1. 北亞的面貌 How North Asia looks like
在陰沉的氛圍裡入境了俄羅斯之後，一上火車很快就在微微搖晃中沉沉睡去；隔天早上醒來睜開眼發現不得了，這是我從來沒看過的風景——火車沿著河谷前進著，近處是草原遠處是針葉林，有山，但山勢並不挺拔；有水，但河川並不壯闊；有家屋，但幾乎全為木造平房，和周遭的森林融為一體……。每個元素都似曾相識，但卻是以未曾見過的方式組合在一起。除了吃草中的動物和緩緩流動的河水之外，一切彷彿都持續沉睡著，對於疾駛而過的火車視而不見。
原來這就是北亞的風貌，也就是以前課本上學的，溫帶草原和溫帶森林交界的過渡帶。
我突然意識到，亞洲的大部分地方對我們來說都很容易想像，東南亞、南亞、西亞、中亞，每個地理名詞在我們腦中都連著一幅畫面，唯獨北亞聽起來相當陌生；而今天，見到它的第一眼確實讓我驚艷了——相較於亞洲其他地方，北亞的超低密度開發使它的面貌顯得純樸而美好。我想，從今以後聽到北亞，我腦袋中終於有一幅可以連結的畫面了。
After entering Russia in a gloomy day, I quickly fell asleep on the train. As I woke up the next day, wow, what a scene that I had never seen before! The train was going along a river. There was grassland near the railway, and forest farther way. There were mountains, but there were not prominent; there were rivers, but there were not rapid; there were houses, but they were flat and built with wood, showing no contrast to the forest in the background. Every component looked familiar, but the combination is not something I had seen before. Except the animals feeding on the grass and slow-moving water, everything seemed like resting.
This is North Asia, where temperate forest and temperate prairie meet.
Suddenly I realized, other parts of Asia sound more familiar to us -- when hearing Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia or Central Asia, we can easily come up with some scenes of that region; while when it comes to North Asia, we can scarcely imagine how it looks like. My first impression of North Asia was surprising: it is developed so lightly that everything looks so pure and pleasant. Finally, I've got a scene that I can connect with when hearing the term North Asia.
2. 俄羅斯裡的蒙古國度 A Mongolian nation within Russia
坐了將近24小時的火車，我來到俄羅斯東部大城烏蘭烏德（Ulan-Ude）。這裡大概是俄羅斯境內和蒙古最接近的地方——不只是地理位置上的接近，他們的文化也有很深的淵源。
走在街上，隨處可以見到嘴裡說著俄文的亞洲面孔，和我們習慣見到的中日韓三國不太一樣，他們整體來說眼睛比較細小、雙頰相對圓潤，但比起歐洲裔俄羅斯人，看起來和我們明顯是比較接近的，尤其年輕女生上了妝之後和中日韓女生沒太大差別，導致我覺得這個城市特別有親和力。他們的正式名稱是：布里亞特蒙古人（Buryat Mongols）。
在17世紀俄羅斯取得北亞之前，這裡是蒙古人的傳統領域，布里亞特是其中一個部族，他們的語言是蒙古語的一種方言，信仰是藏傳佛教；後來蘇聯時代在這裡成立了布里亞特自治共和國（類似中國少數民族自治區的概念），他們的獨特性得以延續下來，蘇聯甚至出資修建寺廟與學院（或稱札倉，Datsan），這裡儼然是俄羅斯境內的蒙古國度。
不過，今天走在烏蘭烏德街上，除了這些亞洲面孔之外其實看不到什麼蒙古的痕跡，頂多就是某些建築刻意融入了蒙古特色；而這些人今天說的全是俄語，彷彿和斯拉夫人一樣，早已成為這個國家裡源遠流長的一部分。
After riding trains for almost 24 hours, I arrived at a large city in Russian Far East: Ulan-Ude. Its probably the Russian city closest to Mongolia - not only geographically, but also culturally.
As you walk on the street, you can see many Asian faces. They are different from Chinese/Japanese/Korean - usually thinner eyes and more rounded cheeks. Compared to European Russians, I felt they are closer to I. Especially when the young ladies put on makeup, they look not much different from the CJKs. Officially, they are called Buryat Mongols.
Before Russia acquired North Asia in the 17th century, this region had been Mongolian territory. Buryat was one of the Mongolian tribes, their language is one dialect of Mongolian, and their religion is Tibetan Buddhism. During the Soviet time, they were established as a autonomous republic, and their uniqueness was preserved. The Soviet Communist Party even funded the construction of temples and datsans (religious schools). This place is like a Mongolian nation within Russia.
However, as I walked on the street, I could barely see any Mongolian influence other than the Asian faces. The only other visible thing is the buildings that incorporate Mongolian components. As for the Buryat, they all spoke Russian, as if they had been like the Slavs, as part of the great nation Russia from the very beginning.
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