As soon as they were out of Shouning, Mei called Guo, who would pick them up from the bridge outside Xiadang. The excitement began.
All the way, with zigzags, the spectacular scenery was interesting to Ming and charmingly familiar to Mei. There were mountains upon mountains; always a river ran through a village to another; often a waterfall brightened the views in a valley; a lot of rounded tea terraces were shrouded in the clouds; the lush greenness of the forests and the striking yellow of winter fi elds naturally formed a singular palette. Above all, the road was much improved - more smooth and fewer bumps. Most impressively, a new bridge crossed over a broad river, hung between the waists of two mountains, cutting off the old road in a “V” shape, which was dreadfully deep, seemingly bottomless, but still distinguishable.