On the Way

It was an overdue long-distance training, for some reasons, not until yesterday 17^th did we five men set out from Guangzhou to begin this two-day trip, A,B,C,and me D, plus our coach whom we call Sir. Our destination is Liannan county, over 300 km. away from Guangzhou, where lived mainly the Yao people.

9 o’clock in the morning, as the car walked onto Guangcong road, A was the first to drive. His driving really sucked, and he was blamed by sir along the way.

After some 70 minutes, when A finished being taken his 15^th photo by the camera set beside the driver seat, B took over the car and drove on, who did better than A.

Everything went well, no thrilling close call ever happened, before C.

For god’s sake, C didn’t do any practice for this long trip beforehand. He sat on driver seat, then forgot about the seat belt. When he remembered to give a push on the accelerator, he forgot to steer. It was more dangerous still, when the car speeded up but went like a blind fly.

But for the coach sitting beside, we might all have had been someplace, paradise or hell. That’s not kidding, you see, there were more than 3 car accidences along the way. We three passengers were freaking out at the back seat, and my heart was floating left and right as the car turned so, up and down as the car braked and speeded.

Okay, okay, it’s my turn.

To be honest, my performance was perfect except for a little flaw in moving the car in front of a green light. The car ran at 80 to 90 km/h, on the country roads, but it seemed peaceful in the car and our partners seemed falling asleep. Everything was under control. Sir sat beside me, and didn’t speak a lot. Ennn, speechlessness is confirmation, I know.

More details, please. OK! Buddies who are going to learn driving (in china), do remember to turn on the left light, step down the clutch pedal, turned to gear 1, then study the rearview mirror and make sure there’s no car coming near, when you start moving it. Following, raise the clutch till it seems to be about going, lay off the grip brake, and give a little step on the gas. As the car speeds up, shift to gear 2, then 3, 4, 5. When it’s running fast, be cautious on the road condition, whirl the steering wheel as much as you should, according to the car speed. Be patient when the timing is bad to overtake the car in front of you. When the time comes, don’t hesitate, just go, with the right lights on, blare horn when necessary.

I kept driving until we got to Yangshan county around 5 o’clock in the dusk, and the landscapes along the road turned to be more beautiful. Later on, night fell, and hills and rivers became hazy in the dark.

“hey, guys, you see the valley over there? It’s like Yangtze Gorges.” Sir cheered to us.

We tried hard to figure it out, but failed. So we swore to sweep away her veil the next day.

Though it’s at night, our coach drove so fast and so cool !  At 7 or so, we finally arrived!

We had super in Liannan hotel, then checked in Jinzhou hotel.

So it came to the next day. On our way back we finally saw what we couldn’t wait to see the day before.

See!

The stone hills in Liannan and Yangshan were so high, so sharp, so heavy, and so strong.

On the hill side were some waters, which were so long, so clear, so calm, and so soft.

Along the waters, were some cottages, beaches, rocks, or big grassplots.

All we could see were like a long paiting, masterpiece of God, stretching itself along the high way, throughout the horizon.

Em, I am looking forward to my own driver’s license, and someday, I can drive my own car going sightseeing on this broad and mysterious land, like an acquisitive child first opening his eyes to the world.