The wandering poets of China’s border regions... The barren Gobi Desert, an endless expanse of grassy steppe, and peoples from beyond the Great Wall who are at once familiar yet strangers to China’s majority Han Chinese population. . . . For hundreds of years now, the great wheel of modern civilization has, like the steppe winds, rolled over this land without greatly altering it. The people continue their nomadic lives, moving with the seasons, breathing with the land, and singing proudly to the vast emptiness. It seems likely that the Kazakhs, the Uighurs, and the Tibetans have been gifted with musical talent by Providence. Otherwise, “Dance of Youth” could not be filled with such a joyous rhythm, nor could “Far, Far Away” continue to be as fresh and delightful to people as it is today, 300 years after its creation. They sing with otherworldly voices, but they do not hesitate to share these with the rest of us in the mundane world. Whenever someone comes to visit, whether acquainted or not, these people open their arms, pour out generous cups of liquor, serve roast beef and mutton, and, sitting around a dancing fire, sing song after moving song for their guest, proving that they deserve their reputation as “wandering poets” of the great frontier areas.