Across China with Aunt Mei
intermediatetravel212 words
Lila travels by train with her aunt, discovering China's vast size and beautiful places through rolling hills, flower fields, and a panda reserve.
Lila pressed her forehead to the train window, watching green hills blur into gray sky. She’d been sitting for six hours, but her excitement still hummed—this was her first trip across China with Aunt Mei. “Tired?” Aunt Mei asked, passing a bag of tangerines. Lila shook her head. “I just can’t believe how big it is. We left Guangzhou at dawn, and we’re still going!” Aunt Mei smiled. “China’s a big country, little one. It takes days to cross from south to west.”
By evening, the hills turned to golden flower fields, then to dark mountains. Lila slept, and when she woke, the window showed misty bamboo forests. “Sichuan,” Aunt Mei said, pointing. They stepped off the train, and a guide led them to a panda reserve. A fluffy cub rolled in the grass, and Lila gasped. “It’s even more beautiful than the pictures!” Later, as they ate spicy tofu, she thought of the flower fields, the mountains, and the panda. “You were right,” she told her aunt. “There are so many beautiful places here.”
That night, Lila took a photo of the train, lit up like a string of stars, and texted it to her mom. “China’s big,” she wrote, “but the best part is all the beauty in every corner.”