As written in "African Geography": "Evidences of lost civilizations rise like curls of smoke from the interior of Africa." The Great Zimbabwe ruins, the Kami ruins, the ten thousand-year-old rock paintings on Matobo Mountain, and stone carvings

Those far-reaching totem symbols in art, carrying the essence of the indigenous African blood, spread out and formed a magnificent sky in front of us, instantly reflecting the once rich and splendid "El Dorado" civilization.

Led by its sensitive and slender tentacles, we walked into the only country in the world named after an archaeological site - Zimbabwe.

It's almost early winter in Beijing, but the sun is still blazing in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. The 17-hour air distance not only separates two completely opposite seasons, but also almost isolates the civilizations of the two worlds.

It is unimaginable that there are so many people living like this on the other side of the equator: monetary tightening, food rationing, lack of daily necessities, and 80% of people are unemployed or on the verge of unemployment.

However, what surprised me was that there was no sorrow at all on the faces of most locals. Even if they had to queue up in front of the bank for a whole day, the money they could withdraw could not buy a few pieces of bread. The queue was so long

Most of the people inside were waiting patiently, chatting and laughing in groups of twos and threes, and from time to time they showed their bright smiling faces under the bright warm sun, their teeth shining silver like shells.

Zhao Ke, the travel agency owner who has been in Harare for 12 years, is the first Chinese I met in Zimbabwe.

As soon as we met, he first told us three mantras of black people - "Don't worry", "No problem", and "I don't know".

At that time, I just laughed it off while listening to the book, but in the following days when I actually got along with the locals, I realized that these few sentences are the best portrayal of the natural optimism of black people.

The exchange rate changes drastically every day. Today's millionaire may be penniless tomorrow. This thing that may be a catastrophe for the Chinese does not have such a great effect on black people. They can still sing ridiculing lyrics even when their families are bare.

Dancing every part of their body enthusiastically, they could still say "Hello!" loudly to me with a smile. Even though they knew that their hometown was known as the "El Dorado" thousands of years ago, they never bothered to use the gold cup and jade cup.

They sigh with joy at having good food and clothing; even though they know that economic recovery will take a long time, they never worry about what the future will bring.

Say "I don't know" leisurely, and you will instantly have the happiness that is hard to find.

It is the season when the crape myrtle is in full bloom. The streets and alleys of Harare are covered with long carpets of purple florals. New petals are also falling from the air, falling on people's heads and shoulders, and brushing them away with their hands.

, the lingering fragrance does not dissipate, lingering for a long time, lingering in people's hearts.

Suddenly I remembered what Zhang Chengzhi said in the preface to his "Introduction to Civilization": "The rich and beautiful civilization has injected power into my thin body." Looking for a long-lost civilization and uncovering a once glorious history is actually not

There is no need to bury one's head in the pile of old papers to gnaw information, and there is no need to use a Luoyang shovel to dig out the remains. You only need to pick one of those civilization threads as a guide, close your eyes, and completely listen to the guidance of your heart, and you will be able to see from what seems like

The center of its soul is found in the complex formation.

Flying ships: Looking for the flying stone ships and golden boulders from the legendary "El Dorado". Standing in the Balanced Rock Park and looking at their burly bodies, I wonder if this is a coincidence? In the Age of Discovery,

With the success of the new shipping route, the Portuguese occupied some important ports on the East African coast.

The search for gold was an important motivation for their coming here.

After acquiring a large amount of gold on the coast of East Africa, they turned their attention to the legendary "El Dorado" on the upper reaches of the Zambezi River.

The surrounding area centered on Zimbabwe has been inhabited by humans since 100,000 years ago, but it has been in a primitive state until the establishment of a centralized Monomotapa Kingdom in the 11th century.

The land of the kingdom is rich in gold, so gold mining and gold trade have been carried out for a long time.

Starting in the 10th century, Zimbabweans began to exchange gold with the ** people on the East African coast.

** merchants wearing turbans and robes worked tirelessly to carry gold, gems and other goods to and from the continent of East and South Africa, which promoted economic and cultural exchanges between regions and also had the effect of "passing on rumors."

In their stories, the name of Monomotapa was associated with King Solomon. Therefore, in the 16th century, before the Portuguese expeditionary force invaded the Indian Ocean, they believed that "there are big cities and big gold mines in the interior of Africa. They were founded by a man named Motapa."

Ruled by the kings of Nomotapa (meaning master of the gold mines), the fortresses and pagodas of the kingdom were 'built of huge stones' and contained a large amount of King Solomon's treasures." British poet.

In his book Paradise Lost, John Milton directly compared Zimbabwe with Ophir, a city rich in gold and gems in the Bible.

In the second half of the 19th century, Professor Keane, vice-president of the British Anthropological Association, even put forward scientific research: He believed that Ofhir's gold came from "the upper reaches of the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers", which is today's Zimbabwe.

The legends and research of the Golden Kingdom attracted a large number of explorers and colonists to come to Zimbabwe to explore treasures.