Journey to the West

On the morning of August 12, Xinghua in the Lixiahe region of northern Jiangsu was still shrouded in showers of rain. The four of us set off on a self-driving journey tracing cultural roots across seven provinces: Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, Shaanxi, Hubei, Jiangxi, and Anhui.

Our journey began in Xinghua and crossed the heartland of China. We would visit the sacred land of Confucian tradition in Qilu, admire the thousand-year-old Buddhist heritage along the Luo River, walk the ancient capital of Chang'an at the height of the Tang dynasty, seek out traces of the Three Kingdoms in Jingchu, take in the city tower renowned through the ages, and explore the clear streams and wild mountains of Jiangxi and Anhui.

This long journey of a thousand miles carried with it the warmth of everyday life and the poetry of mountains and rivers. Along the way, we could witness the weight and vicissitudes accumulated over millennia of cultural heritage, while also feeling the unpretentious warmth of everyday life. The four of us traveled together, keeping one another company morning and night for eleven days, with laughter all along the way. We took our time admiring the magnificent scenery, bent down to trace the roots of our cultural heritage, and reflected deeply on the rise and fall of dynasties, past and present. Every encounter with the landscape, every visit to a historical site or cultural landmark, would settle in our hearts and become a precious memory, unique and enduring.