So adorable is the nature, and so challenging was the journey. It was full of obstacles, challenges and fun. Within the short twenty-eight hours, an awareness of environmental impacts, friendship, leadership and team-working and surviving skills were greatly improved.

All packed, we left school at about eight. A neat assembly line was formed in order to take the bags inside. Sitting on the bus and chatting with my walking, cooking and sleeping partner Anthea, I felt generally relaxed, despite the fact that my heart was paradoxically filled with excitement and nervousness. It was, after all, my first ever expedition that involves both camping and hiking. It was also the second time where I leave home and stay overnight: previously, I have been on a compulsory military training programme as I entered Grade Seven, and stayed in dormitories for five nights. The trip was really boring, as it was filled with commands, dirty food, insects and stuff... I was sure that our expedition is going to be tons of fun! On the way, the sight of my ex-home called my sweet memories back. The very moments when I left it less than a month ago seemed so clear in my mind that my vision was quite occupied with the scene. What I had to leave behind, I had to, truly. Flashbacks flew though my mind, or rather slipped deep inside heart, my soul. I was a little girl, who was really serious on time management. I was taught how to make timetables when I was in kindergarten, and that wonderful evidence was left in the house... I have put in great efforts, always. And now, it is time for me to repay myself. I remember, the time I knew what expectation is. It happened last year, when we were asked to write a letter to ourselves in the future, and I wrote about my high expectations for myself since I had memories.

The song “Memory” from the musical “Cats” echoed in my head. Two hours escaped from us gently, as we arrived at a little village. A puppy greeted us and was eagerly begging the boys for food. The first group kicked off the arrival spot to begin the exciting adventure, while we waited for them.

Roosters and dogs were common creatures in the villages. No wonder there is a Chinese proverb called “Ji Quan Xiang Wen” (鸡犬相闻), which may be translated as “the roosters and the dogs hear each other”.

Shortly after gazing at the surrounding environment, we set off at 10:45. We soon discovered that we were on the wrong way. It was, however, nice, that we were shown the logical way of getting to know our position by looking at the surrounding geographical features on the map. With excitement, we saw the other group, which was also lost at the very spot. Luckily, we were able to get to the valley, where we had our lunch. Everything seemed so still that I could not believe that I was not out for a pleasant little picnic. Shutting my eyes, and hearing the birds’ chantings, joy occupied my heart. But it was not it. My sweat and my cap that covered my ears and neck alarmed me that I was out with a serious task: to challenge myself and to go beyond the limits.

I stayed vigilant all the way, and whenever I felt tired for I was not used to hiking, there were always kind hands that reached out to me to offer me with the warmest help. Happily accepting the assistance, I was able to move on very fast. Faith and friendship was built in the group, and we were constantly cheerful despite all the obstacles that we were facing. It was a special day, as Se Hoon became sixteen on the day. Strong and determined as he is, I am greatly inspired by his spirit of commitment, as he was putting himself in a situation where his family wasn’t there to celebrate, but he was instead, to walk for hours and hours in a foreign country. He is still emergent in Chinese, so that he always grinned and said, ‘听不懂’ (I cannot understand it). I understand that it was hard for him to stay included in the group in some ways due to the language barriers. Anthea is from Malaysia, and Danny is from Myanmar; both are fluent Chinese speakers who are in Language A. Se Hoon, on the other hand, has been in China for less than a year, and is working quite hard to learn this complicated language.

Indeed, I do travel a lot. I have been travelling with my parents since I was five, when I first visited a foreign country - Korea. And within months, I got to Australia for a short vacation. My father usually rents a car and drives for long hours, and I would sit at the back of the car and ask naively, ‘Daddy, how many hours are there till we are getting to our destination?’ The answer may sometimes be optimistic and unrealistic. My fear would increase as soon as I hear the answer of a newly-invented word, ‘slightly longer than half an hour’. My heart would sink, as the phrase can be ambiguous, and can stand for hours. On this trip, I sometimes ask my teammates and whoever was leading the group this question. Fortunately, the map can be observed so that I could get a general idea of the trip. It is truly magical and curious to think, at some point, that the map and each of our steps were so closely associated. Hike, hike, hike...

Oops. I fell down with a loud ‘BANG’. A nasty twig trapped me over, and my head hit the ground, leaving sudden dizziness. I could feel Mr. Skov and the group members approaching me with care, and felt comforted. Luckily, I was generally fine. Getting up with my natural strength and determination, we continued the trip.

Sucking the tube from my hydration bag, we arrived at another scenery spot. My feet was, at the moment, wet and filled with water. The heat of the body cooled off, and the anxiety in the spirit dissolved into happiness. I was no longer worried about passing the streams anymore, for I could not possibly get any wetter.

A really memorable moment emerged as we reached the place where we would take a break. The place was quite crowded with tourists, to our surprise. We were then not used to seeing so many people, for our morning was spent rather quietly. I did have some troubles getting across a huge rock, where I had to climb to the top of it and slide down to reach the ground. Unfortunately, I was stuck in the middle of it and I lost my balance due to the heavy rucksack. Eventually, it was truly relaxing to feel the hard earth under my feet. Relief filled inside my heart, and so did gratitude.

Groups of tadpoles in the clear water were the next creatures that I encountered. I tickled them and felt the jelly-like texture and the coolness of the little stream, while water filter was used to get us clean water. ‘Human ingenuity’ were the two words that bumped into my head: the very water that people easily fall into is filtered by this lovely little device, is it not brilliant indeed? Admiring the bewildering sight, I realised that I was not consuming enough water. This was later pointed out, and I was to drink more water to keep myself hydrated.

The other group joined us shortly, and we left the place. At the moment, we were facing a great challenge of climbing upwards via some huge stones. There was a rope that assisted us, and with the kind instructions and words of caution, I got there successfully, thanks to Mr. Skov’s helping hand and his offering to get my rucksack for the moment.

Donkey droppings were everywhere. As Anthea was leading the team at the moment, she constantly warned us, ‘poo’. After walking for a while, a skinny donkey and its rider greeted us. We asked the farmer for the way to get to Longquanyu, and marched there. Taking another short break, we were glad to be halfway through.

As the word ‘Longquanyu’ welcomed us to the little village, we were extremely happy as we yelled victoriously, ‘HOORAY, HOORAY!!’. At the Village Committee, we saw some old ladies and asked them for the way to Dongsancha and Xiangtun Village. As their recommended route was contradictory to the map, we insisted to walk on the Southeast direction, only to find that we were not getting there. Returning, we not only met one of the female villagers, but also met the other team for the countless time of the day. It is a small world, after all... While we were waiting for them to hike further from us,

We departed again. Aching backs and sweaty faces did not provoke a word of complaint from any of us. All we did was to walk and to chat occasionally. As we race-walked, the most pleasing sight at the moment appeared. It could have been a hallucination or a mirage, who knows, but it was - the beloved BCIS bus. Mr. Driver, in his pinkish T-shirt, was to stay in the nearby area overnight in case of emergency. We thanked him, filled our water bottles and hydration packs, and were ready to walk to the campsite.

There was no map, but the route was fairly straightforward and easy. Determined to get there before six, we walked fast. It was quite pleasing to see that we were fast and vigilant about the directions all the time. What provoked some ‘wows...’ was the scene where Ms. Bennett and Ms. Hillman waved to us with huge grins, INSIDE the bus. However, Ms. B was so kind that she lifted the heavy ten litres of water plus the huge bottle to the campsite. ‘Rock, Scissor, Stone’. And the winner is, as always, Ms. B!

Night time approached, as we set up the shelters. After getting the sleeping mats, sleeping bags and sleeping bag liners into the shelters, Anthea and I prepared for dinner - 300 grammes of spaghetti with sauce. Setting up the stove was relatively easy, though I may need some reviewing before the assessed expedition. It was getting late, so the head torch had now started its duty for the night. As we waited for the pasta to get evenly heated after getting them into halves, thunder roared. I realised that due to dehydration, I was not even close to feeling hungry. However, I forced myself to get some energy from our dinner. I reflected about my day so far, and took some pride for myself while feeling somewhat scared. There were some places where I could have easily fall down. I was loosing some energy by midday, and I frequently felt that I was very close to being tripped over by some little twigs or plants. Luckily, I was not badly wounded after the risky fall.

The dinner was now ready. Anthea was really kind, as she let me have some first as she prepared the rest of the pasta and the sauce. We dined in our comfortable shelter, and were not as talkative as we were in the bus for we were both quite tired. Anthea is quite an experienced camper: she revealed that she had her first camp at the age of seven. The sleeping bag, she told me, is really thin in Malaysia due to the climate. Since then, she enjoys camping, and though she also hikes, she prefers camping with friends than hiking. As a relatively new member of the BCIS community, I consulted her for some ECW details, which she gladly replied to. Meanwhile, we shared some marshmellaws as desserts.

At eight thirty, we had a brief meeting where we concluded about the day. So far, our group did pretty good, but we concluded that we needed to stop less often though it was great that we checked our direction very often. We also sang the birthday song together for Se Hoon.

It was raining. raindrops joined the ground happily as old friends reunite. Home, sweet home. Emotions flew inside my mind, and my hands could not help but to reach out for my cellphone. They must have been thinking about me, my parents. Eagerly, I dialed the familiar number, and spoke. Mum’s voice was so mild, so gentle, that my tears circled in my eyes. Thinking about the mighty rocks and steep paths that we would pass from the early morning of the next day, my heart was trembling, but roaring due to its vanity, dignity and pride. Just as the phone was passed to my father, a voice far away woke me from the sea of memories, from my emotional mind. Ms. Bennett stood there and urged me to stop calling, and to text instead, avoiding the risk of being too emotional. Indeed, she was quite right. I comforted myself while I texted them, received a calm message in return, and turned it off.

The night was not easy. As I dived into the sleeping bag, I recognised that I was lying on a tab on the bumpy ground, on a raining night. Midnight would soon approach. I refused to stay up any longer, but I could not fall asleep due to the coldness. I was perfectly protected from the cold, per se, but my body shivered as if I was not well protected from the cold, ironically, late spring night. What would you usually think of, speaking of a spring night? Is it a sweetest hour of the twenty-four? Or is it a time where dreams come true, where hope is cultivated? The statement was so true for me before this very night, where the campsite was devoid of warmth and the image of dream.

It was getting quite late, I reckoned. But I knew that I was not alone. It was not completely dark, and the sound sleepers were accompanied by drowsing raindrops’ falling on the ground. Not only was that the situation I was facing, but also did the other visions and sounds inspired this humble assumption. Reader, my physical body was not asleep, nor were my thoughts. I could clearly remember the positions of our tents: the boys on our right-hand side, two groups of girls on our left, and furthest away from us, the teachers.

Raindrops, a figure that always inspire peculiar ideas in literature, seemed to be a sign which foretold the eccentricity of the particular night. Rain brought the news of Emily’s death in A Farewell to Arms, and also presented a sad and unexpected farewell in Wuthering Heights, where poor Catherine barely survived from the thunderstorm after running for her Heathcliff. Along with the smell of the fresh soil, and the gentle chuckles of the raindrops, audible was the boys’ whispers. Though I could not get what exactly they were talking about, I knew that they were widely awake. Rolling over and over in the sleeping bag which Whitney had kindly lent me, I sang myself a lullaby to caress myself, in my inner self.

My conscious faded, slowly, slowly, and drifted...

When I awoke, it was not broad day, but it was bright and foggy. The gaps on our shelter allowed me to get a view of our campsite. Grass and trees, the green plantations bid us good morning. It was still chilly, and the watch informed me that the time was 5:15 a.m.

Five minutes later, Yoyo started her wakeup duty, where she went around to ‘pull people out of their beds’ (just kidding, she was not so brutal :D ). She looked as if we were camping in fall, reminding me that the place was quite cold.

The rain had stopped. It was so silent that we could nearly hear the ants walk. The silence was broken with some roosters’ cuckoo. We were getting up slowly. Due to the lack of the precious water, we didn’t brush our teeth in general. Instead, I got some gums to refresh my drowsy mood. Our breakfast was quite simple - muffins and water. But I was not hungry either, though I further forced myself to finish it.

After packing up and checking the campsite, we were ready to go. It was a shame that we forgot to cover one of the holes and failed to discover some trash at first. Group One started their journey first, and we were left with Ms. B to play a beautiful game called ‘rabbits’ (it is the year of the Rabbit, after all). I was punished once for not getting the game right, as I was ordered to suck some water from my hydration bag for five seconds. Feeling everyone’s curious glances, I merely managed not to laugh and spill the water as I drank it under Ms. B’s rhythmic counting. Ren’s punishment was to say sincerely, ‘I love IA’ for five times. They were not punishments, really, but were designed our own good.

Dreams are so magical. So many movies and books are associated with the concept of the mysterious dream, for instance, ‘dream within a dream’ was used in ‘Inception’. During our expedition, we enjoyed a moment where the boys communicated to us their dreams. It appeared rather strange to see some immaturity from the teenage boys, as they expressed their fears earnestly. Imagine bunches of insects attacking you at night! Indeed, we were in fact, lying on the top of the ground, a habitat for a diversity of insects. ‘I have a dream, a fantasy’... This verse from the musical ‘Mamma Mia’ got stuck in my head. It was wonderful that our friendship developed over the short day, for we built trust between each other. Ren said that he dreamt of a farmer who carried a knife, and was going to destroy their shelter and kill them. As I had anticipated, they did not get a good rest either, but we are young and energetic that another ten kilometres’ walk would not have been a serious problem.

The first challenge greeted us with sarcasm. Indeed, after passing the terraces, we were encountered with some really steep paths. Though it was early in the morning, I almost lost my own confidence. As I climbed and climbed, I became quite desperate: the path seemed so endless that I could feel its infinity. Whenever I felt that we should take a rest somewhere, it was confirmed that we could not do as we pleased. Though I was walking as the third fastest person in this strong team, I sometimes doubted if we could ever make it to our destination. We were told that there were lots of steep downhill and uphill paths on the second day of our trip, and at the moment, I could feel it. Looking at my watch and wishing that time would go faster, it was obvious that we had to walk for another nine hours or so. Feeling half dead but proud at the top of the hill, my glasses were seriously blurred by the fog and the dirt. The scenery was very welcoming, indeed, and the noises of the quarry echoed in our ears. Ms. B got us some really nice nicknames. Mine was ‘S’ for silent, as I kept golden silence all the way for I was feeling dreadful though my legs were moving mechanically; Anthea was named ‘cut’ for she got some cuts and bandages; Se Hoon, surely, was named ‘TBD’, not ‘to be decided’, but for not understanding Chinese (Ting Bu Dong)... The other team joined us shortly, and we shared some nice food among ourselves.

Now, my turn to lead the team came. I was quite excited in general to be designated in such a position, but nervous at the same time as I would feel really sorry if people walk for extra miles due to my navigation mistakes. The pressure provoked me to be extra-cautious. My strength, surprisingly, the compass seemed to guide me and my determination also. Feeling that the others were following me, I sped up without feeling tired for some reason. The route was sometimes steep, and sometimes normal. After that, each of us jumped to the quarry area. The huge rocks rubbed against my feet, which now felt utterly uncomfortable. As we walked into the other team again, we waited for some time while Ms. B showed us some tips to tighten our shoelaces, and taught me the best way to navigate using the map and the compass. I was then more confident.

I simply loved the next part of the trek: the Pretty Valley. Walking in a forest under the sunlight seemed really fun, relaxing even. Sometimes, I even felt that we were simply stopping for a picnic, though my heavy backpack reminded me that we were challenging ourselves. A theory that IA came before IB was raised by Ms. B, as a key event of the trip. We then arrived at the place where we could see the train compartments and count them, while admiring the splendour of the white rocks on both sides of the road. Furthermore, it was quite enjoyable that the road was now wide and easy for us to navigate.

In the meantime, however, my feet could not walk anymore. Collaboration was truly touching at the moment. Ms. Bennett quietly walked away from us, seeing my situation. I sat down on the ground, and examined the foot. Danny, who was longing to get a foot massage at the time, volunteered to take out his first-aid kit. Before the trip, he told me that the only thing that he could not get was the blister ointment, and asked if anyone would even get blisters. My answer was, ‘Who knows?’ Well, ironically, I am the ‘who’ here. My memories flashed back to the time when we were doing our class drama performance, where Danny played a doctor. Since then, he has become ambitious that a doctor is the future career for him. Now, it was his practise time. It was proven that he was quite skillful, and I sincerely wish that he can be a successful doctor in the future!

Feeling better, we hurried to catch up with Ms. B. Seeing the BCIS bus was a relief, as we got some lunch. Anthea got some sausages and nice hot dog bread, so we had a great meal though I was not hungry in particular. After inviting Ms. B to get some bread, I was told to have some more myself. Therefore, I did. And we were ready for the last three hours of the journey. My heart was pounding with unease, for I feared that accidents might happen when we were nearly done with the practise journey. But after walking quite fast all morning, I felt comforted in my inner emotions. Sadly, my glasses were damaged.

Danny became the leader. Frequently, we timed and planned the trip, and the route was generally easy. We did pass through some caves, where we used the torches to guide our way. I felt that I was quite energetic that I could not even stop walking. In fact, the figure of my mum was luring me to move on fast, and my Oxford dream as well. I had been dreaming of going to the University of Oxford for further studies, so in achieving the dream, I regard every challenge in my life necessary. This particular physical and mental challenge was vitally important in my mind, and whenever I felt tired, I would shut my eyes to get the vision of the beautiful English city, to feel the light breeze there, the cultural beauty and so on. It was the power of the dream that guided me to my road of brightness. More careful than ever, I checked for rocks that might have tripped me over, for I could feel my intense desire to survive before I even pay Oxford a visit this summer, when I would attend a two-week summer programme.

We took a group picture at this point. However, I looked quite unnatural on the photo for a bee was screaming at me the moment the photograph was taken. Then, we basically moved on until we got to a place where a farmer told us that the other group was just nearby. His dog barked, as it was aggressive and unfriendly. The sight of our old friends was quite pleasing, and we had some chit-chats there before they set off first. Ms. B always called me Alice for some reason, but I assured her that it was not too bad, for I was planning to visit the Alice’s Shop in Oxford a month later. She wondered why I had this British accent, and I informed everyone that I learnt it by watching Harry Potter. My mood was getting better by then, when we were ready to continue the hike.

The last challenge of the weekend seemed to us as an old friend, as I struggled to deal with the nearly vertical slope. The trees were really helpful whenever I could find and grab one. In the meantime, I was always sliding downwards, but was luckily assisted by Ms. B. By the time we got there, we rehearsed our nickname show which seemed hilariously fun in a carton form. Laughter caught me, as I literally could not preserve the silence when I needed to be an actress.

We walked extremely fast, and for some reason, I could not even stop as in the morning. For the entire afternoon, I was walking as the fastest person in the group, even after we caught up with the other group. The fragrance of the leaves and the nice roads were our last impressions of the Two Valleys. After waiting briefly, we got on the bus.

Cherries were Ms. B’s favourites, clearly. Apart from educating us that IA comes before IB, she treated us with some freshly picked cherries that Yoyo had bargained. Acting like a local girl, Yoyo said that she needed the 20 kuai to get home, so the price was greatly cut down.

The journey back home was rather quiet, for we were generally tired. Well, I lived to tell the tale, fully heartedly hoping for a great assessed trip. We did learn life lessons apart from building our friendship and leadership; most of all, we enjoyed the trip and felt greatly valued from such a challenge. During our last IA meeting session for this term, we rehearsed our nickname show one last time: luckily, my nickname was changed to ‘Banbie’ the deer. Honestly, I love it. When I was little, Mum told me the story of the baby deer, where she fell into the water and got wet. Though I was a little baby by then, I comprehended the story well and licked the paper, trying to make her dry. My love for books started then, I guess. The name suits me, because I also have long, skinny legs that sometimes led me to fall from the steep mountain paths; also, I fell into the water too!

Sincerely, I would say, ‘I love IA’!