Text and Photo by Bi Zijia

Everything was related to my military training.

Stepping into universities in China, it is a fixed rule to receive military training as a freshman. I was no exception. And Zhaitang Military Training Base in Mentougou District of Beijing is the regular training place for freshmen at the Communication University of China (CUC), where I have been studying for three years.

I will never forget September of 2003. It was approaching the end of the summer, and the sun was not so dazzling. A line of buses driving to the Zhaitang area were winding up around the mountain roads, each one full of CUC newcomers. I was in one of these buses.

Traveling among the mountains for more than one and a half hours, I wondered when we would reach the final destination. Looking out of the window, I was deeply attracted by the natural sights outside. Green mountains seemed endless; small brooks ran happily through the valley. To my great surprise, grey ducks and white geese swam around, lazily and freely. On occasion, small huts could be seen tucked in the woods, strips of smoke rising from them into the sky. It was hard to imagine that there was so quiet and natural a place so near to the prosperous and busy Beijing.
 
The driving was like an unexpected leisure trip. I almost forgot the aim of military training.

Two hours later, we arrived at the training base. It was clean and small, lying in the embrace of the surrounding mountains. When I jumped out of the bus, a young army man with a dark face helped me with my bags. Later, I learned he was our training instructor.

During the following month, we practiced lining up, standing, marching and shooting day after day. Each time when I became too tired to focus my attention on his dark face and my practicing, I would look up at the green mountains. Sometimes light smoke rose into the sky from the mountains; I guessed there must be some local inhabitants.

Time was like a wounded snake, crawling. I counted the days. When the unbelievable end of training finally came, I packed up my stuff and jumped on the bus, letting my visions of the mountains drop away.

The character Cuan	Ming Dynasty(14th-17th C.) architectures