To Gio who's been a great guide and friend

Ciao Gio,

I have always loved travelling but found staying in a

closed vehicle restrictive and boring if without any book or companion.

If I were a physicist the favorite topic would be teleportation. Yet

this time, you have kept me in a good spirit all along. First with the

Economist, and the many glasses of wine, then with some good aspirin

and sleeping pill, not to say three blankets which I robbed of you.

Do

you remember the American woman on the train? Despite my ennui with her

American ways, I can relate to her feeling of travelling alone, and

perhaps without a clear destination, like a rolling stone. Some people

travel with faith & hope to discover new things or to confirm an

old belief, some travel with others to share different experiences,

some travel with missions big or small, altruism or selfish, some

travel for pleasure, and some travel with curiosity for whatever may

come their way.

I

had expected to see a country with magnificent architecture, unbeatable

fashion and style, rolling hills & vineyards in Tuscany and

delicious food that fills up my stomach, leaving my tastebud craving

for more. Even with all the expectations inflated by LonePlanet, I was

overwhelmed and speechless when presented with the Duomo, Venice,

Uffizi, Mt. Vesuvius, the Mole, the crowds at spanish steps and the mix

of life&art in Piazza Novano. For a moment, I felt like being

thrusted into a time travel tunnel. The dizziness was blinding. I

cannot remember when I felt this way, maybe when I visited the

forbidden city, not even on the Great Wall. It was more like my

childhood dream when I found an underground palace which was so vivid

that the next day I convinced my 5 year old friend to troll along. If

you visit any Chinese gallery the comparion will be impressive--the

most precious Chinese paintings from the ancient times were of scenery,

still life but not of people & people alone--the sketches that

accompanied Chinese poems paint people in a few abstract lines to be

consciously lost in the peach blossoms, sitting on a lonely stone with

a zither in the bamboo forest in & out of fog, or a dot in the

distance with a fishing pole and some big bird flying into the ninth

high. When the protagnists in Chinese painting were escaping into the

nature, the ones in Western arts were embracing humanity with passion

& empathy. Inevitably, in my flight of thoughts, there was Xi'an

terra-cotta and the Great Wall both of which attributed to Qin Shi

Huang, the Great Emperor. How much is an art's worth when it is "art

for art's sake" and when it is "art for power & glamour"?

You

would laugh if I said that I missed China in the ten days I was away. I

never knew homesick was like hair on the face, once you brushed it

away, the feeling of it was still there, itching, itching. I was too

well taken care of and too enamoured with everything new, I hardly

asked why. Now I asked myself if I speak the language, whether Italian

or Cantonese, if I relate to the culture in the foreign country or a

slightly foreign city, how would that change how I feel? Maybe I will

never know till I have mingled and immersed. Perhaps that's part of the

appeal of change. You won't know untill you've travelled and adapted.

I

have thoroughly enjoyed my time travel and physical travel. I am

looking forward to travelling with your country's great mind--Leonard

Da Vinci in the next few days. Eventually I hope to travel back with a

mission and deeper understanding & appreciation for everything good

and enjoyable, everything problematic & needing change. You have

been a great travel companion and love, helping me to understand your

family, friends and people around. Grazie mille. Please also give my

regards to your sister, your parents and your trouble-maker brother

next time you visit.

Ciao,

XD