Traveling thousands of miles from the Central Plains to Ejin to see the poplar forest is a luxurious journey, especially the thrilling and magnificent journey through the poplar forest, which makes people linger and remember it vividly.
It was during the National Day in 2015, and it wasn't too long to count. On that day, when we arrived in Ejina Banner Dalai Hubu Town in Inner Mongolia, it was the setting sun, the town was quiet and beautiful, except for the mountains of cantaloupes that were rich in food.
Our team departed the day before the National Day holiday, so technically missed the peak of travel. The team is full of dozens of people, the tour leader is experienced, clearly aware of the local accommodation, catering and scenic spots, and did not book the hotel in advance. Although it was unfamiliar to everyone, groups of three or five were free to combine to find a place to live. Our small team of five people, Teacher Li and his daughter XiaoMu, me and two others. After all, it is the peak travel season, the hotel is relatively tense, and there is no place to step on the iron shoes, we quickly found a place where five people can stay at the same time. As soon as we settled in, the lady downstairs kindly asked if we had booked tickets for poplar forest. Everyone decided to go out to dinner first, and then return to talk about booking tickets.
On the way out of the house, at the intersection, you see an advertisement for tickets on a sign outside a department store. Teacher Li went to inquire, and the price was similar to the offer of the hostess. After crossing the intersection, I saw a table outside the door of the hotel, found a façade with more customers to eat, and returned with a bright light.
We had been tired most of the day on the Black City Ruins tour, and everyone quickly returned to their accommodation to rest and discuss booking tickets. Komaki is a little princess, and Teacher Li is afraid that she will oversleep and decide to buy tickets in the scenic spot the next day. After taking turns bathing, we each went to sleep peacefully.
Early in the morning, the hostess woke us up with her tickets before dawn. Komaki was still snoozing, so we had to go to the scenic spot first. The street food bar was already ready for breakfast, and it was hurried to eat and walk along the agreed route. I remember passing through a bridge, only to see the whining crowds rushing to the scenic spot like a tide - no wonder, when leaving the black city, the vehicles that arrived later were crowded in the parking lot... When we both lined up at the scenic spot with the tickets purchased in advance, Teacher Li and Xiao Mu had to queue up at the ticket gate to buy tickets.
The Ejina poplar forest is full of vitality, unlike the black city poplar-shaped single shadow that only shows the disposition of "one thousand years do not die, one thousand years do not fall, one thousand years do not rot"... Poplar is the dance of life. When we run along the bridges to the poplar forest, it is like going to a covenant of life!
"Three thousand years of watching, just waiting for your arrival"... Ejina poplar is still tall, still vivid, still thrilled!