"TRAVEL AROUND CHINA" is one of my thought while I am studying Master's degree in China. Yet, it is not possible due to time limitation and responsibility of my education. Therefore I have to choose which place in China I want to travel. Of course, the cities in Hunan provinces are my destination. Now I am living and studying in Changsha which is a city in Hunan province. I always wonder how HUNAN is and how the other cities in Hunan are.

I was very lucky that I had a good chance to participate in Yueyang-Yiyang-Changde trip of the 2nd Photo Expedition Tour. This trip began from 8th November to 10th November 2014.

On Saturday, 8th November 2014, the weather was cloudy, no sunshine and little cold. It was nice weather for travelling. It is around 2 hours from Changsha to Yueyang (岳阳). It was the first city of the trip. Yueyang city is rich with old architecture, history and natural sceneries. Today there were many Chinese who came to Yueyang tower (岳阳楼). It is not only old people but also young and children. I impressed that they like to learn their history. I saw a father was reading, translating and teaching Chinese character to his son and then the son followed him to reading loudly. This situation made me miss and remember my father, when I was a child he also used to read and teach me different books like this. This place is very nice for having walks while you can study the history and essays.

After that we went to Jushan Island (君山岛) which is located in the middle of Dongting Lake (洞庭湖). This island is a story of love between Liuyi and the dragon king’s daughter. On the island, I just saw a fortune teller in China and Junshan Yinzhen tea (君山银针) that is one of the ten Chinese Famous Tea.

On the second day, the weather was still cloudy and had a little rain at Yiyang city (益阳). In this city, I felt touched by the life in countryside. It was not crowded and it was very quiet in the night. Bamboo Sea (竹海) is in Yiyang city. This was my first time that I walked along distance on a path with a lot of bamboo, the bamboo was very tall and everywhere was green color. It was a relaxing time and made me like bamboo even more. Furthermore, I had a chance to drink something that was like a hot milk tea with cereal (擂茶) among the cold weather and little rain. So delicious!

We stayed in Changde city (常德) on the last day of the trip. I think that Changde is integrated between locality and modernity yet the city is very clean. In the night, you can see flyovers that are decorated with lights made up of many colors such as blue, pink, green and etc. In addition, there are beautiful street lamps alongside some roads. The last destination of this trip was Taohuayuan (桃花源). It was an excellent place for Chinese ancestors. They lived and built this place for refuge from the war. It had a cave that was so small. There was an area for agriculture and habitat. This place has beautiful scenes and waterfall. When I listened to the story of Taohuayuan from one of the working team, I imagined the past that they might have lived. It was mysterious and amazing.

HUNAN CUISINE is one of the attractions of this trip. When I went to other provinces in China, everybody also told me that Hunan food is very delicious. My family and friends asked me how is Hunan cuisine? I told them that Hunan food is spicy and oily But I also still ask myself a question of how simply Hunan food is? But to my surprise I like it and enjoy its taste. This trip made me know that Hunan food is so delicious!! Hunan cuisine has fresh aroma and deep color.

It is a WONDERFUL TRIP!!! I did not only travel in 3 cities that have their special characteristics but I also have met nice fellow travelers. It is one of impression memory in China. I want to say thank you to working team who have good service mind to arrange the good project. In addition, I am very THANKFUL for your invitation that gave me a chance to join a great trip. This trip made me know more about HUNAN.