That night in Kenting, we soaked in the hot springs, gazed at the starry sky, and fell asleep.

Photos and text byLiu Si Ling


I just finished watching the movie "Starry Starry Night," and my mind was filled with the starry sky of Kenting from last year.

Kenting holds so much love in my heart, and I go back there every year. This piece may not be about Kenting, but about the unforgettable starry sky in my life. At this moment, words flow freely, and I don’t even know what shape this will take until I reach the end.

Xiao Mei: "When was the last time you looked at the stars? Let’s go stargazing together, okay?"
In the eyes of every traveler, there must be a starry sky that is both the most brilliant and the most lonely.

The most unforgettable starry skies in my life can be divided into three moments:

The first was in the high mountains. I will never forget the starry sky on the snow mountain. That sky clearly told me that the "Milky Way" is not the legend of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, but a densely woven ribbon in the heavens. On all three of my snow mountain trips, the weather was perfectly clear, allowing me to gaze up close with the naked eye.

The starlight of the Sacred Ridge was dreamlike. The most leisurely and carefree days of my life were those four days in the snow mountains. On the night before leaving the Sanniujiu Mountain Lodge, I got up alone at three in the morning and silently said goodbye to the starry sky.

The second was during the Dunmu days. When there was nothing to do while sailing at sea, I would watch sunrises, rainbows, sunsets, and stars. I always waited for the miracles my superiors talked about—the appearance of "dolphins" and the occurrence of "jellyfish seas."

In my life, the only days spent at sea were filled with sunshine, seafood, and warmth. Those were the happiest times, and I especially remember lying on the deck, watching the sparkling sea and listening to the sailors’ stories.

Listening to the weather officer recount stories of the Spratly Islands, I longed for that pristine sea where green turtles live, and I also yearned for the starry sky where the Southern Cross is visible. It is the southernmost border of this lifetime that I could never set foot on.

The third was in Kenting. That night, after barbecuing, we went to the Bihou Village to soak in the wild hot springs. Laughter echoed through the dark valley, the hot springs warmed our feet and bodies, but our eyes were already captivated by the entire shimmering starry sky.

That night, the starry sky without a single cloud was so vast. Our necks grew sore from looking up, so we lay down on the large rocks by the stream. Everyone watched the entire sky intently and wholeheartedly. The roaring sound of the water gradually faded, and in an instant, we all fell silent. It turned out that the warmest thing was "us"—we had traveled far together, accompanied the dark night together, and shared the dazzling starry sky together.

At this moment, the night was no longer confusing, and the heart was no longer lonely.
We all fell asleep, one after another, under the serene and peaceful starry sky.
This moment felt as brilliant as a Jimmy Liao picture book.
Together, we had a magnificent and colorful dream.

These three memories all speak of breathtakingly beautiful starry skies that could not be held onto, as if they were incomparable dreams.

Longing always runs wild in the wilderness of the night. How long has it been since we last looked at the stars?
The starry sky always twinkles quietly. It is your eyes that light up the entire sky.

※This article is excerpted from the blog "My Heart Full of Courage, Sincerity, and Innocence." For the full article, please click here >>