The country is so beautiful

When I started working at China Daily last year, a colleague told me about an exciting story she had covered.

A few years ago, she followed members of the Xibe ethnic group, who mainly live in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, who were retracing a journey made by their soldier ancestors 250 years ago to defend the nation. From Northwest China, they traveled more than 5,000 kilometers across Mongolia to Xinjiang in 13 days.

They carried guns to guard against the wolves hunting around the steppe in Mongolia, and followed the route taken by their ancestors. Sometimes they had to camp in the desolate Gobi Desert, but in return, they enjoyed the night sky studded with beautiful twinkling stars.