To seek a dream - Go punting with a pole

I was surprised how many large groups of young Chinese were wandering around Cambridge and queuing up to visit King’s College and in boats on the River Cam.  Many of them were sitting under blankets  taking ‘selfies’ as they drifted along on the flat bottomed punt while being told about the buildings and bridges as the men guided the punts with their long poles. From experience I know it is not easy guiding the punt while having to remember to duck and watch the pole when going under one of the many low bridges.  It looks as if there is a dispute here about who has right of way but fortunately they all managed to get passed each other.
Surprisingly the main influence which has attracted  thousands of Chinese to Cambridge has been a poem which is taught in most schools.   Taking Leave of Cambridge Again was written by Xu Zhimo who studied at King’s College in the 1920s and a commemorative stone with some of the lines of poetry is placed near the college and is a focus for many of the tourists.

Softly I am leaving,
Just as softly as I came;
I softly wave goodbye
To the clouds in the western sky.

The golden willows by the riverside
Are young brides in the setting sun;
Their glittering reflections on the shimmering river
Keep undulating in my heart.

The green tape grass rooted in the soft mud
Sways leisurely in the water;
I am willing to be such a waterweed
In the gentle flow of the River Cam.

That pool in the shade of elm trees
Holds not clear spring water, but a rainbow
Crumpled in the midst of duckweeds,
Where rainbow-like dreams settle.

To seek a dream? Go punting with a long pole,
Upstream to where green grass is greener,
With the punt laden with starlight,
And sing out loud in its radiance.

Yet now I cannot sing out loud,
Peace is my farewell music;
Even crickets are now silent for me,
For Cambridge this evening is silent.

Quietly I am leaving,
Just as quietly as I came;
Gently waving my sleeve,
I am not taking away a single cloud