It is 10 in the morning, and I am travelling by raft down the Li River. The sun is already burning hot even though it has not yet reached full strength, but a calm breeze cools my skin. So far the day is wonderful, but the purpose of my trip is not just to have fun: I am following in the footsteps of Xu Xiake (1587-1641), the famous Chinese travel writer and geographer. Though Xu was from Jiangsu, he spent more than 30 years travelling throughout the country, and greatly admired my destination today — ox Gorge.
As we flow down the river, we are surrounded by steep hills sticking up into the sky-karsts. Karsts are rock formations made of limestone. They have been sculpted by water and millions of years of erosion into these beautiful natural sculptures. Guangxi is full of karsts, giving it some of the most interesting — and beautiful — scenery in the world. Xu was one of the first people to make a careful study of Guiln’s karsts and their related cave systems. He, like many people today, found them fascinating.
Suddenly, our raft hits some rapids, and I find myself covered in water. I turn to my raftsman and we share a laugh. The water not only keeps us cool, but it is all part of the adventure.
What made someone like Xu spend years traveling thousands of kilometres away from home? Perhaps it’s the same reason as mine: to explore the world and to discover new things. As Xu wrote, “A great man should in the morning be at the blue sea, and in the evening at Mount Cangwu. Why should I restrict myself to one corner of the world?
Xu was not alone. Much like today, the late Ming Dynasty was a golden age of tourism within China. People travelled hundreds of kilometres to visit temples, go mountain climbing, or explore scenery.
Yet, perhaps no one in China travelled farther or longer than Xu Xiake. At least, if anyone did they did not write about it.
【小题1】Why did the author decide to go to the Guilin?| A．Just to have fun and relax himself. |
| B．To explore the world and discover the new things. |
| C．To enjoy the scenery and recall a Chinese famous travel writer |
| D．To travel by raft down the Li River. |
| A．Xu Xiake admired the scenery of ox-Gorge but he had not been here. |
| B．Guilin’s karsts are formed by water’s erosion over the years. |
| C．The author felt frustrated while he fell into the water from the raft. |
| D．People in the Ming Dynasty enjoyed travelling around the country. |
| A．Limit. | B．Control. | C．Improve. | D．Behave. |
| A．Hardworking | B．Adventurous | C．Courageous | D．Ambitious. |
