Isnt it funny how you can live in a place without really getting to know it？ Sometimes when you get used to the daily 1）rhythm of a place， you can forget that all around you are things youve never seen and places youve never been； corners youve never looked around， and stories you havent started yet.

Thats what I was thinking about while sitting in the back of Tims car on the way out of Haikou. Id been living in Hainan for almost a year already， but Id been too busy with work， making new friends， and getting 2）settled down in my new apartment to do much travel around Hainan. “Ill always have time，” I thought. “Maybe next winter， when its cool again.” Well， as it turns out， by the time the next winter came I would already be in Beijing， working at a new job. So this was my last chance to see the island Id been living on for ten months， and Tim was kind enough to take me out to explore some of the sights.

Hainan is an 3）incredibly beautiful place. Not only is it 4）ringed by beautiful beaches， the hilly 5）interior of the island is defined by sharp and often 6）majestic mountainsides， covered in 7）lush green jungle. Just looking out of the car window as we 8）pulled out of town， I began to feel like I was in a scene from Jurassic Park.

The first day was pretty simple. We set out in the afternoon， so by the time we reached a little village where some of Tims friends lived， the sky was already showing beautiful shades of orange， yellow and red， 9）fading to blue and then to black. It was under the black sky that we sat with Tims friends， cooling off with a half-frozen coconut soup called， I think， “qing bu liang，” and talking about how much Hainan has changed in the last few years.

“How long have you been in Hainan？” one of the local people asked.

“Almost ten months，” I 10）replied.

The man 11）leaned forward and looked into my eyes. “Were you always in Haikou during that time？”

“Yes，” I replied， a little 12）hesitantly， not knowing why the man was looking so 13）intense.

The man looked away， sat back in his chair， and 14）chuckled softly. “Then，” he said slowly， “you have not been in Hainan.”

At first I thought he was a little bit crazy. Haikou is the capital city of Hainan. How can you say that being in Haikou is not being in Hainan？ I didnt think about the question much. We finished our 15）treats and got back to the hotel to prepare for the early morning.

We spent the early daylight hours 16）rolling over the gentle hills， passing through deep green forests and open fields where farmers grew all kinds of crops and peppers， many Id never seen before. At one point， Tim 17）pulled over and stopped on the side of the highway.

“What are you doing？” I asked him.

He looked back at me and smiled. “Going shopping.”

He climbed out of the car and walked to the edge of a field where a woman was 18）tending to a crop of long， green peppers. He called out to her， asked the price， then gave her some money and got back in the car with a bag of peppers. “Its fresher this way” is all he said.

假如你住在一個地方，卻對它不甚了解，這不是很奇怪的事情嗎？有時，當你習慣了一個地方的生活節(jié)奏，你可能會忘記周圍都是一些你沒有見過的事物、從未去過的地方、未曾踏足的角落、有待開始的故事。

離開海口時，坐在蒂姆車后座上的我正是這么想的。我在海南已經(jīng)生活了將近一年，但是一直忙著工作、結識新朋友，以及在新公寓安家落戶，都沒有時間到海南各地旅行?！翱倳袝r間的，”我想?！耙苍S等到下一個冬天，天氣再涼一些的時候吧?！苯Y果是，到下一個冬天，我將身在北京，開始新工作了。所以，這是我再看看這個住了十個月的海島的最后機會了。蒂姆人很好，樂意帶我出去探索一些景點。

海南美得讓人難以置信。這座海島不僅被美麗的海灘環(huán)繞，腹地的山區(qū)還覆蓋著濃綠叢林、聳立著險峻雄偉的山峰。我們駕車出城，一看窗外，就像置身于《侏羅紀公園》的場景。

第一天的行程相當簡單。因為我們是下午出發(fā)的，所以當我們到達蒂姆朋友住的一個小村莊時，天空已經(jīng)映照著絢爛多彩的霞光，從橙、黃、紅，逐漸褪為藍與黑。天色完全黑下來以后，我們才和蒂姆的朋友們坐在一起，一邊喝著半冰凍的椰汁湯水（好像是叫“清補涼”）消暑，一邊聊起在過去這幾年里海南的變化有多大。

“你在海南待了多久了？”一個當?shù)厝藛栁摇?/p>

“差不多十個月了，”我回答。

這個男人向前探了探身子，看著我的眼睛：“這期間你一直都在海口嗎？”

“是的?！蔽一卮鸬糜悬c遲疑，不知道他為什么這樣盯著我看。

他移開了目光，坐回椅子里，輕聲笑了起來，慢悠悠地說：“這么說，你還不算真正到過海南?！?/p>

我一開始覺得他有點瘋狂。海口是海南的省會，怎么能說待在海口不算到過海南呢？不過這個問題我沒有多想。我們吃完就回到酒店，為明天早起做準備。

清晨我們開車爬過平緩的山丘，穿過深綠色的森林和開闊的田野，田地里有農(nóng)民種植的各種農(nóng)作物和辣椒，有很多是我從未見過的。途中，蒂姆突然把車停到高速公路旁。

“你要干嘛？”我問他。

他回頭看了我一眼，笑道：“去買點東西。”

他下了車，朝一個正在地里侍弄一種細長青椒的農(nóng)婦走去。他向她喊話詢問價格，然后給了她一些錢，提著一袋辣椒回到車上。他說“這樣買來的更新鮮”。

For the first time， I started to understand what the man from the night before meant. I grew up in the countryside of the USA， and Id been in China for three years， but Id never seen anybody buy vegetables from the side of the road. Theres a kind of direct 19）connection between people， even strangers， that is rare in other places that Ive been to. And little did I know， that kind of personal connection was about to help create the most interesting moments of our trip.

After a full morning of 20）taking in the amazing 21）tropical sights of the Hainanese countryside， we pulled into the Su Dongpo Library Garden outside of Danzhou. The sights themselves were nothing terribly special—part temple， part museum， part garden， like a mix-up of a hundred places Id been before—but there were two things that set it apart from any other place Ive ever been. The first was that it was deep in the countryside， not the city， which means it was full of the wonderful 22）murmur of nature. However， unlike city noise， country sounds are soft and draw you in， making you want to listen more closely.

The second thing was Sally， a primary school student who was playing in the gardens with her little brother. At first she was shy； she would see us， run away， hide behind something， then 23）peek out at us and start following us again. Some of her friends joined her after a few moments， and before long we were being followed by a whole 24）flock of 15 or 20 children， all 25）curious and cheerful and friendly in a way that I never saw in Haikou.

這是我第一次體會到昨天晚上那個人說話的意思。我在美國的鄉(xiāng)村長大，在中國也待了三年，還從來沒見過有人直接從公路邊買菜。在這里，人與人之間有一種直接的聯(lián)系，甚至連陌生人之間也不例外，這在我去過的其他地方是不多見的。我不知道，正是這種人與人之間的聯(lián)系，將為我們帶來這趟旅程中最有趣的時刻。

在飽覽了一上午海南鄉(xiāng)村迷人的熱帶風光之后，我們把車停在儋州城郊的東坡書院。景點本身并沒有什么特別——一部分是寺廟，一部分是博物館，一部分是花園，就像是我以前去過的很多地方的一個混合體。不過，有兩件事使它與我去過的其他地方不同。一是它隱匿于農(nóng)村深處，而不在城市，所以這里到處都能聽到大自然美妙的輕聲細語。與城市的喧囂不同的是，鄉(xiāng)村的聲音是輕柔的，引人入勝，只會讓你想更仔細地聆聽。

二是因為小學生莎莉。她和弟弟在花園里玩耍，一開始她很害羞，看到我們就跑開，躲起來偷看我們，然后又開始尾隨我們。過了一會兒，她的一些朋友加入了她的行列，不一會兒，我們后面就跟了一大群小孩，大約有15到20個，全都很好奇、活潑而友好。這是我在海口沒有見過的。

We started talking with them， and soon they offered to take us around and show us some other sights around Danzhou. With Sally and one of her friends in the car with us and about 15 kids on bicycles leading the way， we drove around Danzhou and visited the ancient， 26）overgrown walled city， the historic parts of town， and some of the beautiful stone 27）architecture along a well-preserved street that used to be the main transportation center of the town.

Ive been on many tours before， but never one like that. The sights themselves were great and unique， but what made them very special was our tour guides， the 28）innocent， trusting， cheerful and helpful group of children who formed an 29）instant connection with us. Thats not something you see in the big cities. Its a special kind of experience that you can only find when you take the time to step away from what youre used to and see whats just behind your daily routine， or whats just outside the city youre used to. So while the 30）incomparable beauty of the 31）jade island of Hainan is something Ill always remember， the most important thing is the lesson I learned that day， and the friendship we started with a group of children who were kind and open enough to open the heart of Hainan to us.

我們開始和他們聊天，很快孩子們就主動提出要給我們當導游，帶我們參觀儋州的其他景點。莎莉和她的一個朋友跟我們一起坐在車上，還有大約15個孩子在前面騎自行車為我們帶路。我們就這樣開車游遍了儋州，參觀了雜草叢生的古圍城、歷史悠久的古跡，還有一條保存完好的街道邊上的美麗石造建筑——這條街道曾是該城的主要交通要道。

我雖然經(jīng)常旅游，但從來沒有一次像這次一樣。雖然景點本身不錯，也很獨特，但使其與眾不同的是我們的小導游——一群天真無邪、毫無戒心、歡快活潑、熱心助人的孩子，他們與我們一見如故，親密無間，這是你在大城市看不到的。這次旅行是一種特別的體驗；只有當你花點時間，離開你司空見慣的生活，撥開日常生活的簾幕，或是走出習以為常的城市時，你才能獲得這種特別的體驗。我會永遠記得宛如碧玉般無比美麗的海南島，同時最重要的是我那天學到的一課，還有我們與一群孩子之間培養(yǎng)起來的友誼——他們足夠友善和坦率，向我們敞開了海南之心。