Changbai Mountain Travel Notes | You Only Live Once Please feel free

Rushing from the dry cold in the north to the humid and cold south, the sudden reaction of the pores in the body also means the end of this journey.

This year has really been a time of mourning and living, with many travel destinations planned and many canceled. I saw a joke online, "Those who still plan to travel after going through various domestic epidemic prevention policies are the real heroes." To me, that seems to be the case.

Traveling for my 19th birthday again always gives me a strong sense of ritual. It’s not that I’m afraid of the passage of time. It’s just that life is boring to begin with. It’s rare to have a legitimate reason to toss around, so I want to be passionate and free. Those who originally planned to go skiing in Altay, Xinjiang, changed their route to Changbai Mountain due to the epidemic.

In the end it’s always the old saying “everything is for the best”! Special thanks to Kathy for her remote arrangements and Carmen's personal handling of this trip.

For a long time, I have always had few requirements for myself, both in work and life. When everyone else is thinking about climbing up, I only want to cultivate my own one-third of an acre of land, and live without any pursuit. The same goes for sports. I like hiking, boxing, and doing things that I think are cool. I accept giving up halfway and accept my mediocre qualifications.

Sitting on the cable car, we climbed slowly along the top of the mountain. It happened to have just snowed, and the snow field was covered with thick powder snow, and the originally exposed loess was also covered with white snow. The weather was gloomy, a little gray, and a little cold. It seemed like there was only me and the unmanned cable car going down in the empty valley. The sudden feeling of loneliness also made this moment seem too magnificent, and my heart skipped a beat.

This is probably my second time skiing. I put on my helmet and blocked out the noise, sliding down the hillside alone. The bare tree trunks along the way are covered with white snow, which shines brightly when the sun shines. Wanda's ski trails are longer than those I've skied on before, and the snow is richer. Accompanied by the scenery, it doesn't seem so cold.

I always hope that I can improve a little bit every time. I am used to gliding on the back edge, and I want to learn how to do it well on the front edge this time. That is to say, I don’t have much athletic talent. Even though I hired a coach, I still fell down on the snow track again and again. Falling down again and again, getting up again and again, hoping that I can do better next time.

This trip actually didn’t have many plans or requirements, and I always went with the mentality of changing if it didn’t work out. There are too many things that are uncontrollable this year, so I advise myself to just enjoy the moment.

In the middle of the trip, we temporarily changed the route to Erdaobai River. If Tianchi opened, we would go there. If Tianchi didn't open, we would give up. Unexpectedly, the moment we arrived at the entrance of the scenic spot, the staff informed us that Tianchi was open. After a few days of temporary closure, it was actually open today.

As soon as I saw it, my heart skipped a beat at that moment. Standing on the top of Changbai Mountain, overlooking Tianchi, it looks particularly quiet against the backdrop of white snow. I don’t know how to describe my mood at that time, that is, the cold wind blew on my face, but it didn’t hurt. The feeling of fullness in my eyes seemed to isolate all uneasiness.

Walking in the underground forest, you will pass by towering pine trees and heavy snowdrifts. The scenery is repetitive but not monotonous. This trip suddenly made sense. Traveling is the best choice.

There is no planned arrangement, but everything is the best arrangement. Just like the demon world is drifting, so is it.

I never thought that a sentence I read recently was the origin of the name of my friend’s B&B. When I contacted him, I fell in love with it too much.

It seems that I have lost a lot and endured a lot in the past few years. The world has gone from being a place where you can reach it if you want to set out, to what it is today, where it is difficult to reach without even a single step. I was always comforted that it would get better gradually, but the reality is that it is more skinny than skinny. It seemed that I was full of hope for the future and life before, but now I just want to live.

But you only live once, so please let yourself be free. The kind that are not restricted by age, the kind that are not restricted by time, do what you love and live freely.

In birthday month, I am always luckier and happier than before. I hope this happiness and good luck can continue into next year.

Thank you to my friends for accompanying me this year!