Manuscript Video Examples

Why is the sky blue? The answer to this seemingly simple question lies hidden in a beam of light. Sunlight looks white, but it is actually made of seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. As sunlight passes through the atmosphere, it collides with tiny molecules in the air. Blue and violet light, which have shorter wavelengths, are scattered most easily in all directions. Our eyes are more sensitive to blue light, so when we look up, the whole sky appears blue. In the evening, however, sunlight travels through a thicker layer of atmosphere at an angle, and by the time it reaches us almost all of the blue light has been scattered away. The remaining red and yellow light travels straight through, painting the sky in brilliant orange-red hues — this is where sunsets come from. The next time you look up at the sky, think about it: the blue you see is actually sunlight spreading through the air.

When spring arrived, I visited that ancient Jiangnan water town once again. The stone-paved streets were still damp with morning dew, cooking smoke rose lazily from the alleyways, and the wooden door of the old teahouse creaked open. I walked slowly along the riverbank, watching black-awning boats glide out from under the bridges; the boatman's bamboo pole broke the water's surface, sending rings of ripples across. In the afternoon, sunlight filtered through the willow branches and fell on the mottled walls. At dusk, red lanterns lit up one by one, and the whole street softened. If you also want to slow down this spring, take a stroll through a water town like this.