STUDENT WRITING: Evaluation of CARLSBAD CAVERNS by YAN XU

The World Underground

On the way to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, I couldn’t help drawing the picture of a world underground in my mind. Away from sunlight, away from all the plants in the desert, away from the soaring birds up in the sky lies the fantastic underground world! It has been there for millions of years, waiting for every visitor to explore its wonders.

For the first time in my life, I stepped into the fascinating world underground. Different from any other travel experiences in China, I was so impressed by the natural beauty of the caverns and the management of the national park service department. What makes a national park so special? Why can it linger in your mind so firmly and attract your next visit? In Carlsbad Caverns, I felt the beauty of nature, the passion and devotion of every staff member and an active interaction between visitors and interpreters.

Beyond all your imagination, Carlsbad Caverns has been preserved perfectly. Having visited so many places before, my experience has been that once an interesting place is developed, the commercial elements will be added, such as restaurants, shops and other artificial stuff. At Carlsbad Caverns, however, except for a tiny souvenir stand, there is no other commercial smell. I’ve seen some pictures of other caverns in China. The caverns are decorated garishly by lots of posters which introduce you to the shapes of the stalactites. Meanwhile, it is also lighted by colorful light to make it look gorgeous. Some of the visitors think that is the right way to decorate the caverns. In Carlsbad Caverns all the light is so plain, and the only function is to illuminate. It’s too boring with no fun at all. However, in my opinion, visitors should appreciate the caverns’ beauty itself not the colorful light. Less is more. I like the way the real beauty of the caverns is presented, as opposed to the “created beauty” by humans.

I’ve heard that once there were some posters beside the stalactites showing their names according to their shapes. After careful consideration, the manager of Carlsbad Caverns decided to remove all the posters because he thought it would restrict visitors’ imagination. What a wise decision! The same piece of stalactite may tell different stories to different viewers. Nothing is more exciting than galvanizing visitors’ endless imagination! Thanks to the vision of the manager, now the caverns are full of innumerable stories by every piece of special stalactite. Back to its original look, back to its essentials, that’s the right way to appreciate nature! That’s the right attitude to respect nature!

To explore more about Carlsbad Caverns, I ordered an additional tour on which a guide will lead you to another route. When walking carefully into the cave, the guide, a pretty lady, introduced the story of its explorer Jim White. She told the story so lively that it seemed to take us back to hundreds of years ago. We started to imagine how Jim White walked, crawled, climbed down into the darkness, and how astonished Jim White was when he saw such a mysterious and fascinating world! The tour was filled with a lot of fun by our guide’s vivid introduction. At the end of our tour, she said something that impressed me deeply:” my grandmother, who once worked for Carlsbad Caverns, brought me here first when I was a little kid. Then I fell in love with it.
Decades later, I became the employee of Carlsbad. It reminds me of my childhood every time I walk here. No matter how the outside world changes, time seems to be frozen here. Everything remains like my first visit. I hope you like Carlsbad Caverns and can bring your family here one day as my grandmother did. Good memories always stay with you.”

I was so moved by her affectionate words. She not only told us the story of Carlsbad Caverns, but also linked it with her experience with emotion. We could feel the passion and devotion from every employee here, which makes the place more wonderful and attractive!
During the tour, interpreters and tourists are gradually building their relationship. A good tour can always incite an active interaction between tourists and interpreters. Some improper behavior always occurs in some scenic spots in China. When the interpreters are introducing some background or history, some tourists will totally ignore them and just take photos as they want. Further more, some tourists will even carve words in some obvious spots, such as: XX has been here! It’s such a shame!

During our tour, our guide asked every visitor not to touch any stalactite because it might break the growth of the stalactites. We followed her instructions all the tour. Meanwhile, we showed our deep interest by asking a lot of questions related to the caverns. Everyone listened to our interpreter carefully and showed our respect to her, to nature. Interpreters engage in their work diligently, which arouses the tourists’ desire to protect nature. When tourists notice the value of nature, they will care and promote it more. It’s the virtuous circle. Carlsbad Caverns is a place which can always keep the circle running.

Some visitors may view Carlsbad Cavern National Park just as big and dark caverns. Inside the caverns, there is nothing particular to make them exciting. Well, if you expect to have the same experience as the movie” Journey to the Center of the Earth” did, it’s not the right place to go. Instead, visiting Carlsbad Caverns requires your patient steps. Take your time and slow you down. Think about the unique underground world around you. It took millions of years to form every piece of stalactite, and it has been waiting here for your visit till now. Don’t you think it’s amazing?

I think one day I will bring my family back here. It’s far away from the noisy urban area, and it grows drop by drop tranquilly. It’s a place that will bring you the unparalleled beauty of nature, invoke the sincere smile of every employee, galvanize your curiosity and make you eager to protect it further more.