Wang Ying at 67: 1200 Birds After Cancer

Welcome back to Learn English with Podcasts! Sarah, if a doctor gave you bad news just before retirement, what would you do?欢迎回到 Learn English with Podcasts！Sarah，如果在退休前夕医生告诉你一个坏消息，你会怎么做？

Because today we will meet Wang Ying. She is 67 years old. She worked as a teacher in Kunming, Yunnan. Now she is a bird photographer.因为今天我们要认识王英。她67岁。她曾在云南昆明的一所学校任职。现在她是一名鸟类生态摄影师。

It started with a shock. In 2013, just before retirement, doctors found she had thyroid cancer. She felt her world went dark.一切从一个打击开始。2013年，就在退休前夕，医生查出她得了甲状腺癌。她觉得天都塌了。

She did something wild. She spent 150,000 yuan and went to Antarctica for one month. Alone, with her camera.她做了一个大胆的决定。她花了150,000元，去南极待了一个月。一个人，带着相机。

Exactly. The boat ride was long and bumpy. The wind was strong. It was far from comfortable. But she had one clear goal.没错。船程又长又颠。风很大。一点也不舒服。但她有一个明确的目标。

Yes. She wanted just one shot. A mother penguin coming back to feed her baby. In the snow, in heavy wind. Everyone else left. She stayed alone in minus temperatures and waited.对。她只想拍一个镜头。企鹅妈妈回来喂小企鹅的镜头。顶着风雪。别人都走了。只有她一个人在零下几十度里坚持等。

She got it. She said she was so happy. That one photo made the whole hard trip worth it.拍到了。她说她太高兴了。就这张照片，让整趟艰难的旅行都值了。

And guess what. Right after she came back, she went for a check. The doctor said the tumor got smaller. After only one month.猜怎么着。从南极一回来，她就去肿瘤医院检查。医生说她的肿瘤变小了。只过了一个月。

Right. The doctor said no surgery for now, just watch it. Wang Ying said that gave her hope for life. She felt she came back to life.对。医生说暂时不用手术，继续观察。王英说，这给了她生的希望。她觉得自己又活过来了。

She picked up her camera and never put it down. Now at 67, she spends most of the year traveling with a big camera. Her savings became long lenses. Climbing mountains took the place of beauty treatments.她拿起相机就再没放下。如今67岁的她，每年大半时间都扛着相机在外面跑。积蓄变成了长枪短炮。跋山涉水代替了护肤保养。

In more than ten years after retirement, she traveled across China and visited more than 30 countries. She photographed nearly 1200 kinds of birds.退休十几年，她走遍了全中国，还走过了30多个国家。拍下了近1200种鸟。

And your lunch does not count. But think about it. 1200 kinds means early mornings, cold rain, long waits. Every photo is patience.你吃的鸡可不算。不过想想看。1200种意味着无数个早起、冷雨和漫长等待。每张照片都是耐心。

Not at all. She already booked trips for this year and next year. America, Peru, and Africa. She said, the more places you visit, the more you see. Then you learn to let go and stop worrying about small things.完全不会。她已经预订了今年和明年的行程。美国、秘鲁，还有非洲。她说，走的地方多了，见的东西多了，看淡了，想开了，有些东西就不会再计较了。

She spent so much on travel that she has no savings left for skincare. But her photos of 1200 birds? No face cream can give you that glow.她把钱都花在旅行上，没钱做保养了。但她拍的1200种鸟？什么面霜都给不了那种光彩。