Gustav Flaubert once said; “Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” Icannot help but agree more with this statement, indeed a lot of wisdom can be gathered through travel and I was fortunate enough to be part of a team that explored some of the most beautiful scenic spots the city of Zhenjiang has to offer.

The tour, held on the 6th of October, was organized by the Hand-in-Hand association in conjunction with Panda tour began from Beigu Shan which is also known as ‘the first Jiangshan under the heavens’. Beigu Shan Park has the most ruins of Zhenjiang "three kingdoms", most of which are related to Sun Liu alliance. One of the parks most eye-catching structures was the iron tower which is more than 2000 years old. The people renovated the iron Tower in 1960 and while doing so, unearthed more than 2800 relics, including gold coffins, Buddhist relics, etc.

The Ganlu temple which is also about 1000 years old was another interesting site we visited, the it is the residing place of the Monks and is rich in Chinese culture.

We then found our way down the mountain to the banks of the famous Yangtze river were we paused for a break. Our next attraction was Jinshan Park which can be accessed by bus number…. As the cool breeze of the Yangtze blew across, we got some sweet melodies from old Chinese folks. Jinshan is well known for poets, cartographers and scholars. At the gate of Jinshan temple, look up at the inscribed board of "Jiangtian Zen Temple", which was written by the emperor Kangxi in Qing dynasty. Our third and final stop was Xijindu temple within an ancient street called Xijindu which was built on the Yangtze River, so you can see that the ticket door is engraved with the word "pillow river". Making your way through the temple and worship areas you could see clearly how Chinese culture is displayed. Moving up and down the hills makes you understand the how hiking can be a formidable yet beneficial task. Entering and exiting caves and secret places could speak a million words about how deep rooted Chinese tradition is. The entire trip was quite interesting, we discovered old Chinese literature and walk our way into thousand-year-old caves. We also tasted some Chinese delicacies and wrote on fortune stones and gametes.

We want to thank the Hand-In-Hand volunteers for this great initiative and call for more of such fun-filled ventures. We also thank Panda Trip for their Hospitality. It was a memorable day indeed.

By Mr. Roy Ntsinu Mbifi