Editor's Note: Alya Aghitsna Pertiwi is an Indonesian student studying in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province. Enthralled by the city's cultural and natural beauty, she shares her experiences through the video, painting a vivid picture of a place where tradition and contemporary living harmoniously coexist.
[Video provided by Yangzhou Polytechnic Institute]
Answering the call of poet Li Bai, I arrived in Yangzhou in its "Flowery March". With its thousand-year bond to poetry, this city drew me from Indonesia to study here. In spring, Yangzhou unfolds like a living ink painting: I stroll down Pishi Street to find a lacquered fan brimming with the colors of spring, listen to the soft rain in classical gardens, and wander along the ancient canal, where willow branches sway, tinged with spring's tender yellow. In the gardens, wisteria, cherry blossoms, and hydrangeas bloom in radiant competition; mist lingers around the Five Pavilion Bridge, like poetry, like a dream.
But the charm of Yangzhou is not only in its bright sunshine; its misty rain carries a gentler grace. Drifting along the waters of Jiangnan in a small boat, I feel the city's lively spirit. This is the homeland of Li Yuhu and the birthplace of Li Xiangyi's legends — the timeless elegance of "Elegance of Yangzhou" flows through this place. A single peach tree in bloom alone is enough to astonish all of spring.
The spring breeze stretching miles does not compare to a single journey to Yangzhou. This is Yangzhou, a city of eternal allure in Jiangnan. In the "Flowery March" of Yangzhou, it would be even more beautiful with you.