In an interview, when asked about exile, Bei Dao commented, "Though some writers will not admit it, there is a positive side to exile -you get to travel…" Currently residing at the University of California-Davis, Bei Dao has been traveling constantly since he was forced into exile ten years ago.

Whether at a 1990 Poetry Festival in Rotterdam; the Pompidou Center or Berlin, "the external aspect of exile" is apparent. But the poet does not romanticize it "if exile is a journey, then it’s ….through emptiness." (see interviews) An emptiness that seems very palpable in the barren and desolate terrain of the America’s Death Valley. "What’s important is that we are all travelers," says Bei Dao.

Photo of Bei Dao in Rotterdam (1990).	Photo of Bei Dao in Pompidou Center (1992).

Photo of Bei Dao in Berlin.	Photo of Bei Dao in Death Valley (1998).