2015-08-20

【Aiden in English】

        Nothing can last forever on earth, so that is why people remodel or reconstruct historical sites. They want to make them last longer. And in a place of 5,000-year-old history, it tends to happen a ton.

        Right next to my uncle’s home in Fengtai District was a public domain called Beijing Garden Expo Park. It’s a small park that is filled with abundant trees and flowers in blooming. Amongst the nature is the octagonal Yongding Tower architecture in Liao-Jin Dynastic style. Towers were also important to the Chinese culture. Not only did it act as a worshipping temple, but also as a building that brought people close to the heaven. Okay, being in a tower means you’ve closer to the sky than the people on the ground, which becomes more of a cultural reason. This tower has mine floors/levels. The number “9” is special since it is the largest single digit. That number was meant for the greatest of people like an emperor in the ancient China. So if a tower had nine floors, it was extremely high and brought worshippers closer to the sky.

        Unfortunately, this wooden tower was closed due to remodeling. According to my uncle, the tower had once caught on fire in 2013 since it was built out of date. The exterior reconstruction was done long ago, but the interior was under heavy restoration. The sad event didn’t fit the beautiful scenery including Yongding Court, Wenyuan Pavilion, Lotus Stone Lake, etc. as it promoted "the garden boutique of world cities and the charming project practicing ". That left the museum which the park offered to the ticket holders. 

        Beijing is a really, really, really enormous metropolitan city, I actually had no clue to what extent until that afternoon. CCTV is a dominant TV channel for the entire country. The Beijing TV Tower stood at about 350 meters/1148 feet. Its Observation Deck was set at 238.4 meters/782.2 feet, and from there I saw the cityscape known as Beijing. I have to admit China has outdone every county except for Dubai in UAE. Shanghai takes pride of its crazy architectures, but CCTV looks hysteric because of its sheer size like big pants. The day was relatively clear, and I still couldn’t see through the city skyline. The square rooftops on the skyscrapers weren’t all that advanced in the architecture world. When they are combined with a thousand others, however, it becomes absolutely awesome. It kind of actually looked like Minecraft, other than the fact that there were scene circles and triangles. As I walked a full 360 degree around the tower, I began to notice that I got a lot to see in China’s capital. This place was truly attractive since we were high up.

        Beijing doesn’t just have a lush history, but also a huge modern world as well. Both are exciting to see, and my checklist to do grow as I speak.

【红霞译文】

        世上没有永恒不灭的东西，这就是为什么人们要维修或者重新建造古迹，希望历久弥新，在一个具有五千年悠久史的文化古城中愈发屡见不鲜。

        在丰台区靠近我叔叔家不远有一个公园──北京园博园，其占地面积不大，到处绿树成荫鲜花争妍，招人眼目的自然景观更有一座别具辽金王朝风格的八角形永定塔。塔在中国文化上占据相当重要的位置，实际上早已演变成人们寄托希望的寺庙，高耸入云的建筑被视为备受上苍眷顾的地方。一点没错，置身永定塔顶端，的确让你感觉比站在地上风骨伟岸，烘托出十分浓郁的民族色彩。永定塔共有九层，“九”是单数中最大的阳数，在华夏古代文明中代表至高无上，唯有皇上才拥有的威严。这么一来，只要塔设九层，意味着崇高伟大，虔诚者由此可以平步青云。

        不巧的是，这座木塔因维修而禁止对外开放。叔叔告诉我说，由于建筑太老，2013年一场大火烧毁了部分结构。如今外表修缮一新，但内部装修尚需要花费很长时间。虽然未能深入永定塔，但丝毫没有影响我在永定阁、文源亭、莲石湖等所感受到的“钟灵秀之气，郁万物之英”；园内另有博物馆同时对游人开放。

        北京是一个非常非常非常超级大都会，之前我对它并没有多少认识，直到今天下午才真正领悟到实际含义。中央电视台主导全国电视频道，其广播电视塔大约高达350米／1148英尺，观景台设在238.4米／782.2英尺处，从这里我可以放眼环视北京全城。我不得不承认，除了阿联酋迪拜具有挑战性而外，中国摩天高楼栉比，在全球堪称一绝。上海高屋建瓴，设计风格令人叹为观止；相反，中央电视台总部大楼则因意涵怪异而被戏称“大裤衩”。今天总的来说晴天，不过我仍然无法清晰地勾勒出北京风景线，虽然单一方块状屋顶并没有什么建筑美感，但大片大片地集结在一起，气势巍为壮观，看上去跟计算机设计遍造的“我的世界”差不离，只不过后者由圆柱体和三角形结构组成。我围着观景台绕场一周，由衷感叹中国首都地域宽阔，登高举目远望，周围美景无不尽收眼底。

        北京不仅是文化积淀浓厚的历史名城，而且还是独领国际风骚的现代化大都市。说着说着，我出游参观的计划越列越长。