Many rural schools in Qinghai are basic and unheated (LISA CARDUCCI)

In 2003, I visited Qinghai Province, where there are five Tibetan autonomous districts with a huge majority of Tibetans. The rest of the population is made up of Hui, Salar, Mongol, and Tu people, with Han Chinese being 54.5 percent in the province as a whole. The Han live mostly in the province's capital, Xining. One of the places I visited was Tongren Tibetan Autonomous County. Tongren is almost 3,000 meters above sea level. Sumptuous Lamaism temples are active, as local Tibetans strictly practice Buddhism. The only Tibetan who could speak some "understandable" Chinese but still with a very strong Tibetan and Qinghai Chinese accent was a university student who had come home for the summer holidays. Renqingxiangjia was helping his cousin with the Tea House, where I could finally rest and have butter tea while chatting with him. When I left he gave me some suyou (rancid butter) and some zampa (barley flour) to take home to Beijing. We remained friends and he often called me and invited "Lisha jie" (elder sister Lisa) to go back to Tongren. But I was always busy or had other places to discover. I answered "Some day!"

Recently, I felt a strong tug from the bottom of my heart. It was not Renqingxiangjia who was calling me; it was Tongren. I tried to shut off the voice, but it was stronger than my will. I felt I "had" to go to Tongren but I didn't know why.

The school headmaster presents hada (a piece of silk used as a greeting gift among China's Tibetan and Mongolian ethnic groups) to the author (LISA CARDUCCI)

The train that runs from Beijing to Lhasa stops in Xining along its way after 20 hours. From there, I took a bus to Tongren. The price had doubled (from 16 to 32.8 yuan) since my last visit, but I was glad to see that the travelling time had been reduced from seven hours to four. The road has been improved and allows for high speeds, and a 3,340-m tunnel has been dug through the mountain. Before and after the tunnel, the high mountains on both sides have been reinforced with concrete that will be "greened" later. The section of tolled highway has excellent road signs.

Qinghai is an average of 3,000 meters above sea level and 80 percent of the province is occupied by high mountains and deserts. Along the road, I could admire majestic green mountains first, followed by rocky mountains, and, further on, red earthen mountains. Wild donkeys and mountain goats ran along the slopes. Into the villages we crossed, and cows or sheep used the road as their own paths. Dozens of children were going to attend extra classes, though it was the last week of summer holidays. Tibetan and Hui farmers were ending harvests - men and woman working hard with little machinery.

For the second half of the trip, the road followed the Huanghe (Yellow River), which is yellow because of the sand it carries. In some places, the river's bed was completely or almost dry. But, to my great surprise, I discovered the most beautiful waterscape where the river was as large and blue as the sky. The mountains were reflected in the water mirror. I held my breath in front of such a wonder.

When our bus crossed the large Wutun Temple, which is another Qinghai wonder, I knew we would reach the bus station about 10 minutes later. There, awaiting me was Renqingxiangjia. He had become a handsome, 29-year-old young man with golden dark skin, snow-white teeth, and black, shining eyes. He had arrived with the headmaster of the school where he was hired as a teacher several months ago. Both of them greeted me with a white hada (a silk cloth, presented to guests). I felt then that I was in Tibet.

Now, Renqingxiangjia's Putonghua (standard Chinese) was improved (or was it my ear?) but he still has his accent. We went to a Tibetan restaurant where we had milk tea and a terrine (shaguo) of mutton meat, mushrooms, and starchy noodles. I could not hold back my questions about the school where Renqingxiangjia finally found work two years after obtaining his diploma.

Headmaster Xiawujingmei, 43, started teaching at that school in 1984, when there were only 60 students. The school now has 270 students and 15 teachers, all of them Tibetans. Teachers are all university graduates, and their salaries vary from 600 yuan a month to 3,000, according to their qualifications, experience, and status. Tibetan and Chinese languages are taught from the first grade, and English from the third grade. Half of the children board at the school, and there are a dozen orphans among them. Most parents are illiterate.