Qingning’s Journal: Love in the Morning Mist of Maple Lake

The Love Story of Qingning: Love in the Morning Mist over Feng Lake is set in the small town of Qingning and tells the love story of Lin Sen and He Jing, from their first meeting in the morning mist over Feng Lake to weathering every storm and growing old hand in hand. At their first meeting, the reeds by Feng Lake captured on a film camera meet the line “The reeds grow thick and green” on the pages of the Book of Songs, sparking romance. Along the way, they overcome the distance of living apart between Shanghai and Nanjing, their elders’ prejudice, and the complications of a coworker’s admiration, facing each challenge together and staying true to each other. After marriage, love settles into the rhythms of everyday life: soft-centered eggs in the kitchen, their daughter Taoyao’s laughter, the bamboo weaving and hot porridge of their longtime neighbors, and their shared mission to bring the culture of the Book of Songs together with rural revitalization.

The story follows the morning mist over Feng Lake, peach blossoms on the old streets, and the apple orchards by Qing Creek. Through evocative details like bamboo weaving, film cameras, and a collection of maple leaves, it weaves together three chapters: “A Poetic First Meeting,” “Through Storms Together,” and “Growing Old Hand in Hand.” In the end, it arrives at the truth of “staying true to the heart with which you began”: love is not a fleeting spark at first sight, but the work of turning that spark into the warmth of daily life and devotion into lasting peace. In the ordinary days of Qingning, “we” write the longest love poem of all.