A long walk on the wild side

Reality didn't fail us. We spent two days in the famous scenic area of Xiaoqikong ("the small seven arches") and Daqikong ("the big seven arches") in Libo. The journey was comfortable and refreshing, thanks to the cascades, emerald lakes, woods and rushing streams.

Rowing on the lake felt a little bit ethereal, particularly amid the mists. Dreamland would surely have a similar landscape.

The only thing that shattered my idyll was the fact that there are too many people, like us, looking to retreat from the urban hustle and bustle and squeeze into the valleys. We needed to find somewhere even more remote — somewhere even wilder.

Maolan National Nature Reserve, just over an hour's drive from Xiaoqikong, looked like the perfect place to continue this psychologically soothing trip.

Some of my friends kept recommending this place to me, so have many on social media. It became a hot destination when British adventurer and TV presenter Bear Grylls filmed one of his TV shows here in 2015.

In a village named Bizuo on the edge of the nature reserve, we immediately got the sense that we were in the wilderness from the moment we checked into our inn. Of course, there was no elevator to carry our luggage upstairs. As we enjoyed our dinner, just beside the verdant paddy fields, we were also providing a delicious banquet for the multitudinous mosquitoes.

The innkeeper is a man in his 30s surnamed He. He is a member of the Bouyei ethnic group, while his wife hails from a Miao background. They have a 14-year-old son and, as a junior middle school student, he is spending the summer break chatting with travelers every day and guiding them around the village and its attractions.