Almost for as long as I could remember, Bhutan had been a dream – and a remarkably familiar one. The old clichés were rolled out again and again: the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH), the compulsory national dress and national architecture, the passion for archery; the dzongs. In a way, I felt I knew it all already. Anyway, the whole thing sounded too good to be true; Shangri-La, as everybody knew, didn't exist. Then, last year, we went there – and found that it did.
幾乎在我有記憶以來的所有歲月中,不丹就一直是一個夢——熟悉得不能再熟悉的一個夢。各種老套的說辭一次又一次在耳邊響起:國民幸福總值(GNH)的概念、強制的民族服飾和民族建築、全民族對射箭的熱情、佛寺。從某種意義上說,我覺得我已經很瞭解這個地方了。總之,整個事情聽起來美好得不像真的。香格里拉——每個人都知道——根本不存在。然後,去年,我們去了那裏,結果發現,香格里拉是存在的。