another world

I just returned from a trip to China. Suffering from some major jet lag, as it is 2:25 AM as I am writing this. One of the last places I visited was the village of Wu Zhen near Shanghai in the Zhejiang Province. Of all that I toured throughout China, this struck me as the most vastly different, but also the most magical. It is a water village, totally self-sufficient and strictly traditional. As it became a more popular tourist spot, visitors pay a fee to get in, much like a museum, yet life goes about as normal within. 

One beautiful quality that the Chinese have a firm grasp on is to not only remember the past, but preserve it and practice it, so that it is still very much a part of who they are. Though China is on a fast track to everything modern and new, tradition is extremely prevalent, especially when undisturbed by outside influence. Perhaps this is why this village struck me as so magical. Undisturbed beauty, routine, and character, in many ways the same as it was 1300 years prior. Same narrow streets, weathered cobblestone, traditional foods, and methods of life. The vibrant life within, surrounded by it's pure serenity, is truly another world that I admire.