One of my lasting hobbies is travelling. I firmly believe that travelling can change my way of thinking and stop me from being pride and ignorant. I have twelve places rooted in my mind which I want to set foot on one day, five in China and seven abroad. In this blog I will write about the twelve places I dream to go to in the future.
I want to visit the Tsinghai Lake someday. High on the Tsinghai-Tibet plateau, I will marvel at how close the indigo water is with the azure sky and how they joins as one on the horizon. I will also visit the birds’ island in the middle of the lake, which is the habitat of thousands of brown-hooded gulls. Then I will go along the newly-built Tsinghai-Tibet railway to Lhasa to visit the Potala Palace, where according to legend Princess Wencheng had lived in the Tang Dynasty. If I am lucky enough, I may catch sight of a yak, which Tibetans revere as symbol of strength and tenacity. When I am at the foot of the snow-capped mountains, I will not forget the hardships the road builders encountered, I will remember the song Road to Heaven, “At dawn I stood on the grassy meadow, I saw the holy eagle fly across the sky, like a piece of auspicious cloud with its feathers lit silver by the morning glow, promising the fortune of the Tibetans. At dusk I stood at the steep peak, I saw the railway had reached my hometown. Over mountains and valleys, the long dragon has brought warmth to the snowfield plateau, and the happiness and unity of all the ethnic groups…” (Forgive my rough translation).
The second place I want to visit is the Mogao Caves which is also known as the caves of the Thousand Buddhas. The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years. I want to appreciate the ancient sculptures and wall-paintings. Although I have seen for many times photos of these most famous Chinese Buddhist grottoes, it must be breath-taking to see and feel the real thing by myself.
The third place I want to go to is the Hulunbeier Grassland in the eastern part of Inner Mongolia. I want to go there neither because of wanting to experience the Mongolian way of like as shepherds and horse breeders living in yurts nor of wanting to see the mammoth skeleton exhibited in the Inner Mongolia Museum, instead I want to see a creature living on this vast land-the prairie wolf. I conceived this idea of seeing a wild prairie wolf after I read a novel “Wolf totemism”. It was about an intellectual’s story who was banished to Hulunbeier during the Cultural Revolution. The novel describes wolves as a kind of amazing animals which are clever, crafty and hierarchical. It also tells the continual fierce battles between the Mongolians and the wolves, which reflects the wildness in the nature of the Chinese people. In the mainstream climate where harmony is enhanced as a basic policy of development nowadays in China, I want to get a glimpse of the remaining wildness in the Mongolian-wolf relationship on the vast grassland of Hulunbeier.
The fourth place I want to travel to is the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an. I want to see the magnificent army of Qin Shi Huang the first emperor of China. I have always been amazed in learning that the warriors and horses were lifelike and you cannot find two exactly the same. I want to see them with my own eyes.
The fifth place I want to visit is the Crescent Spring and the Ringing Hills. Not far from the Mogao Caves, this place of interest is also in Dunhuang, a once prosperous ancient city on the Silk Road. The Crescent Spring is of crescent shape, surrounded by hills of sand. It is especially precious that the water in the Crescent Spring is clear and refreshing despite the immense Gobi Dessert it is located in. The sand on the Ringing hills around the spring makes noises like bells ringing when winds blow. Another strange thing is that because of the unique landscape, the sand of the surface of the hills does not fall into the spring, instead it moves up towards the top of the hills in the wind. This is why the Crescent Spring has not been buried by sand. How this special landscape came into being has not been fully revealed yet, but personally I do not want to know the scientific reason behind it, maybe it is better just believing in the beautiful tale in which a Taoist and a Monk competed on magic powers and the Holy water from Sakyamuni turned into the Crescent Spring.
The place I want to visit most abroad is Stonehenge in Avebury, England. Many aspects of Stonehenge remain subject to debate, but I think the mystery is fascinating. A new theory suggests that Stonehenge was part of a ritual landscape and was joined to Durrington Walls by their corresponding avenues and the River Avon. Durrington Walls henge represented land of the living, while Stonehenge represented domain of the dead. If that is so, I want to walk along the Avon from the Durrington to the Stonehenge and imagine the scenes of celebrating ancestors and being alive thousands of years ago. I will visit it in midsummer, so that I can see the sunrise and appreciate the view where the memorial stone in the middle of the four concentric circles, the Heel Stone, and the newly-risen sun above the horizon are in a line.
I want to go to Vancouver one day. One of my seniors is on exchange in UBC now and I really like the pictures she took there. I want to go there because Vancouver is ethnically diverse and is one of the first places in North America set foot on by Chinese during the Canyon Gold Rush. The highlights of visiting Vancouver may be watching the 2010 Winter Olympics, taking a ride on the sky train, and simply stride along the bay and sneeze the breeze of the sea.
I want to see the Sakura at Tokyo Imperial Palace; I want to ride a caribou sled in the Quebec City, where French meets Canada; I want to see the Great Valley; I want to see the fjords and aurora borealis in Norway; I want to visit the Red Square in Moscow. I know I will set foot on these wonderlands someday.
I want to visit the Tsinghai Lake someday. High on the Tsinghai-Tibet plateau, I will marvel at how close the indigo water is with the azure sky and how they joins as one on the horizon. I will also visit the birds’ island in the middle of the lake, which is the habitat of thousands of brown-hooded gulls. Then I will go along the newly-built Tsinghai-Tibet railway to Lhasa to visit the Potala Palace, where according to legend Princess Wencheng had lived in the Tang Dynasty. If I am lucky enough, I may catch sight of a yak, which Tibetans revere as symbol of strength and tenacity. When I am at the foot of the snow-capped mountains, I will not forget the hardships the road builders encountered, I will remember the song Road to Heaven, “At dawn I stood on the grassy meadow, I saw the holy eagle fly across the sky, like a piece of auspicious cloud with its feathers lit silver by the morning glow, promising the fortune of the Tibetans. At dusk I stood at the steep peak, I saw the railway had reached my hometown. Over mountains and valleys, the long dragon has brought warmth to the snowfield plateau, and the happiness and unity of all the ethnic groups…” (Forgive my rough translation).
The second place I want to visit is the Mogao Caves which is also known as the caves of the Thousand Buddhas. The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years. I want to appreciate the ancient sculptures and wall-paintings. Although I have seen for many times photos of these most famous Chinese Buddhist grottoes, it must be breath-taking to see and feel the real thing by myself.
The third place I want to go to is the Hulunbeier Grassland in the eastern part of Inner Mongolia. I want to go there neither because of wanting to experience the Mongolian way of like as shepherds and horse breeders living in yurts nor of wanting to see the mammoth skeleton exhibited in the Inner Mongolia Museum, instead I want to see a creature living on this vast land-the prairie wolf. I conceived this idea of seeing a wild prairie wolf after I read a novel “Wolf totemism”. It was about an intellectual’s story who was banished to Hulunbeier during the Cultural Revolution. The novel describes wolves as a kind of amazing animals which are clever, crafty and hierarchical. It also tells the continual fierce battles between the Mongolians and the wolves, which reflects the wildness in the nature of the Chinese people. In the mainstream climate where harmony is enhanced as a basic policy of development nowadays in China, I want to get a glimpse of the remaining wildness in the Mongolian-wolf relationship on the vast grassland of Hulunbeier.
The fourth place I want to travel to is the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an. I want to see the magnificent army of Qin Shi Huang the first emperor of China. I have always been amazed in learning that the warriors and horses were lifelike and you cannot find two exactly the same. I want to see them with my own eyes.
The fifth place I want to visit is the Crescent Spring and the Ringing Hills. Not far from the Mogao Caves, this place of interest is also in Dunhuang, a once prosperous ancient city on the Silk Road. The Crescent Spring is of crescent shape, surrounded by hills of sand. It is especially precious that the water in the Crescent Spring is clear and refreshing despite the immense Gobi Dessert it is located in. The sand on the Ringing hills around the spring makes noises like bells ringing when winds blow. Another strange thing is that because of the unique landscape, the sand of the surface of the hills does not fall into the spring, instead it moves up towards the top of the hills in the wind. This is why the Crescent Spring has not been buried by sand. How this special landscape came into being has not been fully revealed yet, but personally I do not want to know the scientific reason behind it, maybe it is better just believing in the beautiful tale in which a Taoist and a Monk competed on magic powers and the Holy water from Sakyamuni turned into the Crescent Spring.
The place I want to visit most abroad is Stonehenge in Avebury, England. Many aspects of Stonehenge remain subject to debate, but I think the mystery is fascinating. A new theory suggests that Stonehenge was part of a ritual landscape and was joined to Durrington Walls by their corresponding avenues and the River Avon. Durrington Walls henge represented land of the living, while Stonehenge represented domain of the dead. If that is so, I want to walk along the Avon from the Durrington to the Stonehenge and imagine the scenes of celebrating ancestors and being alive thousands of years ago. I will visit it in midsummer, so that I can see the sunrise and appreciate the view where the memorial stone in the middle of the four concentric circles, the Heel Stone, and the newly-risen sun above the horizon are in a line.
I want to go to Vancouver one day. One of my seniors is on exchange in UBC now and I really like the pictures she took there. I want to go there because Vancouver is ethnically diverse and is one of the first places in North America set foot on by Chinese during the Canyon Gold Rush. The highlights of visiting Vancouver may be watching the 2010 Winter Olympics, taking a ride on the sky train, and simply stride along the bay and sneeze the breeze of the sea.
I want to see the Sakura at Tokyo Imperial Palace; I want to ride a caribou sled in the Quebec City, where French meets Canada; I want to see the Great Valley; I want to see the fjords and aurora borealis in Norway; I want to visit the Red Square in Moscow. I know I will set foot on these wonderlands someday.
First of all, I want to express my admiration of your excellent writing skills and impressive content, which shows that you are very conscientious about your blogs. In fact, I also want to travel to lots of place. But I prefer tranquil places more. I have imaged lying down on the beach listening to the sound of sea breeze or strolling on a vast prairie with my love or things like that more than once. In course of my growing up, I have been coming across more and more places I want to travel to. Maybe one day when I want to retire from my working life, I will choose to travel around the world to enjoy myself. At last, wish you can realize all these dreams one day!
ReplyDeleteYou are still very young. I'm sure you will be able to visit all those places. I have seen Stonehenge. Yes, you should go there in the summer.
ReplyDelete