A Female Chinese Traveler’s Ten Years in Africa 中国女行者的非洲十年

“2000年7月我第一次踏上非洲的土地，是因为被三毛笔下的撒哈拉沙漠所吸引，我想用自己的影像一探究竟。但在之后的10多年里，非洲吸引我数次前往、让我有归属感的原因，是因为那里的生活很简单、不累”。14日下午，这个中国第一位深入非洲部落进行人文调查的“女行者”梁子，来到南京的先锋书店，在现场面对面地向大家分享了自己“非洲十年”的经历。
“Attracted by the Sahara depicted by Taiwan writer Echo, I first set foot in Africa in July 2007, wishing to explore it with my camera. However, what made me go to Africa many times and gave me a sense of belonging during the following decade was local people’s simple and relaxing lifestyle,” said Liangzi, China’s first female traveler who has penetrated African tribes for cultural investigation, when sharing her experience in Africa during the ten years in a face-to-face way at a bookstore in Nanjing called Librairie Avant-Garde.
“我就是有这个理念，只要每年我有3万元，我就可以用1万元(人民币)买机票，1万元在非洲生活，剩下的1万元回到中国花上两三个月，然后挣够了钱就再出发”。
“Every year, as long as I had 30,000 yuan, I spent 10,000 yuan buying air tickets; 10,000 yuan living in Africa; and 10,000 yuan living in China for two or three months during which I earned another 30,000 yuan and set out to Africa again. This is my way.”
这个喜欢行走在路上的中国女人——梁子，当过兵，做过战地女记者，去西藏做过部队边防摄影，之后又放弃了生活中稳定的一切，8次独自探访不同的非洲国家，3次闯入阿富汗，6次穿行在印度的东西南北中。
Liangzi, who is a woman likes travelling, once served in the army, acted as a war correspondent, photographed frontier forces in Tibet; then gave up her stable life and visited different African countries 8 times, ventured into Afghanistan 3 times, and travelled to India 6 times.
这个从来不买LV、Burberry，一头短发的梁子，身着纯棉的上衣和中长裤，脚踏轻便的旅游鞋，刚一坐在沙发上就笑称“自己不习惯被大家围观，还是喜欢站在摄像机、摄影机背后”。她坦言道，刚开始到非洲村落，是不被允许拍照的，一个半月后她与当地居民混熟了，被准许后，就开始疯狂地摄影摄像了，“见什么拍什么，生怕遗漏了，根本顾不上饥饿，饿了抓起什么都吃”。
Liangzi never buys LV or Burberry. She has short hair, a 100% cotton coat, medium-long pants and sneakers. once she sat down on a sofa, she said, “I’m not accustomed to be in the spotlight; I prefer standing behind a camera.” She said she was not allowed to take photos in African villages until the villagers got familiar with her, about one month and a half later. once she was allowed, she began to shoot and take photos wildly. “I took photos of everything I saw lest I should miss anything. When I got hungry, I just grabbed a bite.”
当被大家问起她在非洲的难忘经历，梁子爽快地讲述了自己的珍贵回忆——曾经在非洲三个半月没有洗澡；曾经给犯了头疼病的酋长按摩，临走时让酋长“依依不舍”；曾经被非洲村落里的简单生活感动，也曾为“被巫医治疗导致死亡的孩子”而感到伤心无奈；曾经为别人冤枉自己偷拿钱而激烈抗辩，也曾被一群热爱自己的非洲男人“排队求爱”而弄得苦恼不堪。
When asked about her most unforgettable experience in Africa, Liangzi said, she once had no bath for three months and a half; she gave a massage to a chief with a headache who was reluctant to let her go; she was moved by the simple life in African villages; she felt sad and helpless at a child’s death resulting from a witch doctor’s treatment; she denied intensely when alleged to have stolen money; and she was troubled by a group of African men who wooed her one after another.
“我喜欢与当地的妇女们接触，劳动的女人充满了活力，我会被深深感染。虽然村落比较贫穷，但是从非洲女人身上，贫穷中透着乐观，在阿富汗女人的身上，又在贫穷里透露着坚强”。
“I liked to be with the local women. Laboring women were full of vitality and I was deeply touched. I saw optimism in African women’s poverty and toughness in Afghan women’s poverty.”
“我从来不追名人，但如果再年轻一回，我也想像梁子这样活一次，主动向生活发起挑战”，南京铁道医学院的一位66岁退休女老师，表达了自己的心情。
“I never followed any celebrities, but if I were young, I would live in the way Liangzi lives and challenge my life,” said a retired 66-year-old female teacher at Nanjing Railway Medical College.
“对于非洲，我不是过客，而是归人。因为那里的生活很简单、不累，我开始学会了生活的递减法”，梁子毫不掩饰自己对非洲的热爱。
“In Africa, I’m not a passer-by, but a returner. Life there is simple and relaxing, and I learnt to live in an unburdened way,” said Liangzi with undisguised love for Africa.
梁子，北京人，出生于军人家庭，16岁当兵，毕业于解放军南京政治学院新闻系。她曾表示，女人要从头发丝到脚指甲缝里都埋藏着精彩的故事。
Liangzi was born and grew up in a soldier’s family in Beijing. She was recruited into the army when she was 16 years old. She graduated from the Department of Journalism, PLA Nanjing Institute of Politics. She said that a woman should have fascinating stories buried from her head to her feet.