A walk in the heart of the Balkans

Strolling in the Heart of the Balkans: The Poetry and Fireworks of Serbia In the early morning of Belgrade, the Danube and Sava rivers quietly embrace each other under the Kalemegdan Fortress. The stone walls of this thousand-year-old castle are covered with vines, and in the morning light you can seem to touch the shadows of the Roman Legion, Ottoman Cavalry and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Looking down from the top of the castle, the river water shimmers with golden color, and the new city and the old city are close yet distant in the mist, just like a microcosm of Serbia - history and present, scars and hopes are intertwined here. Echoes of history The soul of Belgrade lies in the mottled bricks and stones. The white dome of the Cathedral of Saint Sava points straight to the sky. This Orthodox temple, which was built more than eighty years ago, has mosaic murals inside that are like a galaxy of stars. The candlelight of believers sways under the dome, creating a subtle tension between piety and unfinished magnificence. In front of the stone tablet at the site of the Chinese Embassy in the former Yugoslavia, bouquets of flowers silently tell of the empathy that transcends mountains and seas, reminding travelers how this land was once connected with the East by blood. Drive two hours north and you will be greeted by the literary and artistic atmosphere of Novi Sad. The "Drunken Clock" of the Petrovaradin Fortress can never keep the correct time, but it allows boatmen on the Danube to see every second clearly; in the open-air cafe on Freedom Square, Serbian poets and painters debate art over espresso, as if the Austro-Hungarian legacy of Princess Sissi's era is still flowing between the bricks. If you catch the Exit Music Festival in the summer, the fortress bunker will be transformed into a cave filled with the roar of electronic music, and young people will dance in the neon lights projected on the medieval stone walls, turning the memory of the war into a carnival rhythm. The interweaving of mountains and fairy tales Traveling west to Tara National Park, the scent of the coniferous forest permeates your lungs. The hiking trail winds through the dense fir forest, and the occasional brown bear footprints and the ranger's biological trapping boxes reveal the wisdom of nature conservation. The "Lonely Hut" on the Drina River stands quietly in the rapids. Its wooden structure has withstood half a century of wind and rain. Like an unfinished poem, it teaches people what it means to "reconcile with impermanence." In the Wooden Village in the Zlatibor Mountains, wooden houses are scattered like fairy tale building blocks. The utopia built by director Kusturica in the movie "Life is a Miracle" allows travelers to temporarily forget the troubles of reality. Balkan flavor on the tip of your tongue In the twilight, the aroma of barbecue mixed with the sound of gypsy violins floats in the air on the Skadalia pedestrian street. A plate of sizzling ćevapi (grilled sausages) with sour cream and a glass of local red wine Prokupac, Serbs interpret "carpe diem" with the warmth of charcoal and grapevines. If you catch the weekend market, you will see the smoked cheese and rose jam sold by the peasant women, which are wrapped in the taste of monastery secret recipes and Balkan sunshine. The Night Never Ends and the Philosophy of Coffee Belgrade's nightlife was named "the best in the world" by Lonely Planet. The lights of the barge bars on the Sava River sway, and electronic music and folk songs are heard one after another. But what is even more touching is the street corner in the early morning: the white-haired old man slowly stirs the Turkish coffee with a silver spoon, and the residue at the bottom of the cup outlines today's fortune - war, migration, and economic difficulties have never erased their focus on "the present moment." As the Serbian proverb goes: "A lucky morning is waking up in Belgrade." On the return journey, Tesla's profile on the dinar banknote echoed the portrait of the scientist on the airport's vertical tail. This country, which is rich in geniuses and fighters, is writing the most unique narrative poem in the Balkans with the bitter taste of coffee, the clearness of river water and the wild flowers on the ruins. For Chinese travelers who enter the country visa-free, it is not so much that they are exploring foreign lands as it is that they are seeing a kind of familiar tenacity and romance in the folds of history.