Learning to honor those who serve

Having been born and raised in an inland province, I had always pictured life by the sea as blue waves shimmering under the ever-present sunshine, palm trees swaying in the warm breeze and fresh coconut water and succulent seafood always within reach.

That was until I visited Zhongjian Island in the southwestern Xisha Islands in the South China Sea.

Blue waves certainly shimmered under bright sunshine, but the water was too shallow for our big ship to anchor, so we had to transfer to a small boat. The bumpy passage made many of the passengers sick.