Across Taizhou, Xianju, Yandang Mountain, and the coast at Wenling, Alicia noticed how her thoughts loosened outdoors. Mountains belong to summer, the sea to winter; a small difference in temperature can alter the comfort of a journey.
Place was never the only consideration. Who shares the road and the table matters more than the itinerary. Alicia likes things that arrive in pairs without demanding a choice: leaving and returning, discipline and indulgence, meeting and parting. In the photograph, an ochre arch opens towards the coast.
At the coast, the noise receded.
