Books, Journeys, and the People Who Inspire Us

Spending the summer in Beijing with my mum was such a joy. Her friends love sending her books and little curiosities as gifts. Once, she received a backpack shaped like a blue-footed booby, inspired by a children’s book she had written about these fascinating birds.

She also often receives the latest books of the month from editors at Shanghai Translation Publishing House. Since we no longer live in Beijing, every time we return, there is usually a huge box waiting for us, filled with books published over the months we have been away.

Among the gifts we received this time, Uncle Qin Siquan, one of my mum’s good friends, had chosen two books especially for me: The Yangtze, So Enchanting and The Greatest Show on Earth. Both my mum and I love reading, so these gifts felt particularly thoughtful.

In The Yangtze, So Enchanting, the author documents a long journey along the Yangtze River, recording each departure, each stretch of the journey, and everything encountered along the way over an extended period of time. I find myself wondering what it would feel like to devote such a significant part of one’s life to following a single route, exploring it so thoroughly from beginning to end.

Uncle Qin and I made a little promise: if he ever organises a cycling trip with his cycling club, I will join them.

The other book is one my mum particularly loves. Small in format, with a striking black-and-white aesthetic, it brings back the extraordinary power of rock music to mobilise people and inspire charitable action. It also captures how people around the world, faced with humanitarian disasters, can transcend national borders and respond with empathy, compassion, and a genuine sense of humanity.

I hope I can set aside some time to read it myself.

Some books open up new landscapes for us to explore; others remind us of what we are capable of when we come together as human beings. I feel fortunate to have both kinds of books finding their way into our lives.