Carry Few Cares in the Heart, Keep a Few Books on the Desk

Under the night-shrouded foot of Yuquan Mountain in Beijing, all is quiet and serene. A slender new moon hangs high in the sky; beneath the dim street lamps, pedestrians stroll in twos and threes, and a few night anglers concentrate by the Jin River. The reed beds in the ponds and flats have melted into the darkness, becoming a black expanse, while the Buddhist pagoda on Yuquan Mountain remains clearly visible. The bright moon hangs overhead, stars fill the sky, insects chirp, and a cool breeze drifts. The night in the country park is very different from that in the city center.

If I have been busy that day, I choose to ride my bicycle at evening into the country park at the foot of Yuquan Mountain. Sometimes I ride for over an hour, sometimes for more than two. For one thing, it exercises the body; for another, it empties the mind, washing away every upsetting thing encountered during the day.

Sometimes my wife comes along, sometimes I am alone. We enter the dedicated cycling and walking path from Sihai Bridge, then follow it through Chuanying Park, Zhongwu Park, Beiwu Park, Yujiao Country Park and Gongde Temple Park, then along the west side of the Summer Palace, doubling back onto the path we came and riding home.

This road is sparsely populated, especially along the Summer Palace West Road, where often only one or two people are to be seen. The scenery on both sides is superb, because this whole area was once imperial garden, and poems inscribed by emperors such as Kangxi, Qianlong, Yongzheng and Daoguang can be found everywhere. The landscapes along this road rival those around West Lake in Hangzhou; and through spring, summer, autumn and winter, as plants grow and wither, the views change into different scenes.

My wife says I have been giving her a lifetime of happiness hypnosis, because every time I take her out cycling or sightseeing, I tirelessly exclaim along the way about how beautiful everything is. Walking the same road every day, saying the same things, and never growing tired of it. Even a single rose blooming by the roadside elicits many of my exclamations.

Every exclamation comes from my heart; I simply cannot help voicing it. I feel nothing wrong with repeating myself. Remarkably, this language is highly infectious; the pressure and anxiety my wife bears at work are greatly relieved. She says that being with a happy person makes it easy for her to be happy too.

I think my greatest gift may be that, living the same simple life day after day, I can still be immensely happy. If I could visit Mount Huang and West Lake, see our motherland's great mountains and rivers, or even travel the world admiring beautiful scenery, that would of course be wonderful. But if I can only enjoy the scenery at my own doorstep through the four seasons, I will also be content.

Cycling among hills and waters feels completely different from working out at home or in a gym. Beautiful scenery empties the mind of every care; the night-time insect chirps and the songs of nightingales lift the mood, and in spring one can hear frogs croaking in waves. The air quality in Beijing's suburbs is excellent, so the moon and stars in the night sky are clear, and the air is filled with all sorts of fragrance—sometimes the scent of rice, sometimes flowers, sometimes fresh grass.

Cycling in the suburbs these past two or three years has made me fall in love with Beijing and no longer homesick as before. After exercising, I return home, shower, and sit at my desk to read a physical book for a while.

Traditional reading has advantages that modern e-reading cannot match. After bathing and changing, sitting at the table, breathing the faint scent of paper, reading a few pages, learning something new, and jotting notes in pencil—there is no need to force oneself to stay up late reading; when drowsiness sets in, one may simply fall asleep.

Life should move like flowing water and drifting clouds, like a wild goose leaving occasional prints in the snow—the prints are accidental, and the bird flies on, caring not east or west. Carry few cares in the heart, keep a few books on the desk, and worries will be far fewer. Forget unpleasant things quickly; keep a heart that appreciates beauty for long. That is how happiness stays.