What a gorgeous oil painting of sky and clouds!
Yesterday I took these beautiful photos in a garden in Wusu city of northern Xinjiang(bordered by Kazakhstan on the west) where we have stayed for more than half a year for memory since we will head back to our hometown--Henan province in 3 days by train. WuSu/乌苏 is a region like the other places of Xinjiang where the multi-ethnic groups inhabit, including Han (nationality), Kazak, Mongolian, Uygur and Hui(nationality), etc. And it is named after its Mongolian name 库尔喀拉乌苏, meaning ''the dark water from snow mountain''; True, looking far into the distance, the snowcap from the famous mountain Tianshan that extends between north Xinjiang and south Xinjiang is clear to be seen over there!
Such kind of magnificent blue sky reminds me of an ancient folk song during the Northern dynasty(A.D. 420-589).
敕勒歌
南北朝 · 北朝民歌
敕勒川，阴山下。天似穹庐，笼盖四野。
天苍苍，野茫茫。风吹草低见牛羊。
I got 2 English versions here.
The Chille-River
The Cloudy-Mountains lie,
See the Chille-River pass by,
Like a big dome is the sky
Covering the prairie nigh.
The lofty sky is deeply blue,
The vast wildness not seen through.
The wind lowering grass in green,
Sheep and cattle are easily seen.
(Translated by Zhu Manfield)
Another is from a sinologist of England.
Teleg River Lies under the Dark Mountains,
Where the sky is like the sides of a tent
Stretched down over the Great Steppe.
The sky is grey, grey
And the steppe wide, wide.
Over grass that the wind has battered low
Sheep and oxen roam.
I love that name, so evocative. Nice pictures, although I live in the city I'm more of a wilderness lover. Did you get out of the city to the surrounding countryside areas at all while you stayed in Xinjiang?
I read the folk song with interest and prefered the second version as a poem (despite the lack of rhymes 😂). The first version flowed better as a song with the strong rhymes, but the meaning and purity of the imagery in the second version:
was more poetic and crisp for me.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Yeah, I agree with you. The second version is more poetic and vivid. The sky is grey, grey, the steppe wide wide...
Xinjiang area accounts for about 1/6 of the total China with a small population. Most of land belongs to gobi desert. I have seen the stark and bare Gobi and the tremendous mountains from the train. However, I didn't get out of Wusu city. For my part, there the city is nothing more than countryside. I mean the place is so extensive but scarcely populated due to the long and cold winter. However, Xinjiang is so big and there are a lot of beautiful sightseeing spots. It is said that best landscape lies in South Xinjiang and Yili/伊犁 valley. Pitifully we have no chance to visit it.
Undoubtly, the park of my photos in summer is also rather cheerful and agreeable...like an oil painting...