Chairman of Asian-Pacific Symphony Orchestra Alliance and China Symphony Development Foundation

Guo Shan

I participated in the expedition of Antarctic Forum with the purpose of enjoying, experiencing and listening.

After over 30 hours’ flight and two whole days’ jolt on the Drake Passage, I have vomited for about 10 times to eliminate toxins in my body brought from Beijing. When I arrived at Antarctic continent, I stood on the deck and took deep breath of fresh air. In the following days, after exhaling the old air and inhaling the new, I got a wonderful feeling of being reborn from my body to spirit.

The surprise of seeing charmingly naïve penguins during the first landing, the mood of encouraging myself to persevere while climbing the snow mountain, the excitement while reaching the top of the mountain and the yelp like a child while sliding down the mountain all kept us away from the annoyance in the world!

We sailed on the ocean, which was called glaciers grave, by landing boat. Many large floating ices stayed here and gradually melted and disappeared with the change of time and water. It is hard to believe the different postures of these ices. Are they Pyramids, the ruins of Rome, whales, dinosaurs with head hanging low, two swans kissing each other, eagles looking up to the sky or the mushroom cloud? The magnificent arched door reminded me of the work of a Russian composer Mussorgsky, the glorious movement of “the Great Gate of Kiev” in the “Pictures at an Exhibition”! Unfortunately the top of the arched door collapsed. Closely observing the icebergs under the ocean, the bright blue with a little mystery presented by the icebergs let people feel slightly trembled.

We visited the historic site where whales were captured and whale oil was refined. How cruel human beings are! We broke into the world of animals and relentlessly destroyed the balance of the nature in order to satisfy our dirty desire! Thanks to the Antarctic Treaty, the only pure land on the earth can be protected. But it’s so fragile! To human beings: we must cherish the nature who nurtured us selflessly! She’s crying, she’s groaning! Did you hear that?!

On board the wonderful performance of musicians and the enthusiasm of lovely experts and scholars who concerned for fate accompanied us a nice and rich journey.

I was lucky to have such a hard-won chance given by Antarctic Forum as well as making many intimate friends. Friends are those who can talk freely and share with each other without utilizing. During the expedition to Antarctica I met many people, including self-disciplined famous diplomats, well-educated and humorous political economists, enthusiastic financial experts, college professor, senior media reporters and several young people of the organizing committee. I would like to express my sincere respect and gratitude to all of you, especially the organizers of Antarctic Forum! Thank you for giving me such an unforgettable experience. It will accompany me all the way!