In the southwest of Kashgar, Xinjiang, there is a distinctive ethnic group called the Hunza.
Most of the people here live in the deep Himalayan valley region bordering pakistan's northwestern corner and the Pamir Plateau.
Listening to this living environment, you know that they live very hard, but in fact, this ethnic group is only 30 kilometers away from Xinjiang, but it is like being in another world.
Because compared to there, this is already paradise.
So where is this mysterious village of Simsal? Why did these people migrate?
01 Mysterious village
The village of Simshal is located on the northern frontier of Pakistan.
Although it is only a small village, it occupies a very large area and covers almost the entire tributary of the Hunza River.
However, its population here is really not proportional to its size, and to this day, it has only a permanent population of about 2,000.
Why is this happening?
This is because of the steep terrain, with the lowest being around 3,000 metres above sea level and the highest reaching as much as 6,000 metres.
In addition, the water and electricity in the village of Simshar are also very inconvenient, and in such a large village, they only have a small hydroelectric power station.
This small hydroelectric power station is already their most advanced high-tech here, but this tool is not ready to come in handy for a year.
Because the village of Simshar is located near the snow-capped mountains, the temperature is basically very low throughout the year, and the months of the year that do not freeze are only 5 months.
As a result, the small hydroelectric power station is only operational for 5 months a year, while the other 7 months are spent in the dark by the Villagers of Simshar.
Not only that, but the drinking water of the villagers of Simshar is also the second biggest problem, they live at such a high altitude that it is naturally out of reach to dig a well to drink tap water.
As a result, they often wait for the clean snow water to melt before collecting it, or drinking it directly or cooking it.
Some people may say, isn't this way of life very good?
If snow water can melt, it may be relatively good, but snow water melting in their lives is also a luxury.
Because the temperature here is very low, the minimum can reach almost minus forty or fifty degrees, so although the snow is heavy, it rarely melts.
The lack of water made the villagers in Simshar very embarrassed, and they had no choice but to go to the Hunza River to get some water.
However, this water is very unclean and can generally only be used to wash clothes and dishes.
If you want clean water to drink all year round, you must stock up on some water at the warmest time of the year in case you need it.
In such harsh conditions, the villagers of Simshar are still persevering, but this is not all, and there is another problem that makes the villagers of Simsar even more difficult: the natural environment with frequent earthquakes.
Located at the junction of the Indian subcontinent and the Eurasian Plate, Simshar often experiences frequent earthquakes due to violent collisions.
In addition, the village of Simshar is located in the middle of the Hunza River Valley, surrounded by cliffs and cliffs, and the climate of the ice and snow plateau causes constant winds and snow here all year round.
If you encounter landslides and landslides before and after, the people in the house will not be able to save their lives.
This kind of life is really full of hardships and dangers, and just when the villagers think that they will spend their whole lives in hardship, some "uninvited guests" have recently arrived in the village to make the life of the Villagers of Simshar seem to have a turnaround.
Who are these "uninvited guests"? Why did they come here?
The story begins on that day...
02 A turning point in life
On that day, there were many "uninvited guests" from the village of Simshar, dressed in a way that was out of step with this remote mountain village.
They are uninvited guests because these people are obviously from out of town, dressed a bit like archaeologists and a bit like the bosses of developers.
The villagers of Simsar were very curious about the arrival of these people.
Why does this place where birds don't attract so many outsiders, is it just to enjoy the scenery?
Not really!
When these people came many days later, some of them began to talk to the villagers: "Have you ever seen diamonds here?" ”
Listening to their inquiries, the Villagers of Simsar were very puzzled, because they did not understand what a diamond was, and perhaps they had seen it, but they did not know that it was the thing they were looking for.
Looking at the confused eyes of the Simsar villagers, these foreign guests shook their heads helplessly, "Maybe the fact that there are diamonds here in the book is a fantasy." ”
Just as they were about to leave, a companion ran over happily, holding a sparkling object in his hand.
"Look quickly, it's diamonds, there really are diamonds here."
Seeing the small harvest of their companions, these foreign guests were overjoyed, thinking that if they could dig up a large number of diamonds and sell them for money, they would definitely make a lot of money.
Although the dream is very good, but the reality poured them a basin of cold water, the peaks here are stacked, the mountains are still snowy all day, and the slightest carelessness will fall off the cliff.
"Is it really at the cost of your life for money?"
"Is it worth it? Why don't you just leave? ”
……
Just when these people were at a loss, the figure of a water picker came into view, also a snowy mountain trail, but the villager of Simsar Village was walking on the ground.
Seeing this, one of them stepped forward and asked, "Do you not worry about falling down when you walk in this snow?" ”
Hearing the guest's question, the waterman slowly lowered the burden on his shoulders, replied with a simple smile: "I have been walking this road since I was a child, and even if I let me walk with my eyes closed now, there will be no mistake." ”
"Then are all the villagers here walking in the snowy mountains?" He continued to ask.
"Yes, we all live here, young and old, and naturally have developed such skills."
The waterman's words surprised and delighted the guests, and it would be great to ask the villagers of Simsar to help them find the diamonds.
So the guests, holding diamonds in one hand and bills in the other, pointed to the waterman and asked, "Would you like to help, this is a good income." ”
Watching the movements of the guests, the waterman seemed to understand what the guests meant.
At that time, he looked back at the two children behind him and fell into meditation: "The shoes on my son's feet have broken several holes, and the clothes worn by my daughter are very out of proportion to my own figure, so will the children live like themselves in this mountain for the rest of their lives?" ”
Thinking of this, the waterman agreed to the guests' request.
From this day on, the family of water pickers began to travel on the road to find diamonds.
During this time, they are most happy when the snowy mountains slide down and some mountain magma slides down the riverbed.
Because, at this time, they can take the children with small buckets and small shovels, go barefoot to the river to play, and belong to their "booty".
As the days passed, the family of the waterman was struggling to dig diamonds.
After a few months, they did save a savings.
It excites their family, earning as much as their family earns for a few months digging diamonds as much as their family earns in a year.
"How should this money be spent?"
The couple carrying the waterman is in a state of embarrassment, as if a man who has never eaten a full meal sees a table of food and does not know what to eat in the first bite.
After thinking about it for a moment, the water picker proposed a new house, because now their house is too old.
Today's house is in a precarious situation in a blizzard, especially whenever it rains or snows, the house must be connected with a large bucket and a small basin, otherwise the bed will be wet.
After listening to the words of the water picker, the wife looked at the two children playing happily in the room and secretly wiped her tears: "The children are still so young and don't understand anything, and such a life is already very happy for them." ”
After hearing this, the waterman involuntarily looked at the two children and fell into thought: Perhaps he already knew what the money should be used for.
Early the next morning, the water picker took his two children out of the house and went to Hunza, the nearest bustling city to the village of Simsar.
The people here are different from the village of Simshar, although the two places are not far apart, but the water and soil here are fertile, the people are mainly farming, and most importantly, there are schools.
The waterman who brought the children here wanted to spend his life savings on the education of his two children, and perhaps only reading books could keep future generations away from that kind of life.
When the wife saw that the water picker had returned alone, she asked anxiously: "What about the child, what did you do after a day out, and how did you come back by yourself?" ”
Before the words could be heard, the waterman hugged his wife tightly and slowly spat out two words: "School."
At this moment, some villagers came to the home of the waterman, and the leader of the village was the village chief of Simsar Village, and when he entered the door, he asked the waterman: "Why do you have a profitable job and not share it with everyone?" ”
03 Simsar Snow Mountain Man
After listening to this sentence, the water picker suddenly understood everything, and it must have been known to the villagers that he had sent his children to study.
So the waterman told the story, explaining that he didn't want to have the opportunity alone, but that he didn't want the villagers to take risks like he did.
After listening to the words of the water picker, the villagers were silent, and suddenly an elder brother stood up and said, "I am not afraid, I also want our children to study." ”
"Yes, we are not afraid."
A group of people are like this, and for one reason or another, they are on the same path again...
The next day, the villagers of Simsar went to the snowy mountains in groups, and with the encouragement and cheering of everyone, they all gained a lot.
When it was time to go home in the evening, the villagers crossed the Simsar River directly to save time descending the mountain, and they completely ignored the accident of stepping on the air and drowning, because time is money.
And so, back and forth for days.
One day, one villager thought it was too much trouble, and the others echoed it, and eventually, after consultation, they simply camped directly on the snowy mountain.
Today, the snow-capped mountain on the Border between China and Pakistan seems to be a little different from a distance, with several snowmen moving around each halfway up the mountainside.
On closer inspection, it is the villagers of Simsar who are climbing between the 6,000-meter-high mountains.
Many people will wonder if these foreign guests are really paid a high fee to the Snow Mountain People? This is not the case, otherwise they would not have been mining diamond mines all year round.
Some villagers said that the requirements of the market are getting higher and higher, and sometimes some ore is painstakingly dug up to transport to the bottom of the mountain, but the guests only need one or two of them to be exquisite, and the rest is even if it is dug in vain.
Not only that, some villagers rely on mining for gold and have long been unable to make ends meet, unable to support their families, and the children who go to school in Hunza immediately cannot afford to pay the tuition and can only go home.
Heaven seems to be teasing the villagers of Simsal, and the life of going around seems to be back to square one, and the life of exchanging lives for children to study seems to them to be a paradise on earth.
Resources
Gilgit british garrison William Blake
China-Pakistan border - Baidu Encyclopedia