好友相伴 @ 溪頭

#2024-0525

Together with Franklin and his wife, Qiumei, we all had a wonderful time walking nearby and then enjoyed a peaceful stay at Ginkgo Hotel (孟宗山莊) last night.

(By the way, this hotel is full of poetic beauty, with innumberable new and old "classical poems" hanging here and there on the walls. Some of them were created by great poets of the Tang and Song dynasties and are quite familiar to Jean and me. For example, Xin Qiji's "Hè Xīn Láng (賀新郎 - 甚矣吾衰矣)," copied in beautiful calligraphy and hung on the wall in Room 519, where Jean and I stayed for the night, is one of Jean's favorites. Jean has sung it in the past, either in casual performances or in formal competitions!)

This morning, the four of us left Ginkgo Hotel for a hike soon after we had breakfast on the hotel's first floor. As we stepped out of the main lobby, we saw two kinds of flowers that I had never seen before: the "Dì Yŏng Jīn Lián" (地湧金蓮) and "Zhēnzhū Băo Lián" (珍珠寶蓮 or 台灣酸腳杆). Additionally, there was a wooden sign next to the hotel entrance with some extremely important information for our hike here in the Xitou Nature Education Area (溪頭自然教育園區). 

Following are a ChapGPT translation of the Forest Therapy and Five-Sense Experience that we saw on the wooden sign:

1. Sight: Carefully observe the rich and ever-changing colors.
2. Hearing: The chirping of insects, the calls of birds, the sounds of wind, rain, and streams -- the symphony of nature.
3. Smell: The fragrance of flowers and plants, the scent of the forest, refreshing and invigorating.
4. Touch: The sensation of touching and walking on the forest floor, feeling its temperature and texture.
5. Taste: The earth's bounty, natural delicacies that nourish both body and mind.

As you can see in the photos below (except the very last one), we have really spent a wonderful day visiting the Xitou Nature Education Area and the nearby villages today.

-- Thank you, Franklin and Qiumei, for coming; remember to come again to us whenever you can in the future!

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茲抄錄 "孟宗山莊" 之《森林療育與五感體驗》如下：

• 一 視覺：仔細觀察色彩豐富千變萬化。
• 二 聽覺：蟲鳴鳥叫風雨溪聲大地天籟。
• 三 嗅覺：花草芳郁叢林芬多神清氣爽。
• 四 觸覺：手撫腳踏森林溫度絲絲感受。
• 五 味覺：大地豐饒天然佳餚滋養身心。

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相關文章 (See also)：

1)  An Evening at Xitou: 大水蟻 ● 螢火蟲 ● 妖怪村     (2024)

2)  Life Notes: 好友相伴 at 宜蘭 (B)     (2023)

3)  溪頭剪影（橋花水石藤林道）     (2010)

4)  溪頭剪影（午後山涼霧起時）     (2010)