Jilin City 吉林市
Jilin, a city of two million people is located in Jilin Province, 100 kilometres east of Changchun. I came here to see Wulajie Old City, a Qing Dynasty walled town on the east bank of the Sungari River. It is located a short distance north of Jilin.
吉林省有200万人口,位于长春市以东100公里处。我来这里是为了参观乌拉街古城,这是一座坐落在松花江东岸的清朝城墙城镇。它位于吉林以北不远的地方。
Train station 火车站
The photograph above, shows me standing in front of the city’s main train station.
在上面的照片中,我站在城市的火车总站前。
Train stations in China are very large and they have huge plazas in front of them. That is so the stations can handle the massive number of travellers going home during Chinese New Year and during the other important holidays.
中国的火车站非常大,前面有巨大的广场。这样一来,车站就可以在春节和其他重要节日期间应对大量的返乡旅客。
The large spaces are also used daily by the people to exercise, fly their kites and to dance in large groups.
人们每天还会在这些大空间里锻炼、放风筝和跳广场舞。
When I was waiting for the train to take me back to Changchun, I watched all the activities in the plaza. There were three large dance groups, (all three played different music), a fast walking troupe that was doing laps around the plaza, men flying their kites and rollerbladers.
在我等车回长春的时候,观看了广场上的所有活动。有三个大型舞蹈团(三个团都演奏不同的音乐),一个快走队伍在绕着广场绕圈,人们在放风筝和滑旱冰。
The plaza was large enough to handle them all.
广场足够大,可以容纳他们所有人。
Public parks 公园
Rows of condos follow the river through the city yet they are set back from the Songhua River so the people can enjoy waterfront public parks.
成排的公寓沿河流穿过城市,但它们又迂回到松花江岸,这样人们就可以享受到江岸公园的乐趣。
The Chinese love their riverside parks. At the left is Jilin’s concert hall.
中国人喜欢他们的江岸公园。左边是吉林音乐厅。
This statue is just one statue that is located in Jilin’s waterfront parks.
这尊雕像只是坐落在吉林江岸公园的其中一座雕像。
In the park, a senior is teaching others how to play the huqin, a popular bowed string instrument. A short distance to the north, a woman sang while being accompanied by a man playing a huqin.
在公园里,一位有资历的琴师正在教其他人如何拉胡琴,一种流行的弓弦乐器。在北边不远的地方,一位妇女在一名男子的伴奏下唱歌。
This is a public toilet in the riverside park. It has a ramp to accommodate the handicap. It also has separate handicap toilet facilities. This man is the attendant.
这是江岸公园的公共厕所。它有一个坡道以方便残疾人如厕。它也有独立的残疾人厕所设施。站在门口的人是一位服务员。
Condominiums 公寓
Rows of tall condo towers follow the riverbanks.
一排排高大的公寓大楼沿江岸排列。
All of these residential towers were built by one developer.
所有这些住宅楼都是由同一家开发商建造的。
There seems to be an endless row of tall condo towers that follow the river as it winds its way through the city.
似乎有一排无穷无尽的高层公寓大楼,沿着河流蜿蜒穿过城市。
At the foot of this condo complex, I see a Ferris wheel. Doug Ford wanted to have one on Toronto’s waterfront but that did not happen.
在这座公寓大楼的脚下,我看到了一个摩天轮。道格·福特(Doug Ford)想在多伦多的海滨建一座摩天轮,但没能如愿。
These condos are on the west side of the river.
这些公寓在江的西岸。
Why the big crowd? They are the parents and grandparents standing outside a primary school waiting to take the children home.
为什么会有这么多的人?他们是站在一所小学外面等待接孩子放学回家的父母和祖父母。
I do not know who would be more shocked; Chairman Mao or Walt Disney to see these two working together to promote a small business.
我不知道当毛主席或华特·迪士尼看到这两类招揽生意的模式放在一块儿来推动一个小店的经营,谁会更震惊。
I will write about my visit to the ancient Manchu village in a future email.
我将在未来的电子邮件中写下我对古老满族村落的观感。
Chinese translation by: Wang Xiaohong, Changchun, Jilin province.
中文翻译:王小红,吉林长春