Love Life, Love Travel: Reflections on Traveling in Zhangjiajie
Travel is always like this: before going, you are full of longing; during the trip, the schedule is tight; when you return, you carry a body full of exhaustion. While looking at the scenery, you feel it is not as beautiful as on TV or as you heard, but later when you recall it, it also seems quite good. So the next time you continue longing, feeling tense, feeling exhausted, and traveling again and again in cycles. This trip to Guilin felt the same. Before going to Zhangjiajie, I longed for Zhangjiajie very much. Because when I was young I studied articles describing Zhangjiajie’s scenery, and I had…
Travel is always like this: full of anticipation before you go, a packed itinerary while you're there, and you come back exhausted. While looking at the scenery, you might think it's not as beautiful as what you saw on TV or heard about, but later when you recall it, it seems quite nice after all. And so, the next time you set off again with anticipation, tension, and exhaustion—travel repeats itself in cycles. This trip to Guilin felt the same.
Before going to Zhangjiajie, I longed to visit it. When I was young, I studied essays describing the scenery of Zhangjiajie, and the famous saying “Zhangjiajie's landscape is the finest under heaven" left a deep impression on me. After arriving in Zhangjiajie, I found it truly is so. Zhangjiajie is a city where mountains and rivers intertwine; the beautiful Lishui River flows through the city like a jade belt wrapped around Zhangjiajie's waist. Both banks of the Lishui are graced with lovely scenery, attracting a large number of tourists to visit.
Beside the Lishui, you can see famous mountains. The Lishui makes you want to squat down and scoop up a handful of water to drink. The river's surface is also very wide.
In some places the current is gentle, while in others it is rapid, with one whirlpool after another. Living in the north, I even feel a bit dizzy looking at the water—it seems quite frightening. The peaks on both banks of the Lishui are lush and verdant, exceptionally green. Nature has shaped each peak so vividly—some look like official hats, some like a goddess silently waiting, some like Guanyin in meditation, and even more amazingly, one mountain actually forms the spectacular Nine-Horse Painting Mountain. While enjoying the beautiful scenery, we also marvel at the power of nature. Zhangjiajie is filled with beautiful sights all along the way, leaving one dazzled.
Fenghuang Ancient Town is a very small county town, but because of its scenery, it attracts a large number of Chinese and foreign tourists. Fenghuang's busiest West Street is crowded with people every day; tourists from all over bring good economic income to the people of Zhangjiajie.
Zhangjiajie has clear waters and green mountains, and also quite a few karst caves, such as Jiutian Cave and Yellow Dragon Cave; each cave has its own characteristics. The most famous is Yellow Dragon Cave, which is second to none nationwide. Inside the cave, the underground river is long and the water swift; sitting on a boat touring the cave feels quite thrilling.
Zhangjiajie is home to ethnic minorities living together, and in the scenic areas of Zhangjiajie, you can see antiphonal singing scenes everywhere. The hit movie Avatar has further increased Zhangjiajie's fame and tourism income. While taking in Zhangjiajie's landscape, we also enjoyed music.
During the few days in Zhangjiajie, apart from the food, everything was fine.
I returned home exhausted, and felt that home is still best. But if one day I go traveling again, I might just pack my bags and set off once more. People are always like this...
I think I will come to Zhangjiajie again next time. Looking forward to it……