On second thought, unbribability may be a career liability in the Chinese Army. Eventually the commander waves his hand, lazily, like a king, and the soldiers escort us outside. I ask Bruce what's going on. He say interrogation begin at midnight. The moon is glimmering on an archipelago of puddles that will be frozen by morning.
Mountains black out most of the starry sky.
The soldiers from the checkpoint march us through the village on log planks laid in the mud, the lorry heaving along behind like a forlorn elephant. Outside a walled compound the Tibetans hand down our gear. Inside the compound we're put into a room with wooden beds and straw mattresses and told to wait. The moment they leave we huddle to get our story straight. Whenever you are arrested, anywhere in the world, you have to have a story.