Like many inland cities, Chaohu is small and not modern, but its natural, unpolished scenery impress city dwellers.

As a Chaohu native, I spent my childhood there, a city on the northern bank of Yangtze River in East China's Anhui Province, until I came to Shanghai to attend university five years ago.

The city is named after a lake called Chaohu, the smallest of the country's five major freshwater lakes, occupying an area of 800 square kilometres.

I remember when I went to visit my grandparents in my childhood, I would pass the long and narrow riverside passage along the dike, which had long been my happy time in the shabby and noisy coach to count the sailing boats scattered on the foggy water. Now, almost no sails can be seen any longer, and vehicles have been forbidden to run along the former passage for better protection of the dike.

White peony

Spring has always been the prime season for travel in the city, and the most remarkable and significant activity there is to go to see the wild white peony growing on a cliff of more than 50 metres high on Yinping Hill. This is in bloom every year around Grain Rain - around April 20, the sixth solar term in China's lunar year.

In the minds of local farmers, the peony tree to some extent is a god, and the great number of its flowers betoken that year's foison.

The attraction of the peony lies in its vitality. Such wild peony is rare in the area between the Yangtze River and Huai River, but it has stood among rocks for over 1,000 years.

In my memory, many people would bicycle to the mountain in the southern suburban area from the northern end of the city. It was a festival for the locals, and many husbands would carry wives and children to the peony after two hours' ride on sunny weekends. I could not remember exactly how I spent the trip full of ups and downs on the back seat behind my father. I only knew I saw many people going in the same direction with us. We said hello to each other whether we knew each other or not. Besides bicycles, many families took tricycles from farther counties.

I tried to find the unique flowers from another rock, but I only saw something unclear in white through many shoulders and heads. What I heard most was the question: "How many flowers this time?" When getting the answer of five, all beamed. After all, farmers were expecting a good harvest.

I knew it must be tiring that day for my father, because he had to ride the bike. Yet in my childhood, many children were carried there in this way.

Fortunately, in recent years, many people would take taxis, and my brother drove my parents for anther time to see the peony. That year, there were eight flowers.

Fantastic cave

Ziwei Hill is located in the north of the city near my home, with its amazing Ziwei Cave.

With two well-like holes at the entrance, the 3,000-metre long cave is also called Shuangjing Double Well s Cave. Since the cave has many sideways leading nowhere, the deserted cave has long been the expedition destination for brave boys. If a group of boys was reportedly disappeared carrying candles, threads and electric torches, they would certainly be found in the dripping caves. With bruises on their hands, the muddy boys could by no means be called heroes. Angry mothers had nothing to say, only shed tears when washing the miry trousers.

The farce is not repeated again today by boys, because the cave has already been tapped by local authorities, unveiling its mystery.

I went there on a sizzling day in summer. When I arrived at the entrance, a shiver seized me, and the guild told me that the temperature in the cave has always been 18 degrees centigrade.

In the glittering colourful lights, you could not miss different kinds of rocks which looked like pears, monkeys, turtles and so on. The most marvellous scene was the 1-km long creek, and we just took a boat to cross it. However, you may find more water in the cave. Torrent current just ran under the path under your foot, creating echoes haunting your ears.

Ancient temple

Besides mountains, the rest of the beauty surrounds Chaohu. On the northern side of the river, a 53-km passage running along five towns has been completed specially for sightseeing, and it is a favourable choice for excursion on sunny days. At the far end of the passage is a local temple called Zhongmiao (Faithful Temple), which draws dedicated local believers.

With red walls and ashy tiles, the temple facing the lake stands on a huge rock projecting over the water. Local records say the temple was built in the Kingdom of Wu (AD 222-280), one of the Three Kingdoms for the worship of a deity who was in charge of the lake's waves. In 1889, Li Hongzhang, a famous feudal bureaucrat in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), rebuilt the temple with 70 rooms and three halls. Scriptures and carved pictures can be seen on its walls.

On the stick steps, you can see an island called Mushan in the middle of the lake, which has been a traditional destination for people's outings in spring.

Disembarking from the ferry boat, bricked steps wind among verdant fruit trees, leading me up to the top of the islands. Along the way, I recognized peach, orange and loquat trees. For the first time I saw rows of short and exuberant tea trees. Father told me that the tea there would be definitely excellent because it is far from pollution in the city.

On the top of the island is a seven-story aniseed tower made of bricks. It is cool in Wenfeng Tower with dim light, and the wind touched me from almost every window in eight directions, driving away all my heat and tiredness. Standing on the highest floor on that sunny noon, the most brilliant object to meet my eyes was the scarlet Zhongmiao, like an air castle sticking out of the clear water.

(Shanghai Star March 21, 2002)