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Lost civilizations Day 1, 15 July I feel lucky to have won a place on this trip. We are in Italy now, and tomorrow we are visiting Pompeii. Next week we are flying to China, and going to Loulan, which is known as China’s Pompeii in the desert. Both Pompeii and Loulan became lost civilizations long ago. Day 2, 16 July This morning we attended a lecture about Pompeii. The city was founded in the 8th century BC. In 89 BC, the Romans took over Pompeii. It then became a rich and busy city. Near the city was a volcano. On 24 August AD 79, the volcano erupted and lava, ash and rocks poured out of it onto the surrounding countryside. It continued to erupt for the next two days. Many people were buried alive, and so was the city. How unfortunate! Day 3, 17 July Today I saw the ancient Roman city of Pompeii as it was 2,000years ago. How amazing! The city was forgotten for many years until the 18th century when a farmer discovered a stone with writing on it. People started to dig in the area for treasure, which caused much damage. Thus, in 1860, the area was put under government protection so it could be preserved and studied. When I walked around the city, I saw streets just as they had been, with stepping stones along the road so you did not have to step in the mud on rainy days! I saw several houses which were decorated with wall paintings. I also saw the people who had been buried alive. It turns out that after the ash covered the people who failed to flee the city, their bodies nearly completely broke down and disappeared, leaving empty spaces in the ash. Years later, researchers were able to use these empty spaces to produce true-to-life figures of the people who had died in the disaster. You can see them today in Pompeii, in the same places where the people fell. The volcano is still there, but looks very quiet now. It’s hard to imagine how this peaceful volcano destroyed the whole city! Day 10, 24 July Finally, we arrived in Loulan after several days of travelling. This commercial city was busy and wealthy about 2,000 years ago. It was a stopping point on the famous Silk Road between the East and the West. It is believed to have been gradually covered over by sandstorms from AD 200 to AD 400. I am so excited to be here! Day 11, 25 July A scholar from the local cultural institute, Professor Zhang, told us that around the year 1900 the European explorer Sven Hedin discovered the ruins of the Loulan Kingdom. Sven found the remains of buildings buried beneath the sand, together with a lot of treasures, including coins, painted pots, material such as silk, documents and wall paintings. When we went to the city, we saw the city walls, palaces, temples, workshops and towers. We found the ruins most interesting. There was an ancient water system that ran through the middle of the city. The desert was once a green land with huge trees, but they were cut down and that resulted in the city being buried by sand—what a pity! 失落的文明 第一天，7月1 5日 能获得这次旅行的机会我感到非常幸运。现在我们在意大利，明天我们将游览庞贝。下周我们会飞往中国去楼兰，那是沙漠中的一座被誉为“中国庞贝”的古城。庞贝和楼兰一样，都是很久以前失落了的文明。 第二天，7月16日 今天上午我们听了一场有关庞贝的讲座。这座城市建于公元前8世纪，公元前89年，罗马人占领了庞贝。后来庞贝成了座繁华的城市。离城市不远处有一座火山。公元79年的8月24日，这座火山喷发了，岩浆、火山灰以及岩石喷涌而出，全部倾泻到四周的乡村。火山喷发持续了两天。很多人被活埋了，整个城市也被掩埋。真是太不幸了！ 第三天，7月1 7日 今天我见到了罗马古城庞贝，它就跟两千年前一模一样。多么奇妙啊!这座城市多年来一直被人们遗忘，直到1 8世纪时一个农民发现了一块刻有文字的石头。人们开始在这一区域挖掘寻宝，这造成了很大的破坏。因此在1 860年，政府将这一区域保护了起来，便于保存和研究。 当我在城中漫步时，我看到保持原样的街道，沿路都有垫脚石，这样下雨天你就不用在泥泞中行走了!我还看到了几处装饰着壁画的房子。我也看到了被活埋的人。原来，火山灰覆盖了没能逃离城市的人，他们的身体几乎全部烧化消失了，只留下火山灰里的人形空当。多年之后，研究者们能够利用这些人形空当制作出逼真的遇难者轮廓。你现在可以在庞贝看到他们，就在原来他们倒下的同样地点。火山还在那里，但现在看起来非常平静。很难想象如此平静的火山如何摧毁了整座城市! 第十天，7月24日 经过好几天的旅程，我们终于抵达了楼兰。这座商业城市在大约两千年前也曾繁华过。它是连接东西方著名的丝绸之路上的停靠站。据信，从公元200年到公元400年，它已被沙尘暴逐渐吞没。能在这里我好兴奋! 第十一天，7月25日 来自于当地文化研究所的一位学者张教授告诉我们，在1900年前后，来自欧洲的探险家斯文o赫定发现了楼兰王国的遗迹。斯文发现了埋藏于沙下的建筑遗迹以及许多宝藏，包括钱币、带有图画的壶、像丝绸这样的布料、文献以及壁画。当我们到这座城市时，我们看到了城墙、宫殿、庙宇、作坊及高塔。我们发现楼兰废墟非常有趣。有一条古老的供水系统贯穿市中心。这片沙漠曾经是大树成荫的绿洲，但这些树被砍倒了，那导致楼兰这座城市被沙尘埋葬——多遗憾啊! |
