Apricot shadows on the hillside, a low shepherd's song —— Turgenev Township in Yili

Having a local guide from Yili really makes a difference, especially since he is also an expert in outdoor trekking. While listening to his thrilling adventures over the years, I sat in his off-road vehicle, diving into one gully after another in Turgenev. 'Persistence pays off', just behind the mountains of the Apricot Valley, as predicted by Guide Zhang, there was a small patch of apricot trees with twisted, strong branches and dark trunks, blooming with beautiful flowers. The small cluster of apricot trees by the mountain stream, with branches like scrolls meticulously painted by an artist, some curving and spiraling, others stretching towards the sky, as if showing off their vitality to the world. The apricot blossoms, full on the trees, are white with a hint of pink, pink with a touch of purple, each one existing like a sprite, and under the light, the apricot flowers are dreamily beautiful. The light petals sway in the breeze, like a fairy dressed in pink, graceful and dancing. A touching shade of pink, with tenderness in the wind. The hillside is like draped with a green carpet, the slanting sun casting the green hillside into a dense and light patchwork of colors, smelling the fragrance of apricot flowers in the spring of Yili, feeling the tranquility and comfort of nature. The apricot flowers decorate each hilltop, with cattle and sheep scattered like pearls among the flower woods and grassy slopes, and wisps of cooking smoke drifting from the distant yurts. Under the twilight shadows, horses and herds of cattle cast long shadows, either grazing leisurely or chasing and playing. At 8 pm on the border, at this moment, after the rain, the clear atmosphere lays down a beautiful light, making the tender green and golden slope in front of me seem like a page of paper adorned with a touch of apricot flowers, the herd in the twilight like a line of small poetry on green paper, or like a few notes on a musical score❶. This long-awaited sunset light and shadow, truly softens time and intoxicates the heart.