Escorted by a group of very enthusiastic Iranian people, after 26 hours of climbing mountains, it finally reached Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, one of the three Transcaucasian countries.
If you look at the map, armenia is a purely landlocked country with no access to the sea, and at the same time, Armenia is the first Christian country in the world, and it is also a very sad Christian country, surrounded by a bunch of Islamic countries.
Armenia is very small and small, the domestic population is only more than 3 million, overseas Chinese are more than 10 million, top-heavy, but no matter how many overseas population, can not contribute to the construction of the motherland, this is also the most helpless place in Armenia, is one of the factors that their sense of existence in the world is so low.
Armenia is also foreign and familiar to our Chinese.
I believe that every Chinese knows the "former Soviet Union" and the impact of this behemoth on the world, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, such an influence gradually disappeared, but in the former Soviet Union countries, there is still a deep imprint.
As a republic of the former Soviet Union, the three transcaucasian countries all have the shadow of the former Soviet Union, and the poorer they are, the more armenia is the same. These days in Armenia, the shadow of the former Soviet Union is always there, even if they are now actively moving closer to the European Union, even if they are actively de-Sovietizing. The Chinese is Armenian, but Russian is spoken here. So Chinese here, and thinking that it's the former Soviet Union, there's a natural affinity, at least that's what I am.
After 26 hours, I arrived in Armenia.
It's a magical transfer of time and space.
In Iran, I had to dress like rice dumplings, long skirts, turbans, sandals, and not even dare to show them, so as not to violate Iran's regulations and avoid some unnecessary harassment. In Armenia, I can wear suspenders, miniskirts, eat pork, sing songs, no longer have to wear a troublesome turban, and let myself fly. All in all, it's a fantastic journey, with a feeling of going through a wormhole, and the impact of this huge social shift is greater than ever.
According to the Bible, Noah's Ark eventually stopped on Mount Ararat, and he became the first Armenian, and if this story is true, it must have happened in Armenia.
In many parts of Armenia, you can see this mountain by opening the window of your own home, and they also have this mountain on their national emblem, including the state emblem of Armenia during the Soviet period, which is a sacred mountain in the hearts of the Armenian people.
The national emblem of the former Soviet Union period →→
Coat of arms of Armenia ⇊
I think every Armenian family used to point to this mountain and tell their children the story of Noah's Ark in the Bible and tell them that the mountain belonged to Armenia.
Embarrassingly, the mountain now belongs to Turkey, a Muslim country that has nothing to do with the Bible, and unless there is a very big war, the turkey country is disintegrated, and Armenia has the strength to participate in the distribution, the mountain will never belong to Armenia again.
It is a sad story that also sets the tone for the sadness of the Armenian nation.
Everyday life in Armenia is full of elements of their status as the oldest Christian country.
On the day of wandering, which may be their zodiac auspicious day, in the major religious shrines of various cathedrals, I encountered several weddings, and the sense of ceremony and holiness of these weddings touched me as a non-believer very much, which was also their basic cultivation as the most primitive Christian country. Their bishops (or priests, who don't know what to call) are also dressed differently than we see on television, like those from ancient times, especially ancient and sacred, who are the spokesmen of God.
At present, I may have made a vow that I will never be separated from the rich and the poor.
Not only are there bishops (priests?) They were saluted, and the choir sang live, singing very ethereal and holy, as if it were a blessing sprinkled on behalf of God. At the end of the wedding, I also had to release pigeons, just like the wedding on TV, I was so excited to see it, when the relatives and friends went to congratulate the newlyweds, I also went to the queue, grabbed a handful of blessing rice (let's call it this for the time being), sprinkled it on the newlyweds who came out, and sent blessings from the mysterious East.
Armenia has two feuds, both of which are Muslim countries, one is Turkey and the other is Azerbaijan, and their hatred continues to this day.
Armenia and Turkey can be said to be blood feuds, because of the famous massacre that Turkey still does not recognize. The armenian-Azerbaijani border conflict is one of the oldest border conflicts in the world today, and its roots can be traced back to the Russian Revolution in the early 20th century, which has a history of more than 100 years.
Whether it is the conflict that continues in the Nagorno-Karabakh region to this day, or the ownership of the sacred mountain, or the genocide, the sad Armenians have not forgotten all this, although they are weak, they are also sparing no effort to make their own weak voices through various channels.
In a very small community in Tehran, there is a very small Armenian church.
Miraculously, Iran could still tolerate paganism.
Entering the church, the sisters of the church told me to take off my turban, saying that it was no longer under the secular jurisdiction of Iran, and introduced me to the history of Armenia, with a special focus on the sacred mountains, the Holocaust, and the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Although my English is not good at all times, I actually understand that human sorrow is not the same, but as long as the love is deep, others can feel it. I told the Church Sisters that I was leaving for Yerevan, and the Sisters said, "Let me be sure to go to their National Pavilion, which shows things more clearly about the Holocaust."
Okay, I went, and although I still don't quite understand the introductions, I know that a few years ago, Turkey continued its inhumane genocidal policy against Armenia, and in just a few years at least a million or more innocents of the 2 million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed, and most of the rest were exiled or simply sold into slavery. Since then, the hatred between Armenians and Turks has never been eliminated.
This hatred we outsiders do not know the ins and outs of it, but at least we know that this matter exists, and Chinese should be more touched, because we have the Nanjing Massacre, and the Japanese and Turkish authorities are resolutely not acknowledging the existence of this matter.
No wonder the Turkey Kingdom and Azerbaijan are so good, forming a brotherly state. In addition to the religious factor, there should be an enemy of the enemy is the friend factor in it, and it just so happens that Azerbaijan and Armenia also have an indelible hatred of the land.
Who is Karabakh? Legally Azerbaijani, but emotionally, at this time, I think it is Armenian. But what's the matter with us?
Do not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.
There are buses from Yerevan to Karabakh, which can be entered with an Armenian visa, and a symbolic visa stamp here, which they call themselves the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, but no one will admit it. Because of the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, if you have been to Armenia, you cannot go to Azerbaijan, so going to Azerbaijan is after I changed my passport, but it seems that I have heard that going in the opposite direction, from Azerbaijan to Armenia, will not be hindered, which also proves from the side that the Islamic state is much more stingy.
Symbol of the Kanabah area
At the hostel where I was staying, a group of eight-nation coalitions, a youth exchange group sent by the EU officials, came to Armenia for people-to-people cultural exchanges.
Although the three Transcaucasian countries belong geographically to Asia, in their hearts, they all feel that they belong to Europe, and Armenia has been seeking the possibility of joining the European Union and has been working hard to strengthen all-round cooperation and exchanges with the European Union.
This cultural exchange can also be seen as a manifestation of Armenia's closeness to the European Union. I watched the videos of their exchanges, visited kindergartens, art institutions, orphanages, danced with the children, sang, dressed in Armenian national costumes, the process was similar to some of the exchange groups in our country. I also joined them cheekily and attended a rock concert as a wealthy Chinese and invited them to coffee.
The process of waiting for coffee is particularly long, one of the girls has studied in China, Chinese said very well, now this girl works in Hangzhou, she said to me, in any country in the world, you need to wait slowly, only China will be very fast. I told her that this is the Chinese of hard work, this is the Chinese speed.
Armenia is not easy to write, because the country, whether geographical or psychological, is too far away from me, and the distance leads to strangeness, and the time spent is particularly small, and there is no homework.
I was lucky that my encounter happened to show a small past and present life of this country, and just as I was immersed in the sadness of this country, a group of people greeted me with great excitement, and they actually ran over the railing towards me. It turned out to be the Iranians who escorted me all the way here.
On the way there, they were afraid to leave me behind, and every time they got off the bus to rest, they would buy me milk tea and bread, afraid that I would be hungry, and stare at me at any time, afraid that I would take the wrong car, and when I crossed the land was in the middle of the night, they also wanted me to follow them closely, for fear that I would miss something important. The warm friendliness of the Iranians is hardly expressed in my rough words. I was also very excited to suddenly see them, like seeing my relatives in a foreign country.
I think of Iran.
But I can't go back, and the journey continues because the train to Georgia is waiting for me.
Stay tuned for the next article
In Georgia