It goes without saying that one cannot live without nature. Nature has a great deal to teach. Every landscape is the gift given by nature. As I sit at the window, listening to the rain rustling, I turn on the lights, and start to reflect on the lost memories about my childhood with nature.
I was born in a simple siheyuan, a typical Chinese house with courtyards in an old hutong. Hutongs are a type of narrow street, dating back as early as Yuan dynasty. Most of them run from east to west, no wider than nine meters. Hutongs are not only the dwelling place for Beijingers, but are also cultural museums. Every brick and tile has its history; only people who live in Hutongs will understand the meaning of the city’s peace and tranquility. During my childhood, I lived with all my family members which included my parents, grandparents, uncle, aunts, great-aunts and my great-grandfather together in my childhood. The siheyuan was only one floor story so it was easy for me to be closed to nature. All of my happiest memory was the experience lived in this siheyuan.
There was a yard lies outside of the door gate. Our family owns two pomegranate trees and a toona tree whose leaves are edible and delicious. Every autumn, my favorite activity is to climb the trees to pick those fresh, juicy pomegranates and the buds of toons. In addition to the trees, there is a beautiful park that is only a ten minute walk. Each summer, I went fishing in the river in the park with my neighbors and then cooked the fish and shrimp for dinner. While I ate, I came to understand that nature that provides essential foods to human life and I really appreciated that.
However, before I could further explore relationship with nature, at the age of six, my parents and I left the Siheyuan and moved into a five story old building. I could no longer live with all my family members, and I was no longer able to. But a good thing happened; my parents bought me a chick