Traveling the Northwest | Zhongwei Travelogue

✈️In the summer of 2021, after a year without travel, I traveled thousands of kilometers to finally set foot on the land of the Northwest again. 🇨🇳On the vast map of China, this is the place that haunts me the most. Standing on this land, I can almost feel the atmosphere of the strong Han and Tang dynasties a thousand years ago, the glorious era of Han culture. 🕌Zhongwei, a small city at the junction of Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, and Gansu provinces, who would have thought that the famous ancient poem by Wang Wei, "The desert is lonely and the smoke is straight, the long river sets the sun round," was written here? 🗿In my eyes, Zhongwei is ancient and heavy. Outside the Great Wall, by the ancient road, the Yellow River water comes from the sky. The soldiers of the frontier fortress have long since died, leaving only a section of the Great Wall ruins standing quietly, silently guarding the ever-flowing Yellow River. 🏚In my eyes, Zhongwei is desolate and vast. Not only because of the sparse vegetation and the yellow sand, but also because of the dilapidated rural villages that bring a sense of suffering to all living beings. 🏜️In my eyes, Zhongwei is optimistic and strong. Outside the desert, there is the tranquility of a small city, and the passion of several generations of sand control people fighting against the desert. In the desert, there is endless loess, and the enthusiasm of Zhongwei people for "friends from afar." 🌵The barren land and harsh environment cannot bind the people on this land, just like the oasis in the desert, where there is little water, but it can still nurture a world. 🚄With a little nostalgia, I boarded the train back to Beijing. I believe that one day, when I pass through this land again, I will see a more beautiful "pearl of the frontier."