PREFACE

Perhaps in the future

No glaciers or permafrost will exist in the Arctic,nor will polar hunters

My Greenland dream will also disappear

Once I stepped into the Arctic Circle,the bitter cold started stimulating each of my cell,and my mind was extraordinarily clear and excited.Three quarters of Greenland lies within the Arctic Circle,and the annual average temperature falls below 0 degree Celsius,with the lowest temperature in the coldest central inland region down to minus 70 degrees Celsius.The purity of ice and snow cleared people's mind of distracting thoughts,and the extreme climate put people between life and death.All creatures that survive are brave.I went to various places of Greenland at different seasons in varied ways,which felt like entering a documentary of modernization process.I was amazed by the drastic changes taking place at this very corner of the world.

Upon my first arrival in Greenland,the largest island in the world,I was enchanted by its purity and beauty.Ilulissat is a small fishing town that is relatively open.I saw blue glaciers and colorful houses built on the ice and snow there.Faces of the Inuit in the town looked similar to those of Asians.Everything was beyond imagination,familiar and strange.

When I pointed at a row of new buildings by accident and expressed my amazement at their modernity,a Danish-Inuit boy next to me said calmly,"These are for people migrated from remote villages.It seems that they are not very happy here.For people coming from nature,the houses are a bit like cages.They always say they left their hearts at the disappearing place."After his words,I was confused.If their hearts are lost,what's the point of material satisfaction?As for what the remote villages look like,the boy couldn't tell since he had never been to the place either.So I decided to look for the place where these people left their hearts.

In the summer of the second year,I boarded a century-old sailing boat and started my sailing along the southeast Greenland,carefully finding my way through the floating ice.Having overcome the dizziness brought by huge waves,I saw the aurora overhead at a summer night and the whales spraying water rhythmically by the boat.The miracles in the Arctic made human beings even more insignificant.Being surrounded by the miraculous environment,one could become very sensitive to subtle changes,trying to coexist with nature.

As glaciers kept melting due to global warming,our boat sailed into a new waterway that no one had ever entered.We visited some remote villages by chance.Glaciers were collapsing,the animal population was decreasing,and hunters had little to prey on.Dangerous incidents of people falling into the ice caves became more frequent with the gradually thinning ice.Residents could no longer trust the ice beneath their feet and moved to big cities for survival.I came to understand why the rows of buildings were described as "cages" and why their hearts were left with the melting glaciers and snowfields.

In a cold winter,I went to the capital of Greenland Nuuk,which is the biggest and the most modernized city in Greenland.Every day I traveled around by bus,observing this city stop by stop.I found it was so melancholy that there was a hotline service for people who wanted to commit suicide.It was hard for those legendary hunters who used to prey on whales and polar bears to find their positions in the modern society.Some were learning new and modern technologies,but more were at a loss.Ninety percent residents had the habit of excessive drinking.Winter here was long and summer got people sleepless.Many people got depression during the long cold winter,while in the summer,the direct sunlight was so bright that many suffered from seasonal affective disorder.Behind the modern life and material development,there were bigger social problems,such as the high suicide rate and clashes between modern and traditional cultures.The Inuit who had been living here for thousands of years were facing the most drastic transformation.Many changes were taking place in such a rapid speed that made it difficult for residents of the most sparsely populated country in the world to find a place to rest their hearts.

I spent some time there,living with the Inuit.This experience made me realize the surging waves behind Greenland's beauty.I arrived in Greenland with imaginations and visions,but the truth,unlike my dreams,turned out to be a bit ruthless.I was shocked by the contrast.My roommate in Nuuk was a girl from the North looking for a job in the city.I tried to communicate with her by simple words and body language.She told me that she missed the traditional lifestyle in the North despite its freezing temperature and natural cruelty.Her hometown was disappearing as residents were moving out and then the township would be canceled by the government.She added that there was a heart-shaped mountain in the North,and it was said that visitors'hearts would remain there.Her heart was also left in that mountain,the place that Greenland used to be.As she was speaking,I felt like my heart was taken to the faraway North,too.

In another winter,I visited Uummannaq,the city which the northern girl mentioned.Due to the extreme climate,my flight met with quite a few unexpected situations before I eventually arrived.Uummannaq means "heart" in Greenlandic and there is indeed a heart-shaped mountain rooting deep into the snowfields.Many hunters were still hunting although the environment became more dangerous.The beautiful glaciers are beside the city.I made friends with local hunters,and we chased the aurora on the snowfields in dogsleds at night.The weather was so cold that my body almost went numb,but it was an unforgettable experience in my life.I also coincidentally found the"children's home"that I had seen in movies,where kids with little parental care were sent because their parents were alcoholic or committed suicide.The kids'souls found a shelter there,and many of them are versatilely.The boys picked up hunting skills from hunters and could also play the violin.Boys and girls joined the chorus and gave touring performances of Inuit music all over the world.Although their hearts were once wounded,they were taken good care of at this corner of the world.

I felt a strong sense of belonging to Uummannaq,where everyone had a story of life and death with nature.Some outsiders who came to Greenland hoping to become Inuit hunters found it hard to survive due to their cultural gaps and physical qualities.Inuit hunters adhere to their own principle of coexistence with nature.I climbed up the heart-shaped mountain and saw many hearts without owners.They were beautiful,pure,brave,sad and frightened.These hearts were willing to stay at this place where was relatively harmonious.I found my own heart at the foot of the mountain,but it was unwilling to leave with me.In the last days,my heart was dreaming a dream that would soon disappear.

Human beings are strong and negligible,and nature is fragile and great.

Only when human beings protect and respect nature,can the two continue to coexist.