Travel Blog: Learning to Revere Nature and Cherish Life Through Travel
Recently, a news story about a scenic area piercing live butterflies to decorate a “fairy” has attracted widespread attention. According to media reports, Nanzhao County in Nanyang City, Henan Province recently held its first Butterfly Festival, where the scenic area specially introduced a “butterfly fairy” to attract visitors. But what was shocking was that the butterfly fairy was actually a costume adorned with hundreds of live butterflies, which were pierced directly with steel pins onto a white pomegranate skirt, with some butterflies still twitching. Seeing this scene, children at the venue were scared and burst into tears. However, the ironic fact is that Nanzhao Baotianman is a national nature reserve and a World Biosphere Reserve, known for its numerous butterfly species and large population. A scenic area that is supposed to protect butterflies instead kills them for decoration, making the word “protection” a mockery. However, what prevents us from complete despair is the crying children, who remind us to cherish life.
Last year during the National Day holiday, I was traveling in Taiwan. While taking a taxi in Taipei, I was chatting with the driver. When he learned I was from mainland China, the driver started recommending delicious food and fun places to visit. When he heard I was going to Danshui to watch the sunset, the driver suddenly became very excited and told me that was a place he often went to during his school days. Whenever the sun set in the west, classmates and couples would gather in groups of three or five, waiting at the Danshui Fisherman’s Wharf. They would watch the sun’s glow gradually become softer, reflecting on the wharf and the old streets. The sunset slowly descended at the end of the sea, with sunset colors filling the sky. The magnificent and spectacular scene made people want to cry, it was so touching. He insisted I must go and experience it. This was the first time I had heard someone use the word ‘touching’ to describe the feeling of seeing a natural landscape. I asked in confusion, why was it so touching? The driver retorted, seeing such a magical and unpredictable sunset and evening glow, the beauty displayed by nature, why wouldn’t you be moved?
I suddenly felt very ashamed, because I had always thought that there were many absolutely beautiful landscapes in the world, and at most I would use words like “breathtaking” or “impressive,” but I had never used the word “moved.” The word “moved” is one we often use, but I never realized that when this frequently used word is applied to describe scenery, it could be so simple yet powerful. I think only when one holds a heart of reverence for nature can such an exclamation emerge from the bottom of one’s heart. “Moved” became the most memorable word for me during that trip to Taiwan. I don’t know if it’s because China is vast and rich in resources, or because of indifference, but when we face nature and life, we use all sorts of fancy words to describe beautiful things, yet we leave out “moved.” In the sisal groves of the botanical garden, those plump, thorny leaves were carved with “so-and-so was here”; on the base of a pagoda in Bagan, I suddenly saw “so-and-so loves you” carved in stone; on the great grasslands of various places, we watched lambs being slaughtered and skinned, thinking about roasted whole lamb.
During our travels, when beautiful scenery unfolds before us, we only feel awe-struck, finding it too beautiful for words; when delicious food enters our stomachs, we only find it tasty and want to indulge heartily, yet we never thank nature for its gifts. Friends who enjoy watching “A Bite of China” are not unfamiliar with the word “gift” – nature’s free offerings, for which recipients should be grateful. But we often forget because we haven’t yet learned to revere nature and cherish life. Many parents now like to take their children traveling, exposing them to new things and helping them understand the world. However, in this process, I’ve noticed some parents have gone astray – they begin to show off how many places their young children have been to, how experienced they are at outdoor activities, how well the children know travel guides for various regions, like seasoned travelers, turning travel into a capital for showing off. Perhaps these children will even publish books, written by their parents but credited to the children with titles like “Having Traveled Thousands of Miles,” developing personalities that are slick yet arrogant, indifferent, and conceited. From beginning to end, these parents never teach their children to revere nature and cherish life.
Just like the anatomy class we had in middle school, watching the little frogs croak and die under the knife was exciting and enjoyable. I once did something exceptionally cruel, putting a toad in an iron can and roasting it in a fire, listening to the “crackling” sounds with great satisfaction. This incident remains deeply etched in my memory to this day, and whenever I recall it, I’m filled with regret. No amount of repentance can bring back those small lives I once harmed. Now, because of a Taiwanese taxi driver’s words “so touching,” I’ve learned to face the magnificent beauty of the world and the fragile, helpless small lives with a grateful heart. When traveling abroad, Chinese people can’t help but drool when they see cheap lobsters and plump groupers, but to Jack, a Chinese person in Vancouver, nature’s gifts and the priceless value of life are inseparable. We shouldn’t disturb salmon during their spawning season, and we should limit ourselves to catching just one fish each time we go fishing. I hope that from now on, when facing nature and life, when we see birds flying under the clear sky, snails struggling to climb tree trunks, and thousand-year-old trees sprouting new branches, we also learn to feel the changes in the world with emotion and discover that the world is even more wonderful. Cai Huafeng
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