Acknowledgements

I am so thrilled being a foreign reporter based in Nepal. Staying here for almost a decade as a representative of Xinhua News Agency, I got an opportunity to meet Nepalis from all walks of life that a foreigner rarely gets.During the past decade, I have released hundreds of news stories and photos in Chinese for Chinese readers and in English for the international community. For the new publication, I threw the prime part of these works into the melting-pot, which refreshes my memory and keeps me often alive, like the beautiful snow-capped mountains along the Nepal[1]China border.As the saying goes, “No one drop of honey can claim to be from the nectar of a single flower.” If the reading public find to their profit by unrolling this scroll, first and foremost, it is because of those people who stand before the camera, who are quoted by the agency. Their life is depicted in my stories and their experiences have become an indivisible portion of the writings. They have both taught me about their motherland and given their invaluable guidance in my eyes on this miraculous land.I would like to express my sincere thank to Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, the first President of Nepal; Bidya Devi Bhandari, incumbent President and the first woman to hold the presidential berth and KP Sharma Oli, the Prime Minister of Nepal.

I am also indebted for having former Prime Ministers Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, Jhala Nath Khanal, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Dr Baburam Bhattarai, Sher Bahadur Deuba and Sushil Koirala in my interviewee list for Xinhua. Dialogues with them and other politicians, ministers, government officials and business leaders,many of whom are mentioned in the book, have thrown warmth into my heart while impressing me deeply.As the birthplace of Buddha, Nepal teems with intellectual persons and I am a lucky media person to strike up friendship and ties with some personalities. I bestow my honor to Mr. Madan Regmi, a single-hearted old friend. At the instance of me, he agreed to write foreword for the book though he is bed-ridden. I also hold in honor Dr. Yubaraj Sangroula, former Attorney General of Nepal and Professor at Kathmandu School of Law. I have a deep respect for his bestseller South Asia-China Geo[1]economics.

One is under the impression that two parties of a trade never agree, but it is not the case for me. As a socialite, I have plenty of friends from the media sector, enjoying the society of Madam Pant Prem Kumari, Mr. Yuba Nath Lamsal, Mr. Pushpa Raj Pradhan, Dr. Vijay Kumar Poudel, Mr. Shyamal Adikhary, Mr. Krishnamurari Bhandary, Mr. Bimal Gautam and others lending support to me.It would be no exaggeration to say almost each story, each photo coming into the world has its own story of its birth behind the curtain. For example, I have a wonderful memory of portrait photography on the front flap which was taken in November 2018. At that time I was invited to visit Sandakpur Rural Municipality in Ilam by its Chairperson Uday Bahadur Rai, a low-key doer. My maiden trip to the eastern Nepal remained very joyous and it turned out to be fruitful, where the tea history in Nepal came to my knowledge -- the first two plantations were set up in the far eastern corner of Nepal in 1863 after Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana returned from China with tea seeds gifted by the Chinese emperor; where I came across many a local at Nepal-India border, who complained to me that Indians often tread on their toes.I set a lot of store by Mend or End, my first English volume, which is not a solo performance, instead, a real chorus.

I am grateful to the co[1]authors; some of them are my colleagues, some local staff. Besides, a host of well-wishers and friends help me under the rose; they are unsung heroes even without a trace in the book.Every barber knows that for reading in a post-textual era, photos matter. Most pictures interlaced with articles in the book are my own works,the rest ones were mainly clicked by Pratap Thapa, Sunil Sharma, both served as professional photographers for Xinhua.The present writer ploughed his way to run the Nepal edition of Asia Pacific Daily and the Chinese Edition during 2013 to 2018, an out-of-the[1]way struggle. It would have been impossible without Mr. Ju Mengjun, Andy Jin who stood by me amid wows and woes. Numerous editorials, interviews and reports with my byline published in the newspaper are picked up by the book in place. Beyond controversy, former Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Wu Chuntai carried APD Nepal edition through many difficulties to give impetus to it. His chivalry, his sincere endeavors to promote comprehensive Sino[1]Nepal relations alike still dwell in the memory of many Nepalis. The contributions made by the former diplomat and his Nepali counterparts like Leela Mani Paudyal and Mahendra Bahadur Pandey will go down in history. With a loud and clear slogan--Do Business with China, APD newspaper served as a bridge between Chinese community and Nepali community. A multitude of entrepreneurs and investors, who put high value in the media, did yeoman’s service for APD. For Mr. Sovit Upreti, Mr. Rajendra Shrestha, Mr. Sunil Sakya, Mr. Rajan Sakya, Mr. Yuan Zhixiong, Mr. Wang Zhujun, Mr. Wang Jin and other friends from commerce and business industry, I am profoundly grateful.Many hands make light work. Around five dozens of youth and girls worked for APD, Xinhua and other projects under my leadership. I owe a debt of gratitude to those staff and aids in the early years who put their faith in me and whose loyalty had been steadfast.the backs and covers are by far the best parts.” Though this book is not that kind, I do like its back and cover, which are designed by Mr Hari Thakur and Mr. Aamod Rayamajhi, who have been very patient with this project.

To publish this book, I went out of my way to find a comfortable publication house, which allowed me to meet some excellent people working in this industry: Mr. Basdev Dhakhal, Mr. Kiran Gautam, Mr. Hom Prasad Guatam, and so on. I am equally thankful to all who contributed to the making of this book. Besides those mentioned, there are still other people with whom I worked. I am really thankful to them for their support. Finally, the book is dedicated to my family. My virtuous wife Tang Wei stands by me through thick and thin over one decade. Without her constant support and loving care, I couldn’t go heart and soul into writing.

Every year numberless books put into circulation, this volume is just a drop in the ocean, but for me, it is almost the entire ocean where I taste the sweet and the bitter of life in a new place, and witness and keep a record of different aspects of Nepal and Nepali way of life.I would highly appreciate your suggestions as well as criticism.