This article was published in the company´s magazine which was sent to Mandarin Chinese speaking countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. In this article, I use an experience of a hiking trip that I had during a working holiday in order to share my opinion on how there can be room for learning and personal growth through recreational activities like mountaineering.

1. Translation of an article published in Ningbo Xianfeng’s corporate magazine in 2012
Scanned file:

2. English translation:
Title: A way to exercise our will
When I was 6 years old,I joined the Boy Scouts Organization fromthe city I was born in Mexico. Since then, I became interested
in going outdoors and have adventures in the wilderness. I was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, a city surrounded by
mountains.Every weekend I would enthusiastically participated in the activities organized by the local Boy Scout group, which
included:basic firstaid training,community service,hiking,camping, etc. I eventually developed a passion towards
mountaineering.
In 2009, I came to China for studyingand had the opportunity to participatein excursions organized by different local
mountaineering clubs.This allowed me to appreciatethe beauty of the country´s natural environment and I was deeply
impressed by the diversity of landscapes each placewould offer. When I participated in these events, beyond doingexercise, I
would also meet a lot of people from different places of China,whose languageskills weremostly limited to Mandarin Chinese.
This motivated me to keep practicingon improving my Mandarin skills.
Now that I am working in Ningbo Xianfeng New Material Ltd, I have also attended several outdoor trips duringholidaysfrom
work. LastMay I had the opportunity to visita small villagecalled Gongye, which belongs to Xianju County in Zhejiangprovince.
The main scenic area of this placeis surrounded by four towering peaks and in the middle of this mountain ridge there is a valley
with an area of approximately 30 squarekilometers.The landscapeof this placeis beautifully decorated with terraces for
different kinds of crops whose pieces of sloped plane have been cut into a series of receding platforms resemblinga giant
stairway. The blend of these elements results in a colourful and magical scenery similar to that of a painting.This is the reason
why this placeis known as the “Shangri-la”of the Zhejiangprovince.
I was impressed the most by learninghow local peoplelivein this village.The history of this small community goes back to 100
years ago. In order to visitXianju´s county local market and buy daily useproducts,locals need to make a relatively longhike
three times a week. It was also interestingto learn from their irrigation system,because they take full advantageof the receding
terrace platforms to build water channels thattake the rain all theway down through the field´s corps.Last,but not least,the
local food is quitedelicious asmostof the ingredients they use are fresh. In this trip,we stayed on the mountain for only two
days,but it was a uniqueexperience.
I believe mountaineering is an excellent sportbecause more than only exercisingour body, it allows us to exerciseour will to
explore the unknown and to appreciatedifferent ways in which human beings interactwith nature.