"Journey to Balang Mountain" abandons the restrictions of landscape painting to become more abstract, further amplifying passionate emotional expression. This Oriental approach to form and passion marked a departure away from traditional cultural and artistic norms. Its trigger was Zhou' s introspection on modern civilization.

The acrylic colors in the painting form a "carapace" that covers a large part of the painting to create an almost threedimensional effect. The precise and direct brush strokes were all completed in one go with no alterations permitted (just like ink paintings). The visual structure created by the brush itself has no direct links to reality. Though the artist' s style tends towards the abstract, like traditional Chinese painting details from reality are not neglected. This creative approach reached its zenith of expression in these works. There is completely no sign of calligraphy' s influence in the artist' s use of the brush here. Sometimes the acrylic colors are allowed to become very dry, creating the "flying white" effect from traditional Chinese painting. Other times though the colors are quite thick, the results being akin to ink dissolving in water.