Returning Stones to the Mountain

A few years ago, I encountered several free-standing mountains in Gansu's Black Gobi, where stones of all shapes and sizes of stones were found at the foot of the mountains. How have these stones scattered here in large quantities? They must have fallen down from the mountain. Later on, when I entered the Black Gobi again to look for the mountains I have once discovered, I left marks on the stones I could lift up and brought them back to the top. At last, I named this mountain, Returning Stones to the Mountain.

Land without Trace

This colorful Gobi 50 kilometers south of Returning Stones to the Mountain, where layer of gravel with iron composite covers the thick yellow sand. The scattering camel thorns and the rolling topography oxidize the colors on the Gobi. Gusts of wind pick up the sand and blow on people’s faces. Here, only the wind and I are mobile, which compelled me to do something here. I don’t think people have been here. Two large boulders might have been in one piece, and they stood quietly for hundreds and thousands of years. I pushed the boulders elsewhere with my body, where they left marks on the ground. The wind picks up the sand again.