Musings
- Holly Wong
Hohhot and Nanjing
Enjoy
Life Between Huhhot and Nanjing
by
Holly Wong - March 2002
Every city has its good
seasons and bad ones, so if you can live in different cities in different
seasons, just as the wild geese do, you will live a comfortable life.
The first time when I
arrived in Nanjing two years ago, Nanjing was in its worst season - summer.
The weather was terribly hot. I remembered that I had to carry my huge luggage
walking along the narrow alley to my college under the intense sunshine. What's
worse, there were countless number of mosquitos that bit me the whole night.
I always considered that day as my worst day in my life.
Contrary to Nanjing, summer
in Huhhot, my hometown, is as nice as in heaven. At the coming of the rainy
season the dry air turns to wet, and the temperature remained around 10 to
25 degrees Celsius never too hot to use an air conditioner. We enjoy all kinds
of delicious ice creams made from fresh milk (unlike in Nanjing, they make
them with powdered milk), and sweet watermelons - they are local specialty
of my hometown with better quality than other places.
But in spring, it is the
other way around. Spring in Huhhot is so horrible. There are always savage
sandstorms which can make the daytime as dark as night. However, spring in
Nanjing is excellent. The weather is warm and wet with gentle wind touching
people's faces. Sitting on grass in the noon of a sunny day is really nice.
According to the differences,
I think that living spring in Nanjing and summer in Huhhot, one can live as
comfortable as in paradise. What about autumn and winter? Autumn is always
good either in Nanjing or in Huhhot. But winter is cold in both cities. In
Nanjing, one feels cold especially indoors so I often wear a lot of clothes
when sitting in classroom, just like a bear, which makes me hate winter more.
The continual raining makes the weather worse.
In Huhhot, still, one
feels colder when walking outside. Fierce wind hits people's faces painfully.
As winter is well in neither
of the two cities, I have a new wish: find a city with a nice winter. By then,
I will enjoy a really wonderful life across four seasons.
