Director of People’s Daily Hong Kong Branch              Cao Hongliang

Just as the beautiful lady who peeped at the literary giant Song Yu, the legendary Antarctica is charming and attractive. It is out of reach and makes people fall into imagination.

Get close to it, stare at it, touch and embrace it. We will be shocked and humbled by the magnificent and gorgeous scenery. We feel relaxed and fresh in front of the clean and beautiful landscape. We revere and obey it under its quietness. We are amazed and joyful for its colourful view......

As a love poem said, the furthest distance in the world is not the way from birth to the end. It is when I stand in front of you but you don't understand I love you. It is not we love each other but can't stay together. It is when I plainly cannot resist the yearning yet pretending you have never been in my heart, but using one’s different heart to dig an uncrossable river.

Indeed the furthest distance in the world is not physical distance, but a heart that can perceive, appreciate and sometimes being put on armor.

Antarctica is like a song. Snow flied all over the sky, thousands of miles were frozen by ice and mountains all covered with snow were like silver snakes...... The “revolutionary”poem shows an original scenery with visual media, extending naturally and crossing the time space to connect a new continent. Any imagination is too limited and any description is too clumsy to present the beauty of Antarctica. Even the well-known poems or celebrity quotes were also eclipsed. The Chinese ancient poetry “Sit before the window, seeing that Xiling mountain was covered with perennial snow and ships from Dong Wu were at my door”can only describe part of the Antarctic scenery. “All of a sudden the spring breeze blows and thousands of flowers seem to blossom”can only be regarded as the girl in Antarctica. “You cannot find any trace of birds across the mountains and neither any footprints of human beings” is more like a ballad compared with “countryside”and “sorrow”. Antarctica has its own language and its strength of character. When sunlight moves to the north, polar night falls, storm rages, snow and ice have fun, strong wind blows and dripping water freezes into crystal. When sunlight moves to the south, polar day comes, snow slides, glaciers melt, evolving and changing for millions of years. The melody, rhythm, connotation and tension of Antarctica are beyond any language, imagination and expression. Antarctica can chant and sing.

Antarctica is like a painting. Snowfields, wastelands, icebergs, snow mountains, glaciers, ocean, penguins and seals. Think of strong wind as pens and snow as paints to let miles of polar region dance. Mountains and glaciers paint a freehand brush work and penguins paint realistic paintings. Dark clouds paint splash-ink paintings and bright moon put on the color. Ice sculpture museum is the corridor among glaciers. Petroglyphs are carved on the snow walls and snow mountains hide deep in the sea. Outside the paintings are paintings and inside the paintings are sculptures. Color, composition, line, design, artistic conception and romantic charm. No paintings can be so magnificent and contain so much imagery.

Antarctica is like a teenager. Liang Rengong has once praised teenagers as the rising sun, the spring grass, the source of Yangtze River and the coral island in the ocean...... If Rengong comes to Antarctica, he will definitely compare the teenager to Antarctica. In the huge universe, only Antarctica is within reach; and in the wide earth, only Antarctica is like a teenager. This is the hometown of ice, the paradise of snow, the amusement park of wind and the oxygen chamber. In the long winter days, it will be wayward and unrestrained like teenagers. A hundred million years of time is just the beginning of its growth and thousands of miles’ land and ocean are just huge bodies and arms. Accompany with sun, moon and stars and dance for fun. Irons are fragile like glass and the water suddenly melt into ice crystal. Human beings remain unmoved by having a finger in the pie and are greedy and stingy as usual. There is no past but future, no nostalgia but hope, no yearning but imagination, no anxiety but dream, no cowardice but courage, no scheme but sunlight, no filth but brightness, no taboos but ambition. Just as the song of John Lennon, which is ignorant but intelligent, childish but mature.

Antarctica is like a virgin. White and smooth skin, bright eyes and perfect white teeth. Gentle, slim and graceful. With beautiful eyes and a charming smile. With something to think about and is attractive. At the early spring, the weather suddenly gets warm but turns cold again, actually it’s winter rather than summer. Like a bathing beauty, it walks on clouds like a fairy, it is as pure as ice and is graceful. The skirt waves in the wind and snow mountains change their makeup. Slender fingers flip softly, thousands of glaciers show their beauty. Fish swim, geese sing and dance. Indulge in self-admiration, the beauty is showed among the ocean. It is restrained and capable, decisive and brave. Taking a broad view of Antarctica, I admire it but do not dare to offend it. Having a close look at, the inspiring landscape is out of reach for me. The feelings of virgin is as gorgeous and mysterious as rainbow. The spirit of virgin is as sensitive as Zheweng. The life of virgin can be compared with other continents beyond imagination. The most strange is that it is as pure as before, as well as the young girl.

The Antarctica has remained unchanged for thousand of years, but it also has various forms and poses. The Antarctica is remote but sometimes near. Because of you, Antarctica is gorgeous. Because of you, Antarctica can be close. We can exceed the physical distance, but heart is often out of reach. I miss it very much and a brief moment seems to be as long as a year.