Living in a subtropical area, all we have are two seasons – the hot and sometimes rainy summer and the relatively cool and dry winter. With global warming, even our winter is becoming shorter and shorter. In 50 years time, it is predicted that we may no longer have any winter!
The summer is marked by temperatures hovering around 30 degree Celsius and with some typhoons (hurricanes), the winter is sometimes grey and gloomy; however many of the trees are still green albeit of a darker shade.
We like distinct seasons; this is one of the reasons why we travelled to Beijing early November this year. In Beijing, one of the places we visited was the BaiWangShan Park where we distinctly felt that we were in Autumn and Winter was not far off.
Strolling around the park was delightful, with red foliage on either side of the meandering path.
One of the attractions of the park is the display of Chinese calligraphy by some ancient scholars (top picture). As one who has just started taking lessons in Chinese calligraphy, I was greatly interested. While perusing the calligraphy, we were impressed by the sight of the red leaves against a background of black slates where calligraphy of different styles were engraved. It was clear that Autumn has set in and some colored leaves have fallen on the ground.
The park has a lot of colored foliage, it was sheer happiness just strolling around admiring the changing season that nature has revealed.
We walked on and on, passing by these twin stone arches which bear the writings that further walking beyond this point was forbidden. While here we noticed many of the trees in the vicinity were becoming bare; from here we retraced our footsteps.
In our two hours of walking among nature, we happily rediscovered a season which we dearly miss!
retireediary 