When I was a child, I sent a letter to the Little Trumpet radio program for preschoolers at mailbox number two in Haidian District, Beijing. I asked how the Earth was formed. I never received a reply. Later, I did my best to figure out the answer and enrolled at the East China Institute of Geology. Now that I’m retired, I can’t claim to have fully understood the question, but a complete outline has taken shape in my mind, and I feel an urge to share it with you!
In the vast reaches of the universe, the beautiful “Noah’s Ark” that carries everything we need is the Earth. Sometimes it brings tears of love to your eyes; at other times, it fills you with regret. One moment, you may see beauty all around you; the next, all you see is a desolate landscape, and you may not even have the courage to go on living. Yet in the end, all that remains is endless confusion... Earth, the planet we depend on most, you have nurtured us, but you owe us an answer: where did you come from, and where are you taking us...?
