[Russia] Saliakaeva Olesia, Northwestern Polytechnical University
Whenever I got to a strange place, I’d like to take photos as a souvenir and record my new experience. One of my favorite photos is the Mount Huashan, which has great significance to me. In this photo, I stand on the south summit of Mount Huashan with a sweet smile. This journey lasts in my life forever, and I will tell you why.
It has always been my small dream to climb to the top of a mountain to enjoy the sunrise in my childhood. Meanwhile, there are no big mountains in my hometown, which makes me very disappointed and helpless. However, after coming to China, I heard that there was Mount Huashan, one of the “five famous mountains”, in Shaanxi Province. The chance to realize my dream has finally come. I made up my mind to climb Mount Huashan and meet the beautiful dawn at the top of the peak.
On the day of the climbing, I went to bed early to ensure the vitality and set out around 6 pm. Since I had to watch the sunrise at the peak, I have to climb the mountain all night, which was an exciting adventure. Arriving at the foot of the mountain, I looked up, the white clouds floating in the mountains between the lush green cypress and pine trees, which is really a beautiful scenery! I immediately began climbing with great confidence. But after a short while, I began to pant. Maybe it’s because I hadn’t been practicing mountain climbing for a long time, but whether I had the strength or not, I decided to continue my climbing upward in order to watch the beautiful sunrise.
When I climbed the mountain, it was always accompanied by a feeling of exploration, because Mount Huashan was really dangerous. Sometimes when the clouds floated over, I could not see the end of the road; sometimes I thought it was nearing the hilltop, and then I found the mountain road hiddenbehind the boulders, which made me feel novel and exciting. Although most of the mountain roads are steep, all of the mountains have street lights and chains beside the road, which look very safe and strong.
As night falls in the mountains, a magical picture of the sky appears, and hundreds of millions of stars look like shining diamonds on the dark blue sky, as the whole universe opened the door to us. At that moment, I was fascinated by the scenery and almost forgot the time. At that moment, I wanted to always stand under the sky, breathe the fresh air and touch the mysteries of the world.
However, a sudden drizzle made the stone floor becoming wet and slippery. I had the idea of giving up, but the crowd before andafter me went ahead despite of the bad weather, and their bravery and strength encouraged me to continue climbing. As the steps of the mountain road became steeper and narrower, everyone lined up nearly and unhurriedly, grasping the chains on both sides and slowly moving forward. During the process, I saw a moving scene that people were holding each other’s hands while climbing the ladder safely. At this moment, I was moved by the unity and strength of a group of strangers.
When I nearly reached the top of the mountain, I hardly had any strength. So I found a place to rest for a while. Then I heard the people next to me say to the friend: “Relax, don’t be afraid, as long as you climb up, you are the best!” Hearing this, I realized that everyone has a time to feel fragile, but only you are brave enough, you can overcome all the difficulties. If I was frightened by the difficulties, I would have defeated myself. I summoned up the courage and told myself: “In this way, no matter how tired, I want to move forward bravely!” I held the handrail, slowly stood up and finally climbed to the top of the mountain!
While waiting for sunrise in the dark, I first saw a bright red dot in the clouds, and slowly the sky brightened, then seeing the plants and white boulders in the mountains. As the sun gets brighter, the most beautiful picture of sunrise appears! At the moment of sunrise, the clouds in the sky and the scenery on the mountain have changed dramatically with the strengthening of the light. Nature seems to have become a great painter, constantly changing the color, tone and texture, and every second presents us a magnificent oil painting.
Then I finally understand why everyone has to see the dawn at least once in their life, because only in this way can you realize how wonderful the birth of a new day is! At this moment the difficulty, fatigue and fear of climbing were forgotten. I think, without all the way of sweat I cannot see such beautiful and legendary Mount Huashan, and my efforts are worth it.
The experience of climbing Mount Huashan tells me a truth: “Nothing is difficult in the world, as long as you are determined to conquer it.” There may be beauty on the top and at the foot of the mountain, but the process of climbing can make your heart grow and become stronger. I believe that as long as you have the perseverance, you can climb to the summit of the “life”.
The story is from "My Beautiful Encounter with China" Essay Competition organized by the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchanges (CSCSE).
