Interpreting my Nanjing from a youth perspective
Confucian Temple & Qinhuai River, Mochou Lake & Xuanwu Lake… These scenic spots were selected as the New Forty-Eight Scenic Spots of Jinling by the Nanjing Municipal Party Committee Propaganda Department in 2012, Jinling Evening News, and 8 million Nanjing residents. These attractions are all featured in Gao Fangkai’s 'Youth Olympic Tour'. 'From my point of view, I interpret Nanjing — a city of humanity, a green city, and a city of universal love.'
Flipping through Xiao Gao’s manuscript, reporters found that before each attraction, he wrote a poem of his own, with each poem named after one of the New Forty-Eight Scenic Spots of Jinling. The poems include praise for the scenery, reflections on the past and present, and hopes for Nanjing’s modern development. Each attraction holds his personal feelings.
The 'Nanjing Expert' from Hainan
In 2011, Gao Fangkai came to Nanjing from his hometown in Hainan to attend university. He was immediately captivated by Nanjing’s scenic beauty. From then on, he made a plan to hike around Nanjing and document it with photos and writing. 'Life was incredibly fulfilling back then. Every day, unless I had classes, I’d head out for a walk, then come back and write until lights out,' Xiao Gao told reporters.
Over the three years of traveling across Nanjing, Gao Fangkai spent a total of just over 5,000 yuan. He conducted on-site visits to 51 subway stations, climbed more than 13 mountains, walked across 40 bridges, hiked over 350 places in Nanjing, took over 12,000 photos with a total data size of approximately 41.65GB, personally created 400 digital maps, wrote youth travel introductions for 350 places in Nanjing, provided over 1,000 transportation routes, and tasted and recommended hundreds of local snacks.
Now, Gao Fangkai has become the 'Nanjing expert' in the eyes of his classmates. Whenever they want to visit somewhere, they turn to him for advice.
Aspiring to be a modern Xu Xiake
Gao Fangkai is a junior majoring in law at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at NUAA. However, these three years of exploration and travel inspired him to pursue a career in the tourism industry. He said, 'I came with the 'dream of my hometown'. Hainan itself is a tourist island. I hope the experience I’ve gained exploring and writing in Nanjing can help me better contribute to Hainan's development when I return after graduation.'
Gao Fangkai regards Xu Xiake as his role model. In his book, he wrote: 'I will stand on the shoulders of Xu Xiake and press forward with determination — starting from the age of 20, traveling across China, dedicating my life, and becoming a Chinese traveler who serves the people.' Gao Fangkai’s greatest wish now is to secure funding from caring individuals in society before the Youth Olympics and successfully publish 'Youth Olympic Tour'.