Most respected Shu Wen,
Where are you?
For ten years this book has been in my heart, maturing like wine. Now, at last, I can present it to you.
I hope that, sometime, you will be able to hear the gasps of admiration that the beauty of your story inspires.
I hope that, sometime, you will be able to answer the countless questions that I have for you. At the very least, I would like to know what has become of Zhuoma and Tiananmen, of Saierbao and her family.
I have spent many years searching for you, hoping that we might sit together again in the tea-scented Yangtze delta so that you can tell me the story of your life after Sky Burial.
Dear Shu Wen, if you see this book and this letter, I earnestly beg you to contact me through my publisher as soon as possible.
Xinran
London, 2004