A Fantasy World 幻彩世界

This was a fantasy world of ice and snow built on the north bank of Songhua River in Harbin with huge ice blocks carved out of the river. Soon after I saw a picture of this "dream city", I booked a trip to Harbin and headed into northeastern China's minus-30-degree winter during the Chinese New Year holidays. "Beautiful" is certainly not the right word of description. Mirage, a splendid mirage indeed, floating and shining above the darkness and coldness to cast a spell upon children and grown-ups alike. 

每年冬天，哈尔滨松花江北岸都会出现这样一个奇幻的冰雪世界。在报上看到了它照片后，立即决定利用春节假期来这里体会中国东北部的零下30多度的冬天。用“美丽”去形容这个冰雪大世界并不适合，应该说这是一个海市蜃楼，梦幻之城，漂浮闪耀在广阔的黑暗与寒冷中，向看到它的每一双眼睛投下魔咒。

New Year's Day Walk on My Home Island of Lamma 元旦南丫岛徒步

The first day of year 2014 is passing by quicky. The night has fallen at the end of a peaceful, fine day. I am sitting at my desk, back from a nice New Year's Day walk to the southern tip of my home island of Lamma. It is indeed a beautiful place where I live, a beautiful base from which I look into the unknown time and far lands, feeling ready to start many new journeys.

夜幕已经降临，2014年的第一天象所有的日子一样，稍纵即逝。此刻我坐在书案前，刚刚从南丫岛南端新年步行返回。我的小岛我的家，确确实实很美，海的蔚蓝、沙的细滑、日落的温柔，天海相连的和谐与无限，心在这一切中感受着宁静与坚实，望向未来那些未知的日子，望向远方那些未知的土地，带着期待与仰望，向前走，无惧无悔。

Sun Rises over China Danxia on X'mas Day 丹霞日出

I have hiked to the top of mountains in different parts of the world for sun rise many times and have always enjoyed the views of vast landscapes in early hours of the day as the sky gradually brightens and changes in colour and everything under it glows with the warmth of the sun. 

At the dawn of the Christmas Day this year, I was waiting for that first ray of light at China Danxia, the mountainous landscape inscribed as a UNESCO world natural heritage in 2010. It was very quiet around as if I had been the only living creature in between heaven and earth. The air was slightly polluted. When the sun finally appeared, it was a pink ball with a clear edge and shedded upon the landscape down below a tender, peach-coloured haze. I held my breath, as thrilled and touched as the first time I was up high for a sun rise. 

(A few more photos can be found in the album China Danxia of the World Heritage Sites section of Through My Lens website.)

在许多地方看过日出，很多次临高远望，苍茫间天光渐亮，心情也随之越来越舒朗。而圣诞的清晨在广东丹霞山的观日亭等待日出，诺大的天地间好像只有我一人。待有了人声，太阳也在雾气烟霭中柔和地显现，轮廓清晰，还是令人怦然心动。广阔壮美是一种很有震撼力的浪漫。

("雁过留痕“网页中的“中国丹霞”相册中有更多照片。）

Bonzai Display in the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhen 苏州拙政园中的盆景

I recently experienced a change of attitude toward the Suzhou Gardens, which, in my much younger days, I deemed artificial and pretentious. I had especially loathed the Bonzai displays, which were copied in all kinds of gardens all over China. I thought the idea of confinement and shaping plant branches into miniature landcapes in pots is so sickly against nature. 

When I was in Suzhou gardens late September this year, I was caught by surprise when I realized that I was enjoying the whole Suzhou garden experience with the Bonzai diplays and started to appreciate their uniquely east-Asian beauty with imbedded intellectual ideals. Age is not necessarily a bad thing, and the trick is to keep the curiosity growing with capacity to understand. 

The best way to see a Suzhou garden though is to go on a slightly drizzling day in early morning, when one catches the atmosphere fully before the crowds and noise hit the ground.

Beautiful Melancholy 美丽的忧伤

The night fell. I followed the sound of the violin deeper into this side street from the Red Square. The beautiful melancholy in the music was so vividly played out and difused into the air that I was totally grabbed by it. When I realized that I must have stood in front of the violinist for a quite a while, I also realized that I had tears in the eyes, feeling the peace of mind that I hadn't felt for a long time.

夜幕降临，小提琴声传来，把我带到红场边上这条街道的深处。那音乐中流泻出一种多么美丽的忧伤，如泣如诉，渗透在略带寒意的夜空里，我被完全地攫住。这一刻一定延续了很长，当我意识到一定在琴手面前伫立了许久，我发现鼻子酸酸地，眼睛也湿了，心中却感到许久没有的宁静。

Red Square in Early Morning Drizzle 清晨微雨中的红场

I strolled to the Red Square on Sunday morning before I had to leave for the airport. It was drizzling. The Square is vast, grey and quiet. The stage set up on the east side for celebration of the 72th anniversary of the Parade on the Red Square on 7 Nov. 1941 appeared especially bright and red. The amber light from inside the Kazan Cathedral shed a touch of warmth into the cool and damp air. I stood on the north end of the Square, enjoying this precious moment of solitude.

(Photo impressions from Moscow have been posted in the album "Moscow".)

离开莫斯科的这天清晨，我又走到红场。微雨中有了寒意，广场空旷、安静，灰色的雨雾弥漫。广场东边已经搭起了纪念1941年11月7日红场阅兵72周年的台子，红色显得那么明亮。琥珀色的灯光透过广场东北边上喀山大教堂的玻璃窗，将温暖的感觉撒向湿冷的空气。我久久地站在广场北端，此刻孤独成为一种享受。

(更多照片见于相册“莫斯科”。）

Wedding Photos outside the Christ the Savior Cathedral 救世主大教堂外

Christ the Savior Cathedral seems to be a popular spot for wedding photos. I saw a few couple having their photos taken in wedding gowns and staging special romantic poses. This is really not a game unique to Chinese. I wish them long lasting love and many happy days ahead growing old together!

(Photo impressions from Moscow have been posted in the album "Moscow".)

救世主大教堂是很受欢迎的婚纱照取景地，我看到好几对年轻爱侣摆出浪漫相爱的姿势由专业摄影师拍摄，看来并不是中国人才好这一出。祝他们爱情永驻，白头偕老！

(更多照片见于相册“莫斯科”。）

A Tender Moment at Dusk in Moscow 黄昏的柔情

What I enjoyed most during my short stay in Mosque is to take long walks in late afternoon around the walls of the Kremlin and then continue onto the banks of the River of Moscow. Moscow, in its grandness and absence of emotions, starts to show a vague trace of tendersness as the sun goes down and a dark, golden mist falls upon the city. This is the time of the day when I feel the easiest to connect to the city and take it to my heart.

Photo impressions from Moscow have been posted in the album "Moscow".

在莫斯科短短的几天，我最喜欢的是黄昏时分沿着克里姆林宫的围墙散步，行至莫斯科河畔，已接近日落，惯常宏伟而冷峻的莫斯科在落日的金晖中竟也流露出一丝柔情。这是一天中我离她最近、最容易将她铭记于心的时刻。

(更多照片见于相册“莫斯科”。）

Tender is the Night 温柔的夜

When I was landing into the beautiful, clear autumn night of Beijing two days ago, the sparkling amber lights of the mega city extended miles and miles beneath and led my eyes to the far horizon. I took a deep, long breath, as I imagined the sweet, clean and cool air outside. My home town presented its best face, perhaps knowing that, this time, I had come to bid her farewell.

Now the flat is as empty as I first came and saw it a year ago. It's another of those moments one cannot help turning back to the intensely emotional memories from a life chapter that's coming to a closure. After almost two full years of living again in the city where I grew up and where I had returned to reconnect with an open heart and great expectations, I am escaping from it when the reconnection collapsed into a sad and disappointing drama. For the time being, I prefer to hide these two years in a little dark corner where I cannot see until one day, hopefully, I find peace with them.

Yes, Beijing could've been kinder to me, but what do I have to complain about? Did I forget the man at the bike repair stand running around the full day to find replacement for my flat tyres and charging almost nothing for his hard work? Did I forget the young photo enthusiasts I bumped into by the side of Kunming Lake of Summer Palace helping to hold my tripods steady in piercing gust as I was taking photos of the 17-hole bridge? Did I forget the vibrant red orchid flowers brought to me by a dear friend during her short lunch break to cheer me up on a cold winter day? And did I forget my old "military comrade" holding my hand firmly in silence when I broke down into tears of despair? ... There have been so many heart-warming moments blessed into my memories by unswerving friends and kind strangers alike.

It was in Beijing and in agonizing circumstances that I discovered my lack of courage to face up to ugliness and vulnerabilty of human nature, in which I have my own share. A profound fear for being cornered to no choice but to encounter such ugliness and vulnerability face to face is so deeply rooted in me that I become a ready deserter when I sense the danger of this happening. Out of this fear, "I strove with none, for none is worth my strife".

As I write, the city is again being besieged by a heavy smog, so is my mind. Tomorrow morning I'll close another door, leave the key inside, and never enter it again. I cannot see what lies ahead but have no worries. Strangely enough, a melancholic tenderness is quietly taking hold of me and giving me hope that there will be a reconciliation between myself and my hometown together with everything it had witnessed in the past two years, somewhere down the road.

So long, Beijing! So long, my years of innocence! Life goes on, and I'll continue to beautify it. Beautify it, until death takes it to the unknown.

Images of Star Ferries Always Bring Warmth to My Memories of Hong Kong 天星小轮温暖着我有关香港的记忆

Last weekend I crossed Victoria Harbour for a live theatre performance at Cultural Centre and had a chance again to be on a Star Ferry. The short ride of a few minutes was such a pleasure, with the late afternoon sunlight shedding its golden shade on the deck and gentle breeze brushing through to bring the coolness of early autumn.

Star Ferries, in witness of the rise and fall, the pains and joy of the City of Hong Kong, are the most romantic view of the city as they carry a living history crossing the beautiful "Fragrance Harbour" day and night.

The dream is like a flower that never withers 年轻时的梦象一朵永不凋零的花

 When I heard this song from my university days again by accident, I couldn't hold back my tears.

Still remember the dreams we dreamt in our youth?

Blooming like flowers that never wither

Surviving with me the bluster of wind and rain

Through turns of life, seeing mulberry fields rising from deep sea

Those prices we paid for love

Those words we whispered from the depth of our hearts

Are not to fade until the end of day

Not to evaporate with a passion that's doomed to drift away

又听到多年前的这首歌，竟流了泪。

还记得年少时的梦吗

像朵永远不调零的花

陪我经过那风吹雨打

看世事无常看沧桑变化

那些为爱所付出的代价

是永远都难忘的啊

所有真心的痴心的话

永在我心中虽然已没有他

If Love Between Both People Can Last for Age, Why Need They Stay Together Night And Day? 两情若是久长时，又岂在朝朝暮暮？

Today is the 7th day of the 7th month of the Lunar Calendar. A beautiful Chinese legend says it is the day a man and wife separated by the Milky Way are having their once-in-a-year reunion thanks to a bridge made by thousands of sympathetic magpies. Nowadays they dub this day "Chinese Valentine's Day" and celebrate it with bouquets of roses plus, perhaps, expensive candle-light fusion dinners, and thus take the deeply deeply romantic touch away.

A poem of Qin Guan from the Song Dynasty is believed to be the best for this occasion.

Clouds float like works of art；

Stars shoot with grief at heart.

Across the Milky Way the Cowherd meets the Maid

When Autumn’s golden wind embraces dews of jade，

All the love scenes on earth，however many， fade

Their tender love flows like a stream；

This happy date seems but a dream.

Can they bear a separate homeward way?

If love between both sides can last for age，

Why need they stay together night and day? 

纤云弄巧，飞星传恨，银汉迢迢暗度。金风玉露一相逢，便胜却人间无数。

柔情似水，佳期如梦，忍顾鹊桥归路！两情若是久长时，又岂在朝朝暮暮！

Distance of A Life Time 一念起，天涯咫尺；一念灭，咫尺天涯

The shortest distance between two souls is when they are mountains and waters away, they feel as if they were just sitting across the dining table, hands reaching out to each other and eyes locked into each other's understanding and trusting smiles; while the longest distance between two souls is perhaps when somebody, who was once so dear to you that together you dreamt of seeing the world and growing old side by side, is just one computer key click away, and you are making up your mind to let a life time pass and never make that click.

两颗心之间最短的距离是千山万水彷如一桌之隔，伸出手去便像是触得到对方，眼睛也可缱绻于对方信赖的微笑中；而世间最远的距离也许是曾和你梦想着肩并肩走过岁月、手挽手老去的人，如今隔着电脑上的一次点击，而你下了决心，让这一生走过，永远不点触那一击。

(In Ayutthaya, Thailand)

Astonishing Display of American Patriotism 美国的爱国主义展现令人惊叹

I was astonished to see this American flag hung in the Chapel of Carmel Mission. Sure it is one day after the 4th of July, but still hard to believe that the display of the very political concept of nation and the expression of high patriotism are found in a supposedly pure religious location. Actually, during my recent trip to the US, I saw American flags flying everywhere. Quite overwhelming! I said to myself, the world would be scared to death if such a degree of patriotism were put on show in China. 

看到这面悬挂在Carmel传教所的小教堂中的美国国旗时，心中一惊。虽然是美国国庆日的第二天，但还是很难相信在本应纯粹的宗教场所有对政治化的国家概念和爱国主义的渲染。其实这次在美国，所到处处都是国旗飘扬。我对自己说，如果这种程度的爱国主义激情在中国上演，全世界已经要心惊胆寒、大呼小叫了。

San Francisco - Most Charming American Metropolitan 旧金山-风情万种的美国大都市

San Francisco is lively, friendly, charming, and unlike New York City, not intimidating at all. It is like a beauty by the sea, confidently enjoying herself and let her elegance grace all admirers. The open and warm atmosphere invites and reassures any one who wants to be part of it. I never feel foregin here, as I have never felt foreign in the State of California!

The cable cars are running up and down San Francisco's streets on hilly landscape and cheerfully carrying its living history forward.

Home has less to do with a piece of soil than with a piece of soul 家是一片心灵，而不是一片土地

As I roamed down the stunning Pacific Coastal Highway, awed at the beautiful sunset over Yosemite Valley, drank beyond my capacity in a small Italian restaurant in Calistoga, and flew from coast to coast across the vast land of America, I couldn't agree more with what the travel writer Pico Iyer put it:"Home is less to do with a piece of soil than with a piece of soul". 

Yes, home is where I feel freest to be who I am. It is often when I'm on the road, I encounter and embrace the most touching moments of home return and find my sense of belonging.

当我流连在依山傍海的太平洋海岸公路上每一处的壮观景象中，感动于日落时优胜美地山谷的永恒博大之美，放纵地在加州的葡萄酒之乡纳帕谷饮至微醺时心中洋溢着抒情和诗意，或是飞越美国广袤的土地从西海岸直达东海岸，我想起行游作家Pico Iyer说的一句话：“与一片土地相比，家更多的是一片心灵”。

往往在旅途中，我偶遇并拥抱了一个个感人的仿佛回到家里的时刻，并在那样的时刻里忽然找到了自己的归属，找到了一个作为完全自由的灵魂的快乐。

Sleepless in New York 不眠纽约

It was deep autumn of 1999 when I first visited the New York City. The fall colours in the Central Park and the cool wind blowing the dead leaves on the fifth avenue triggered a home sickness I seldom experienced during my roaming years in southern California.

Now standing on top of Rockefeller Centre overlooking the New York skyline with the State Empire Building posing its magnificent existence right to my eyes, I felt thrilled while bewildered, welcomed while intimidated, inspired and revitalized. This is a sleepless, charmingly lit up whirlpool where souls from all over the world get drawn into, linger and get lost; dreams of all sorts are born, fulfilled or smashed. If I were 20 years younger, I would jump into it with my splendid dreams, with hope and without fear.

1999年的深秋，我第一次看到纽约。中央公园的秋色和凉爽的秋风让我行在第五大道上听着落叶瑟瑟，心中涌起浓浓的对北京的思念，化成泪热了眼睛。此前在南加州永恒的灿烂阳光中数年，很少体会这样的乡愁。

此刻站在洛克菲勒中心的观景台，望向纽约的天际，帝国大厦就在眼前赫然矗立，我感觉激动而迷惑，跃跃欲试又惴惴不安，被一种活力感染得年轻起来。眼前的这座城市，仿佛一个永远无眠的、被点亮的美丽漩涡，卷携了世界无数心灵投入、眷恋直至丧失。在这不眠之城，梦想诞生、实现、破灭，但生生不息。如果我年轻20年，我会怀着梦想向这个漩涡纵身一跃，无惧而满怀希望。

At Central Park, Manhattan 在曼哈顿中央公园

When I saw this photo I took in the Central Park of Manhattan during the recent trip to the US, the sound of the music started to echo and the broad smile of this Philadelphia musician became lively again in front of my eyes. During our brief conversation, he showed a charming pride and enthusiasm in the life he chose to live, which I seldom find in the street singers (or more appropriately, beggars perhaps?) in China. 

我看到这张摄于曼哈顿中央公园的照片时，耳畔就回响起当时吉他声中的歌声，这位来自费城的黑人歌手开朗真诚的笑容也生动地浮现眼前。在我们短短的交谈中，我体会到一种他对自己的生活方式的骄傲和热忱，这在中国的街头艺人身上很难看到。而中国街头表演者所表达的态度和艺术水准更容易让人联想到乞讨。