Last year, I was fortunate to have another memorable experience of my life, walking up sixty thousand stone steps carved into the mountainside of the Huangshan Mountains in Anhui Province, China.
The number sixty thousand is after returning, missing the mountain and searching for information on Google. Most of the time there, I found myself blending with the mountain in an inexplicable way, breathing in the cold air, watching the sunlight pouring over the sea of clouds, bathing myself in the majestic nature.
Sometimes, I have to stop my mountain sickness to remind myself to focus on each breath, each step, lest I run out of breath, or lose my footing in the middle of the steep turns. I also remind myself to fully enjoy those rare moments because I know it will be very difficult to return again. Sometimes, I find myself standing hesitantly on the cliff, looking at the layers of mountains, interspersed with clouds, stretching endlessly as far as the eye can see...
Huangshan is not one mountain, but a series of seventy-seven peaks. There are many different entrances. There are many ways to start the journey. I did not know this until I discovered that I had arrived at the wrong starting point, having absentmindedly boarded the wrong bus.
But it’s okay, I just keep going, letting my intuition guide me, to see where each step will lead me. Going just to go, not to reach the finish line. Because inherently, there is no place in this world that should be called the “finish line”. Hoang Son is vast, life is the same. Sometimes the place we start from is where they want to go and we are also walking step by step to where they started from, or have passed through.
There are times when I stand at the foot of the mountain and look up, curious about what awaits me beyond that mountain. Sometimes hidden behind the mountain in front is a cool stone platform under a maple tree, where I can sit down and reward myself after heavy steps.
Sometimes unexpectedly, a mountain opens up a paradise that I have never imagined. Sometimes I calmly realize that behind that mountain there is nothing, just a downhill path to prepare for another higher peak waiting for me to discover .
At some point in the journey, every step up or down brings pain to the knee joints and the same fatigue. But going up or going down, it is still a step and has its own beauty. If you do not go down, how can you be ready for new peaks?
There is a saying in the world: "If you have visited the five famous mountains, including the Eastern Taishan Mountain, the Western Huashan Mountain, the Central Kunshan Mountain, the Southern Hengshan Mountain, and the Northern Hengshan Mountain, you will not need to visit any other mountain in the world.
People say so, but I know that ahead of my life there are still many, many roads waiting for me to go forward, then back, I will be brave, strong to step up when needed, then willingly step down like the story told today.
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