build houses
in the Dulong-valley.

He never came back. During the time
of Lin Biao and the Gang of Four...

...each family got a pot...

...five cows and fifteen chickens.

After a meeting one night
the pots and bowls were stolen.

These days the bowls were a lot
different than they are now.

They were made of wood.

We ate in mutual kitchens.
Cabbage and pudding.

We had to leave three or
four children at home.

They made us dig irrigation
canals in the mountains.

We didn't see the children for months.

It was very tough for us.

The poor children.

I breastfed them for only two
months and then I had to leave...

...to dig canals.

As a kid I ploughed our fields.
I did all kinds of men's work.

I climbed mountains which
others didn't dare to climb.

I was different from other girls.
They couldn't do anything.

When we were working, we didn't
have blankets, coats or shoes.

We slept underneath hay.
Lazy people became poorer and poorer.

Who worked hard, had it much better.

I had a good relationship
with my husband.

He listened to me
and I listened to him.

We worked hard. He was my husband.

Although I can't see anymore,
I miss him every day.

When he was taken away,
I cried day and night.

Our baby cried, because he wanted milk.

But I couldn't feed him,
because I had to dig canals.

My kids were with me, but I wasn't
allowed to take care of them.

Once I jumped into the river,
but someone saved me.

The children were pitiable.

The whole night I hid
in the forest...

...because I wanted to hang myself.

When my husband was gone,
I didn't want to live anymore.

When I heard the children cry,
I came back.

I suffer tremendously.

I cried till I was blind.

I cried whole day.

But God watched over me.

I made it.

I just shouldn't die.

A mule of a caravan was
killed by a falling rock.

The leader of the caravan does
penance for the sins of the mule.

It can't be. We had it fixed
shortly after New Year's Day.

Just look at it.

What's the matter?
Maybe the hole is too big.

How much wheat did you grind today?

Fifty litres. Not bad.

The harvest is abundant this year.

If you would just harvest the wheat.
You don't have to sing about it.

Why don't you mind your own business?

It's not your business.

Do you want to fight?
Come on. I mean it.

I would rather close it.

I haven't picked herbs in
the mountains for two years.

Every day I go to Bingzhongluo.
I'm tired.

In the store are not
enough herbs anymore.

Without herbs I
can't treat patients.

But I can't climb anymore.
It's too hard for me.

I should be enjoying my retirement.

- Where should the flagpole be?
- On the eastside.

So you can see it from
both sides of the river.

In the City Hall there is still
some wood and cement.

We must do it right.

At least as good as them.

The children can all volunteer.

I can't look at her.

I didn't want to divorce her.

But she did want to divorce.
What else can you do?

I never scolded her at home.

When she ran off, our eldest
son was four years old.

The youngest...

...was just one year old.

They were both raised...

...by my mother.

Later my wife came back.

She said she wanted one of our sons.

She took the youngest and
left the eldest one behind.

The whole village knew...

...and told my son his mother
wasn't dead, but ran off.

He said to me:

You lied.
Mother is in Shandong.

I said: You have to study hard...

...so later you can see
anything you want.

You can go to Beijing.

Then you can go to your mother
and your little brother.

Some people say:
Your wife has ran off.

How can you be the village chief?

The older don't say that.

It has great impact.
Sometimes good, sometimes bad.

I think it's terrible. It's painful.

I don't want to be
village chief anymore.

He almost fell in the river.
It was very close.

And aunt and grandmother...

He fell from the top.

He was in a terrible mood then.

I don't know why.

Aunt and grandmother
wanted to pull him up.

Grandmother screamed. So did I.

Later we stopped here in Gangting.

Aunt and grandmother pulled him up.

And then we went home.
And then we came here.

And he hit me. With a bottle.

And then he walked away.

Later grandmother got angry.
I was angry too.

He said: It was my fault.
I'm sorry.

And then I forgave dad.

Because he loves me.
He's very busy.

I don't do nice things
with other children.

I can enjoy on my own.

Because I've got big ears.

Bowden cable:
The 'bridge' across the river Nujiang...

...which is used to cross
people and mules.

I pity the animals.
They have to carry heavy weights.

But they can't talk like people.

They can't tell that they are tired.

That we let them carry
too heavy weights.

When I'm angry, I wip them.
But I pity them.

He was killed by a falling rock.
I'm sad.

My family is very poor.
I could only take care of animals.

At first I had four mules.
One of them died.

It is tough to make
a living like that.

I gave the animals names.
I like that.

The most important mule
was called Lijster.

The other was called Wuzhu-river.

The little one is called Delamu.

The dead mule was called Chumu,
Big Beard. Which means wealth.

The dead mule was my
favourite animal.

He had white lips.
Very beautiful.

He was a marvellous mule.
Extraordinary strong.

It's a pity he's dead.
A heavy economic blow.

He could carry heavy weights
without scraping open his skin.

The other three easily get wounded.

These mules have to make money.

If they die, I earn nothing anymore.
Then I have to buy new ones.

But how do I get the money?

I want to buy another one in town.

I have seen a strong animal,
but he is rather small.

If I don't buy a new animal, my wife
and children will cry when I come home.

I left with four mules.

They will be upset if I
come home with three animals.

I am upset, but a man
like me doesn't cry.

But my wife and children
will be very sad..

They will cry, as if
a human being has died.

I want to buy an animal
with the same colour.

I will give him the same name.

The Slope of the Flying Rocks,
a lethal valley...

...which is known for its
flying rocks and sand bulges.

Caravans can only pass...

...if it is still early morning,
before the wind starts to blow.

It's very peaceful to burn incense.

Burn incense and pray.

Very peaceful.

I live here and I'm learning Tibetan.

I burned incense and met the
older brother of a classmate.

He was a monk here.

He already did the exams.

He is at home now.

He said it was good to be lama.

So I'm here now to become lama.

The members of our family
are Tibetan Buddhists.

That's why they support
Tibetan education.

My grandfather and grandmother
brought me here.

A lama doesn't commit sins.

In this he is different
from other people.

Normal people fight and curse.

That isn't right. That is sinful.

You can't smoke, can't drink
and can't get drunk.

You can't play billiards.

You can't curse.
You can't fight and gamble.

In this life you have to work hard.

You have to be diligent.

We have to breed pigs and chickens.

I had never been in a ballroom.

My friends took me...

...but I couldn't dance.
They taught me.

Then we met.

I got to know her.
She was great.

She was fourteen or
fifteen years old.

Could she dance?

Very well.

She danced 'disco'.

She taught me how to play the guitar.
But I always play false.

Now she is gone.

She is married.

When I came here,
I started working.

After I came here,
she married another.

I don't want to meet women anymore.

Sometimes no one is here.
They don't come back.

They all went down the mountain.

I'm the only here to take care of things.

It's very lonely.
I am lonely here.

You say you have a girlfriend.

I met her during a trip in Bingzhongluo.

She comes here to burn incense.
That's how I met her.

About eighteen, nineteen years old.

Do you like her?

A little.

Because she is pretty.

She was wearing Nu-clothes.

Very pretty. So I liked her.

Do you still want to be with her?

Sure?

Why not?

Because my teacher cares
about me the most.

If he isn't here,
I can teach others to read.

Then I can teach them,
because I can read well.

My teacher supports me the most.

I want to learn Tibetan
as quickly as possible.

So I don't want to think about her.

Tell me honestly. Do you miss her?

No.

I didn't have experience from before.

I only heard what the elderly told me.

The first lama's had a very good time.

They had fifty or sixty horses and
special places to take care of them.

In one particular year all the
monks got a headache disease.

They all died.

There was no one left to carry
out the rites in the temples.

Many villagers could read and write.

They said we weren't allowed anymore
to carry out the rites in the temples.

We all went home.

After that some Catholic were murdered.

Qing-troops were stationed
in the temples.

The monks were dispersed.

The incense in the temple didn't burn
anymore. We didn't have anything to eat.

There was a master of the house, a master
of ceremonies and an incantation master.

The government gave us
the responsibility.

We were allowed to
go back to the temple.

Seven monks looked after the temple.

In 1958 it became a hospital.

Forty years later I'm back.

I'm already 70 years old.
The other one is 73 years old.

He can't even walk anymore.

- We harvested the barley.
- It didn't rain.

- Have there been any caravans passing?
- Little, the last couple of days.

Many mountain worshippers.

After the harvest I also like
to go around the mountain.

- Are the roads open?
- Yesterday the road was closed...

...on the spot where
the road is being repaired.

May I use that pot?

- Did you get food already?
- Yes.

Drink some tea. I'll boil the rice first.

We'll eat after they
walked with the horses.

The Lama-temple on the bottom
of the snowy mountain Kawagebo:

The Holy Peacecountry
along the Tea-route.

Bless us. May the Wujin Lotusmaster
bless us and protect us.

May the mountain lord
bless us and protect us.

We worship the holy mountain Zhaben.

Let all dreams come true
and let us be save.

I was 23 or 24 years old when I married
my wife and became a part of her family.

When I came here,
my wife was only 17 years old.

The family contained workers, so I
learned to trade and went on a journey.

To Lhasa, Xiaguan and Lijiang.
For years.

I left during the summer and
came back during the winter.

Once a year I went to Lhasa. Sometimes to
India. We bought all sorts of stuff there.

Until I was 40 years old every year
I went to Lhasa with a caravan.

One year the price for ...(currency)...
was high. And then it went down.

After that we couldn't sell
anything for years. I lost money.

I waited until I could transport opium.

There were a lot of bandits then.
That's why we travelled in groups, armed.

Opium was very expensive.
In Kangding you had to pay taxes.

Between Kangding and Lijiang
you had three taxes:

For the Kwomintang in Lijiang,
in Muli and again in Sichuan.

The communists and the KMT
were making war.

Every mule was carrying a thousand jian.
A thousand jian is one zhang.

When we arrived in Lijiang,
the KMT had surrendered.

At the Meilishi-pass we met
the People's Liberation Army.

They travelled with us for days.

Later the PLA had a lot of problems.
They stayed in Meilishi.

At each pass there
were reinforcements.

The Tibetan army guarded
its territory.

We hid in Chayu and in August
or September we went to India.

I took supplies and cloths to Lhasa.

The PLA hadn't conquered Lhasa yet,
but we heard rumours.

We came with the army,
so the PLA would leave us alone.

That time we had 5000
zhang on supplies.

On the way back the army was already gone.
It was a peaceful, happy journey.

From Lhasa we went to India.
We had got transit documents.

At the border we exchanged them for
Indian documents. It went smooth.

On the way back we
used their documents.

That's how we did business in India.
It was very tough then.

We return from Lhasa during the
winter. We drove ten mules each.

I had blisters on my face, because
of the sun reflecting on the snow.

We burned a lot of incense,
hoping for a save journey.

We had to repair roads
and bridges...

...and we helped other travellers
carrying their stuff.

If we wouldn't perform the Buddhist
rites, disasters would occur.

There was ice on the road.
The mules would slip.

We couldn't stop, because
we had to arrive before dark.

We could only sleep after
we would have arrived.

We gave the mules blankets
so they wouldn't freeze.

When I was at home, I actually
didn't want to leave anymore.

But a couple of days later I went
again. That's how I spend my life.

It's hard to talk about it.

I'm also thinking about
the wishes of my parents.

I can't do hard labour and
I can't be a normal citizen.

I am a substitute teacher.
There isn't a full time job.

That's all for now.
I'm not very happy.

I'm not getting any younger.

I have to find a husband,
but that's not easy.

I am a teacher, so I can't
do much domestic work.

We have to hire someone
to chop wood and such.

I want to learn more things.

First I want to become a good teacher
and after that I want to marry.

Everyone does it their own way.

In any case, I want to
find the right husband.

The family needs labourers.

I have to find a strong man
for the family.

But if I don't like him, it won't
work out. That's what I'm afraid of.

I've got three sisters at home,
but we disagree a lot.

It's important to have sisters.

Sometimes you don't agree.

I'm afraid of people who get divorced.

You can't control everything.

The husband of my second sister
has got a job.

But still he drinks a lot.
They always fight.

I don't want such a life.

I'd rather not marry.

If you won't be happy together,
you shouldn't marry.

That's my opinion.

I'd rather not talk about it.
I don't want other people to know.

These are my secrets.

Everybody's got secrets
and these are mine.

Let's just not talk about it.

It hurts to talk about it.

My three sisters left home.

I'm the only one left, so
the family depends on me now.

Everybody's got dreams.

It's everybody's own business
what they dream.

I've got my own ideas.

I want to find someone who's right.

We've got to have
a strong connection...

...and live inside each harts.

You have to understand and know
what the other is thinking.

We have to trust each other
and always stay together.

Don't fight.

If fate wants it,
we will find each other.

I believe in fate.

I've got to keep my eyes open.

I like gangster movies.
I like godfather characters.

It's much too isolated here.

The environment isn't great.

I'm not used to it.
Very often I'm ill.

There are more reasons.

I really want to leave.
I have to find a husband.

in a veil of rain
my Buqiong Ciren

leaves her father and mother behind

she's got no choice
and has to travel far

if she misses them

she asks Bodhisattva
for a road to reunification

if she misses them
open a path to reunification

China has been connected to
the outside since old days...

...by the Silk Road in the north
and the Tea Road in the south.

Caravans were trekking with tea,
salt and grain along the Tea Road.

The road leads to Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan
India, West Asia and Europe.

The other way leads
to South-East Asia.

The over 2000 years old Tea Road is the
highest, most dangerous road in the world.

It's still alive.

This movie is a document
of the Tea Road...

...the caravans of the Nujiang-valley
and its original habitants.