Amid travel restrictions, magic can be found in your own backyard

Amid travel restrictions, magic can be found in your own backyard

古北水镇为什么迷人?

With recent winter winds whistling past the windows, my fondest thoughts have gone back to a Beijing resort whose charm never wanes.

近日，窗外冬风呼啸，脑海里最美好的思绪将我带回至北京的一处度假胜地，其魅力历久弥新.

I most recently visited Gubei Water Town, which is about a two-hour drive from the heart of Beijing, during a few sweltering days in August, when the buzz was loud about the opening of a fancy new theme park elsewhere in the capital city.

古北水镇距离北京市中心两小时车程，我上次去那儿正值八月酷暑，当时北京一处新豪华主题公园正好开园，很多人都兴奋不已。

Gubei offers a quaint mixture of newly built and restored structures. On that cold December day two years ago, I ambled along the river, which was frozen solid, the locals sliding and skating on its surface. I later hiked on the Great Wall, hustling back down the slopes before sunset as the temperature plunged.

古北水镇新建和修复的建筑交相辉映，古色古香。两年前十二月寒冷的一天，我沿河散步，河水已冰冻三尺，当地人在河面上滑来滑去。然后，我去了长城上徒步。之后，我徒步爬了长城。傍晚，气温骤降，我匆匆忙忙地在日落前从长城上走下来。

While we prepared to depart this enchanting town that evening, I gazed at the Great Wall, which was illuminated like a glowing snake that stretched out atop steep cliffs. How spellbinding this splendid resort must be in warmer weather, I thought.

那天晚上我们准备离开这座迷人小镇的时候，我凝视着长城，灯光之下，它就像是一条发光的蛇，蜿蜒伸向悬崖峭壁之上。我当时想，如果在暖和点的时候来，这个壮丽的旅游胜地该多么迷人啊。

And so, with that in mind, I boarded a charter bus beneath the roasting August sun at Dongzhimen station in Beijing for the comfortable ride, at a mere 48 yuan ($7. 50), to the water town.

因此，带着这个念头，顶着八月的烈日，我在北京东直门站坐上了前往古北水镇的一辆旅游大巴车，车程舒适，而且只花了48元人民币(7.5美元).