Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea is a work of nonfiction co-written by American mountaineer Greg Mortenson and journalist David Oliver Relin. In 1993, Mortenson climbed K2, the world's second-highest peak, in memory of his late sister; on the way he exhausted himself helping rescue a fellow climber, lost his way descending, and stumbled into the village of Korphe in the Karakoram range of northern Pakistan, where Balti villagers rescued and cared for him. While recovering in the village, he discovered its extreme poverty: little medicine, many children dying before their first birthday, the nearest hospital a week's walk away; children knelt on frozen ground writing with sticks dipped in mud on slate boards, and the village could not afford even one teacher. Because the village was poor, sugar was especially precious there, yet the villagers still served him sweet tea. The Balti tradition of hospitality is: first cup, you are a stranger; second cup, you are a guest; third cup, you are family, and we will do anything for you. Mortenson thus made a promise: to return and build a school here. Back in the U.S., he lived in his car to save money and sent out 580 fundraising letters, receiving only $100 at first; later, support from Silicon Valley entrepreneur Jean Hoerni enabled the first school to be built. Over the next decade and more, he traveled the most remote valleys of Pakistan and Afghanistan, building bridges, hauling materials, recruiting teachers, and completing more than sixty schools amid war and misunderstanding—especially bringing many girls into the classroom for the first time. The book uses "three cups of tea" as its thread, writing about the weight of promise, trust, and education. The Chinese edition was translated by Huang Yuhua and proofread by Yan Dongdong.