Spring in Beijing is extremely beautiful, with trees turning green, flowers blossoming and swallows flying back from the south. I still remember the descriptions of spring in my primary school text book, “The spring breeze comes. Then the willows turn green, the peach flowers bloom and show their pink petals. Then the swallows come back from south and the frogs wake up from the hibernation. It is breezing softly and the drizzling quietly…”

It was sunny last Saturday, without haze, which is a blessing in Beijing. I got up early and went to the Summer Palace to enjoy the spring. I chose a back path in the Longevity Hill, where people seldom pick, in order to avoid the crowd.

All trees are turning green, Jasminum nudiflorums, prunuses, peach blossoms and wild clover blossoms are all showing their most beautiful faces. Walking on the path lined with prunuses and peach blossoms, listening birds’ twittering, smelling the fragrance of flowers, and bathed in the falling petals, the warm sun and the breeze, I felt like I was a goddess, and the world around me was my own heaven. I would like to be here for my entire life. Suddenly I realized that why so many people in ancient China preferred to live in seclusion in a back mountain, read books and planted flowers and trees. I took off my earphones, because the twitter and the ringing from some tower could dwarf any music. I took many pictures, but all digital devices are not powerful enough to record the beauty of the nature.

I have been standing under the followers for a long time before going on with my little trip.

Then I came to the West Dyke, whose design concept came from Su Causeway in West Lake, Hangzhou, Zhejing Province. The dyke looks like a ribbon crossing the Kunming Lake, with willows and peach followers on each side. At this time, willows are in the color of light green and waving their slim branches in the spring breeze, which is the most beautiful time. Willow is one of my favorite trees. I like it not only because of the attractive appearances, but also the culture moral. In ancient China, people would use willow branches to show their unwillingness to part with their friends or relatives, for the pronunciation for willow (liu, the third tone) is similar to that of “stay” (liu, the second tone).

Some branches of the willows and followers are so low that they even deep into the lake water. And it seems that the water also wakes up in the spring. There are ripples as the wind comes, and they beat on the stones on the bank. The sound, together with the breeze and the tweeter, forms a kind of natural concert. I like to sit on the bank, closing my eyes, smelling the fragrance of followers and listening to the music from the nature, with my long hair waving with the wind. It is the most fantastic thing in the world. Now I can forget the endless work and get rid of the bad moods, and just enjoy the beauty of spring…