Guilin's landscape and my life becoming clearer (Part 2)

True happiness in life has nothing to do with money. A few days ago, friends and I were driving to Haiyang Township to see the ginkgo trees. The sunlight was shining on my face, and I fell asleep in the car. I dreamed that I was hiking across all of China. In the dream, I felt very happy, as if I were a child of nature every day. For the first time in my life, I cooked hotpot under a ginkgo tree. At night, a group of us shivered in the mountains but still took out our phones to capture the Milky Way and the starry sky. In November, we saw the tail of the Milky Way. In the mountains of Guilin, the night is quiet and the starry sky is clear. A few days ago, a group of us ran up to the alpine meadow at Daping Tang. The grass was yellow and withered, the mountains were shrouded in thick fog, and there were only a few of us. We sang loudly and shouted on the mountaintop, like wild monkeys. All of this brought a strange sense of happiness: It felt like I originally belonged here, I just forgot. Everyone discussed how beautiful and cultural the place names in Guilin are, such as Beidai Di, Yangshuo, Huixian, Longshui, and Lingchuan. A younger sister from Northeast China said that the place names there are very down-to-earth—Gan Fan Pen, Xiao Haozi Island, Da Jiang Gang. I almost laughed out loud in the car. It turns out that "scenery" is not only in the mountains but also in a name. Language has its own sense of humor and local flavor. Cities are another kind of mountain, and outdoor groups are about finding those "wild entrances." Now the focus is on finding cities where you can hike and see beautiful scenery. After coming to Guilin, every day I see videos of beautiful hiking spots around the world. Seeing photos of a hiking leader in Xinjiang made me restless, but I also have a clear sense of my own abilities. Ahhhhhhh— I want to become stronger, I want to transform. At certain points in life, you suddenly say things you usually don’t say. For example, that day on the mountaintop at Daping Tang, I posted on social media: First have self, then be unshackled. This was the first time I truly felt: I began to understand myself. I increasingly know what kind of life I don’t want to live. Friends picked sour jujube pits while hiking, and they were made into bracelets worn on the wrist. My bracelet has 8 sour jujube pits, 4 given by each of two friends. I think I will always remember the friendship between us. I also met a few local sisters from Guangxi in the outdoor group. They are great at hiking, catching chickens with their bare hands, and cooking wild food. Every day I eat a bowl of Guilin rice noodles; the 5-yuan Guilin rice noodles are a bit addictive. Like a mayfly in heaven and earth, a tiny speck in the vast sea. This is my state of mind since coming to Guilin. I think there is a magnetic field between Guilin and me, which is why I love it so much. I will come again. This is one of my life cities now. Sometimes I feel my life is like being in the wind, everything beyond my control, yet it seems to be built by my choices. The wind is already pushing me. Next stop is Dali. Yunnan is also a paradise for hiking lovers. I think I will continue to be a child of nature there.