Maybe this was the stomping grounds of the Xiongnu, those nomadic adversaries of China? Though I knew the Buryat Republic was one of the three Mongolian republics in the Russian Federation, I felt as if I had entered a time warp. I imagined myself heading for Lake Baikal to visit Su Wu, the loyal Han official who was held captive by the Xiongnu for 19 years.
雖知布里雅特是俄國境內 3 個蒙古族共和國之一，但時空交錯中，如果可以選擇，寧願身在漢朝，想像自己正動身前往如今稱做「貝加爾湖」的北海，探望被匈奴扣留 19 年而守節不屈的蘇武。