My Journey

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Emily Chang

Words Checked: 2125 1

Words in Oxford 3000: 93%

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Chapter 1 “Who am I?”

5

Chapter 2 Journey to England

6

Chapter 3 Journey to Germany 13

Chapter 4 Journey to China

19

Chapter 5 Journey to Africa

28

Chapter 6 End of the Journey

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3

My Journey

This is a book about a wind traveling around the world. It has been to Britain, Germany, China, and Africa.

If you are

interested in what the wind has seen, just take a look in this book –My Journey

4

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------------------------------------Something continually.

blows

mildly

and

It blows over the grass, the

ground, the garden, and the treetop.

It

goes through people’s hair mischievously.

It loves to play hide-and-seek with everyone, but no one can ever find where it is. It can be touched, but no one can see it.

How

mysterious and occult it is...

I do not know where I come from, nor do I know where I will go.

“Wind,” I whisper.

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Who am I?

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I did not know why I was here.

All I

knew was that, when opening my eyes, I was already in England.

There were

well-dressed

magnificent

people

and

buildings in this country. The world famous Buckingham Palace and Big Ben were down below me. In the palace, the State Rooms form the heart of the working palace and are lavishly furnished with some of the finest treasures from the Royal Collection－ paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, Poussin, Canaletto; sculptures by Canova; 6

exquisite examples of Servres porcelain, and some of the finest English and French furniture in the world. Passing through the Ball

Supper

Room,

the

musical

entertainment at Buckingham Palace, I could hear the voices of famous performers, the sounds of the original instruments on show and some of the music specially steeping out the palace was its 39-acre garden, an oasis for wildlife, where visitors

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can enjoy a garden walk that offers superb views of the Garden Front of the Palace and the 19th-century lake.

Outside the palace,

the streets and the buildings carry the diplomatic

and

symbolize

Great

consular Britain.

flag

which In

the

surrounding area, I could also see the hour bell of the Great Clock of Westminster－ known worldwide as “Big Ben.” Passing by a tour group, a tour guide was introducing the history of the Big Ben. She said, “The tower was begun following the disastrous fire which destroyed the old Palace of 8

Westminster in 1834.

Charles Barry was

given the contract to rebuild the Palace, and his designs included a clock tower.

The

hour bell of Big Ben is eight feet in diameter, weighs thirteen point five tons, and was cast in 1858 by George Mears of the Whitechapel Bell foundry. The style of

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the

building

was

to

be

“Gothic

or

Elizabethan.”” Passing along slowly down the street, a little girl was walking hand in hand with her mother.

She was wearing a

handmade blouse and a nice skirt.

Her

mother was dressed in an elegant outfit with a famous brand necklace.

I could even

smell the mixture of rose and jasmine perfume the mother wore while blowing them.

“Mommy, I can feel something

around me. I feel good and comfortable when it touches my face. the little girl said.

What is that?”

“Sweetheart, that is the 10

wind,� Mommy replied.

Continuing along

the street, I soon arrived at River Thames.

Here I saw people leisurely having their afternoon tea. On the table, there were Chocolate

Truffle

Marquise,

Ultimate

Chocolate Blackout Cake, and Pecan Tart.

Cappuccino, Vanilla Latte, and Espresso Macchiato were served.

People chatted

happily and had their tea leisurely. All I could see in this city was the affluence and 11

peace‌ Ooops, the current was moving. I had to go.

Moving to somewhere I did not

know‌

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And now I was in Germany.

The

Berlin Wall and Branddenburg Gate were in fornt of me. father

Passing by people, I saw a

pointing

to

the

gate

to

his

three-year-old daughter. “Anna, let daddy tells you the history of the Branddenburg Gate.

It is a landmark of Berlin and a

symbol of the German consolidation, and was built from 1789 to 1791 by Carl Gotthard Langhans.

Ten years after the

thirty-year-war, in 1658 it began to extend Berlin into a fortess.

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In the place of

today’s Brandenburg Gate, a town-gate was established…” “Daddy! You’ve said that many times. Every time we are here, you will repeat that again!

I can even

memorize the words you say,” Anna said.

“My dear, it’s an occupational hazard.

You know that I am a history teacher,” her father replied.

“Never mind, Daddy.” She

then said, “Let’s take a photo together.”

The conversation of the father and daughter made me laugh lightly.

What a responsible

teacher the father was. Even taking a walk with his little daughter, he was still telling 14

the history of the gate.

Continually flying,

I came to the world famous castle－the Neuschwanstein Castle.

Hearing the voices under me, I was curious to know what happened there so I followed the source of the voices. It was the guard of the castle talking to one of the visitors.

‘This is King Ludwig’s magnificent and most famous castle, built in the neo-late 15

Romanesque style.

With its turrets and

mock-medievalism,

its

ranging

from

interior

Byzantine

styles through

Romanesque to Gothic it’s a real fairy-tale fantasy come true.

It was built between

1869 and 1886 for the Bavarian King Ludwig II.

A splendid and imaginative

“fairy-tale castle” high above the Alpsee Lake with the Alps towering above it.

The

best view of the castle and a 45m waterfall is

from

nearby

Mary’s

Bridge

(Marienbrücke), which spans a deep gorge.

On the path between this bridge and the 16

castle

is

a

wonderful

view

Hohenschwangau and the Alpsee.”

of “You

guys are lucky,” the guard continued saying.

“Why do you say so?” asked the visitor.

“Well, because this is the last day that the castle was opened for visitors.

We will

close it tomorrow because it is already November.

The castle needs to be cleaned

during December and then will open again next year.”

“Anyway, I hope you will

enjoy your trip inside the castle.

It may

take about thirty-five minutes to walk, about 170 steps up and down,” said the guard.

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“Thanks, I am sure I will enjoy that!” answered the visitor. In this country, what I saw was the peace and what I felt was the happiness of the people.

The atmosphere

in Germany was the same as in England.

I

felt happy in these countries and wanted to stay forever. moving again.

However, the current was That made me fly to

another unknown country… Where was the next stop?

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This was a country almost stretching across a half of the hemisphere, China.

The Great Wall! The first thing I saw in China, enlisting in the World Heritage.

It

was just like a gigantic dragon that winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains

and

plateaus

stretching

approximately 6,700 kilometers from east to 19

west of China.

There were climbers

talking about the Great Wall, let’s listen. “…history of more than two thousand years!” one of the climbers, Joe said.

“Yeah, and do you know the history of the Wall?” Max said. “I do! I do!” I wanted to say something, but I could not do it.

They

could not hear me, for I was but a wind. I then sighed lightly and listened to them.

“The Great Wall was originally built in the Spring, Autumn, and Warring States Periods as a defensive fortification by the three states: Yan, Zhao and Qin. 20

It began as

independent walls for different states when it was first built, and did not become the “Great” wall until the Qin Dynasty.

Emperor Qin Shihuang succeeded in his effort to have the walls joined together to fend off the invasions form the Huns in the north after the unification of China. Since then, the Great Wall has served as a monument of the Chinese nation throughout history.” “What I know about is the construction of the Wall,” the other one said.

“The construction of the Great Wall, was drawn heavily on the local resources for 21

construction materials, was carried out in line with the local conditions under the management and responsibility system. A great army of manpower composed of soldiers, prisoners, and local people, built the wall.” “Yeah, I know that.

And what

I want to honor is that the construction result demonstrates the manifestation of the wisdom and tenacity of the Chinese people.” said.

“I am proud to be Chinese,” Max

“Me, too!” Joe replied.

the wind direction changed.

Suddenly,

So, I flew to

the capital of China, Beijing, and saw the 22

Forbidden City, which was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Now known as the Palace Museum, it is to the north of Tiananmen Square.

Rectangular in shape, it is the world’s largest

palace

complex

seventy-four hectares.

and

covers

I flew into the

Forbidden City and saw it divided into two sections.

The southern section, or the 23

Outer Court, which consists of five halls was used for ceremonial purposes. It was also the place where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court was where the emperor lived with this royal family,

served

maid-servants.

by

eunuchs

and

At first, I was amazed by

the luxury and the size of the whole palace.

While passing through the red city wall, I saw the considerable skills in building the Forbidden City.

The angular shape of the

wall totally frustrates attempts to climb it.

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The bricks were made from white lime and glutinous rice while the cement was made from glutinous rice and egg whites. incredible

materials

extraordinarily strong.

make

the

These wall

Umm‌ Something

smelt so good that I decided to follow the smell!

The smell came from a traditional

Chinese cuisineďź?Peking Duck.

A family was happily having the delicious meal. However, I seemed to hear a soft 25

cry behind the restaurant. It was a little girl with her mother, sitting hopelessly behind the restaurant.

They were begging

for some food to eat! It came as a shock to me since I have never seen the situation like this. In China, I learnt another kind of life people lived.

Not all of the people lived

happily without worry.

The sight of the

mother and the daughter I saw on the street was not new to most of the Chinese people.

What was even worse, depauperation was not the only problem.

Some people were

taken in because they were not so 26

knowledgeable.

How sad it was!

Feeling

sorry for them, somehow, the direction of wind changed again. another place‌

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I had to move to

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This is Africa. Sad to say, what I saw were only wars and famine.

Hundreds of

millions of people are still underfed although there is more than enough food to go round. Children cried for help; adults were lost in abstraction and hopelessly stared at the sky. pesticides,

Though fertilizers,

high-yielding

seeds

and

mechanization have boosted crop yields, meat

and

fish

production

also

has

quadrupled, doom-laden statistics on soil erosion, declining fish stocks, deforestation, 28

nitrate pollution and genetic diversity are raising fears for the future. Africa always faced the prospect of widespread famine as eleven million people suffer server food shortages.

Some of the worst-affected

districts are in the south.

People in this

country struggled with their lives.

They

were starved and had no food to eat; clean water was even hard to find for them to drink!

Wars in Africa were frequent.

I

saw people fighting each other violentlyďź? just to grab as much food as they could.

A

lot of people died of hunger. Daring not to 29

watch further (It was too sad to watch that sight), I flew away as fast as I could.

Again, I flew and flew and flew, without any specific destination.

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Since I have been to different countries, different cities, I saw a lot.

There was not

only affluence, but effluence in the world.

There

were

advanced

and

developed

countries, but there were more poor areas－ or even worse, they were not yet developed.

People say that I am free, yes, I am free.

However, I cannot stay in the places I love.

I have to see something I do not want to see.

I have to keep moving and moving, without stopping. “Is that good?” some people ask me.

“I do not know” I whisper, “because 31

that is my fate.�

32

My Journey

This is a book about a wind traveling around the world. It has been to Britain, Germany, China, and Africa.

If you are

interested in what the wind has seen, just take a look in this book – My Journey.

33