Beijing under Air Pollution Red Alert Today, First Time 北京的第一个红色污染预警

Today they issued the first ever air pollution red alert in Beijing and recommended that all schools suspend their classes. Life goes on. The residents of Beijing continue to raise their hands in the poisonous air and dance. "Our people are the best people in the world" - I don't remember which super idiot "people's servant" made this comment a while ago.

 Kids are happy to have two free holidays, like pancakes falling from the sky. They reminded me of the 1976 earthquake. We all moved out from home and co--habited in the big garage with tens of other families. Schools were suspended for a long time. Gang of kids were roaming on the university campus like happy flock of sheep freed from the pen...

Oh, my hometown!

今天是北京的第一个空气污染红色预警。借了朋友老池的照片，市民在毒气中依然故我地扬手舞蹈。“我们的人民是全世界最好的人民” - 忘了这话是哪个不知天高地厚的人民公仆说过的？

孩子们高兴了，放假！让我想起1976年地震那会儿，全都搬出自己家，跟几十户其他家庭一起住进父母单位的大车库，一帮孩子学也不上了，挥突乎东西的，快乐得很。

哦，我的故乡！

Loi Krathong (Water Lamp Day) 水灯节

Full moon again. Today is special - the Thai Loi Krathong ("Water Lamp Day"). Thai residents on Lamma made their own flower baskets and came to the pier to float them. Waves brought the baskets far into the ocean, each carrying a beautiful wish. "Let Ms. Wang have one too!" As a result of such generosity, I also received my own basket with Hawaiian orchids and scarlet-coloured petals nd  and it carried my wish away too.

Wind tonight was strong. It is finally cooling down nicely.

又是满月日。今天特别，是泰国的Loi Krathong, 岛上的泰国人做了花篮，拿到码头来漂，每一个花篮带着一个愿望在海水里漂远。“给王小姐一个”，这样的慷慨之下我也有了一个美丽的花篮，里面插了夏威夷兰，铺满洋红色的碎花瓣，它也带着我的愿望漂远了。

今晚风很大，天也凉了。

Butterfly Lovers on Chung Yeung Day 重阳节里的蝴蝶恋人

Butterfly lovers on Chung Yeung Day. 

On Chung Yeung Day, outside my kitchen window, they loved and danced as if there had been no tomorrow. 

重阳节这一天厨房外的蝴蝶舞着、爱着，好像没有明天。

Sri Lanka Route Planner Published

Finally the Sri Lanka Route Planner from my trip there in the summer is on the Travel section of this website. Check it out, and check out the photos in the album Sri Lanka.

Children in Ceylon 锡兰的孩子

Of the most unforgettable from my recent trip to Sri Lanka are the smiles of the children - generous, pure and care-free, like open arms embracing the world without fear, stress, prejudices or any previous injuries. As I couldn't help but open my own heart to such smiles, I seized a gift, a moment of true happiness.

More photos have been uploaded to the album Children in Sri Lanka.

最近锡兰之行最难忘孩子们的笑容 - 纯真，慷慨，无忧无虑，好像向全世界张开的臂膀，没有恐惧、紧张、偏见或任何伤害。当我不由自主地对这微笑敞开我的心，我立刻收获了一份礼物，一个被快乐填满的瞬间。

更多的照片上载于相册《锡兰的孩子》。

Ceylon in Mid Summer 仲夏游锡兰

Since we are back from our two-week trip in Sri Lanka last Sunday, Ansel has been telling me he misses there. So do I! Before sharing the experience in more details in the Travel section of this website, I thought it might be helpful to first publish the general plan, which had been put in place after lots of research and considerations. The route starts from Negambo, follows the yellow line in the directions of the arrows and ends in Colombo, the capital. Each red spot is an overnight location with numbers in circles indicating nights spent. It proves a reasonable plan with an opportunity to form good impressions of different regions and aspects of the country withouth having to rush too much.

自从上周日结束在锡兰两周的旅行返港，Ansel不断地告诉我他想念那里，我又何尝不是！在本网页”人在旅途“发表详细攻略之前，先把大致行程发出来。从Negambo开始，沿箭头方向走黄线，红点是留宿的地点，圆圈中的数字代表留宿的天数。 走下来，感觉这个行程还合适，即对这个国家不同的区域的地貌，文化经济的各个方面形成了印象，也没有疲于奔命，值得参考。

The Love for Lotus 荷恋

In my university, there is a beautiful horseshoe-shaped lake where lotuses bloom in the summer. I cannot remember how many time I sat by its side with a book in hands or walk around it with a dear friend talkig about our most secret feelings. From then on, I developed a deep love for this speical flower. An intellect in China's Song dynasty wrote the following Ode to Lotus, the whole of which I could recite from childhood. 

"I have a love for lotus, while growing in mud, it remains unstained; Floating on waving water, it never dances with it. The branchless stem is hollow inside but straight. Her faint fragrance reaches far and she stands erect in water, fair and graceful.” With such a character, lotus is an important cultural symbol in China, apart from its association with buddhism and hinduism.

我大学的校园里有一个美丽的马蹄形湖，每到夏日，湖中开满荷花。不记得多少次，我捧书阅读于荷香中；或有多少次携密友漫步湖畔畅谈心事。从那时起，对荷花有了特殊的珍爱。

中国宋朝有一位学者，曾有过这样的咏颂：“予獨愛蓮之出淤泥而不染，濯清漣而不妖，中通外直，不蔓不枝，香遠益清，亭亭靜植，可遠觀而不可褻玩焉。” 莲花以此品格，成为中国文化中的重要象征。

Beautiful Summer Night on Lamma Island 美好的夏夜

It's the night before 1st July, anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the "motherland". What lies ahead for Hong Kong, and for myself? I don't know and I shouldn't care. Just live this moment to full and live every moment to full. Now, and only now, is what counts.

Arrival of Spring 春天来了！

In the north, we call the Chinese New Year "Spring Festival". From childhood, this has been the most special of all celebrations and I've always associated it with the arrival of spring － the fresh smell of soil opened by the burst of green, the mild colours of blossom of peach flowers, the feeling of first drizzle of the year touching one's cheeks, and cheerful lightness shedding the cumbersome winter clothes. Of course, the fire crackers, not the monstrous ones that turn the entire city into a battle field today, but little red tubes that kids lit one by one with a long incense. With fifty of those, I could enjoy myself for the whole afternoon.

The coming of spring is almost invisible in Hong Kong. This is the time of the year I miss my northern home town the most. 

Happy Year of "Yang (Sheep, Goat, or Ram?)"! 羊年大吉！

My best wishes for the Year of Sheep! Paper cut of the auspicious "Fu" on my window overlooking the ferry pier of Banyan Tree Bay on Lamma Island.

First Moment of Year of Sheep at Temple of Goddess of Sea 天后庙祈福

There is a little Tin Hau Temple on north side of Lamma Island. This is dedicated to the Goddess of Sea, who is protector of fisherman and is now believed to bring good luck to everyone coming to worship. On the eve of the Year of Sheep, people on the island came to pray for a prosperous and peaceful year.

在南丫岛北部有一个小小的天后庙，崇拜的是“海的女神” - 渔民的保护神，而如今每个来敬奉的人都祈望得到好运。羊年大年三十午夜一过，大年初一的第一刻，这里鞭炮齐鸣，人们赶着烧第一柱香，祝福来年平安富贵。 

THE BEST MOMENTS OF A DAY ARE AT DAWN (III) 黎明是一天中最好的时光(三)

（In Venice on Jan. 1, 20152015年1月1日摄于威尼斯)

The best moments of a day are at dawn (II) 黎明是一天中最好的时光(二)

(In Florence on Dec. 29, 2014; 2014年12月29日摄于佛罗伦萨）

The best moments of a day are at dawn (I) 黎明是一天中最好的时光(一)

从黎明到微亮的清晨，是一天中最美好、最温柔的时光。无论城市、乡村、旷野、山地，行走其间，感受黑暗到光明，寒冷到温暖，万籁俱寂到苏醒到生机焕发，总有一种让心快乐起来的力量。周围又绝无人声嘈杂，仿佛全世界都是自己的，人总可安安静静地，纵情而不受打扰地或专注于环境，或专注于内心，无论内外，这样地专注，总是会带给人忘我地幸福感。

Views from the Morning Trail 晨径

A fine day! When it cooled down in late afternoon, I decided to take a walk on a trail that I hadn't been for a few years. I used to often go in the morning and thus gave it the name of "Morning Trail". Flowers were still vibrant and it was beautiful to have green hills and blue sea just unfold like a picture. I was surprised at how well I remembered this trail - every turn, every view, ups and downs of every sections and even those larger rocks that always stayed steady in strong wind! I realized that some things in one's life, even unnoticed, have always stayed deeply and quietly in one's memory, like what they sing in a pop song - "you never need to think about it, yet you'll never forget it."

天好！下午太阳斜了，就决定去岛上一条几年没走的山路，从前常常早晨来，所以叫它“晨径”。远是青山碧海，近是怒放的山花。惊讶的发现自己竟记得这小山径的每一个转弯，每一处景致，每一段路况，甚至每一块风吹不动的石头。人生有些东西，不知不觉的，却牢牢藏在心里，好像歌里唱过的：“从来不需要想起，永远也不会忘记”。

Here comes the autumn 香港的秋天来了

盼天凉有一阵了。晚上忽然听到天台上的遮阳篷呼啦呼啦的，上去一站，竟是起了不小的风，不带潮气的风。下面的海湾里月光摇曳，晚上总停在那儿的帆船模模糊糊地在清冷的水面上晃着。谁说香港没有四季呢？这不是秋天么？清清爽爽的秋天来了。

I cannot help but crying for Hong Kong 我为香港而哭泣

October 2014 in Admiralty, Hong Kong. 2014年10月摄于香港金钟

Wedding Photo Session on Tramway 没有电车的电车道上

These days Central HK is free of traffic. People are really good at taking opportunities to do the most appropriate things here. When the tramway is free of tramcars, it becomes a perfect spot for wedding photo sessions at night.