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Module 5 Reading A Trip Along the Three Gorges In August 1996, Peter Hessler, a young American teacher of English, arrived in the town of Fuling on the Yangtze River. He and a colleague were to spend two years there teaching English at a teacher training college. They were the only foreigners in the town. The first semester finished at the end of January and they had four weeks off for the Spring Festival. They could go anywhere they wished. They decided to take a boat downstream. We decided to buy tickets for the Jiangyou boat. Our colleagues said, "You shouldn't go on those ships. They are very crowded. They are mainly for goods and people trading along the river. They don't stop at the temples and there won't be any other foreigners." That sounded fine to me. We just had to show our passports and they let us get on the boat. We left the docks on a beautiful afternoon. The sun was shining brightly as we sailed downstream through a hilly region. Men rode bamboo rafts along the river's edge and coal boats went past. As the sun set we docked at Fengdu. We could see the sun setting behind the white pagoda. It was beautiful. We slept through the first gorge, which is called the Qutang Gorge. The gorge narrows to 350 feet as the river rushes through the two-mile-high mountains. "Oh, well," my friend said, "at least we have two more left." At Wushan we made a detour up the Daning River to see some of the smaller gorges. The next day we went through the big gorges on the Yangtze River. It was a lovely morning as we went through the Wu Gorge. We passed the Xiang River, home of Qu Yuan, the 3rd century BC poet. There was so much history along the Yangtze River. Every rock looked like a person or animal, every stream that joined the great river carried its legends, every hill was heavy with the past. As we came out of the third gorge, the Xiling Gorge, we sailed into the construction site of the dam. All the passengers came on deck. We took pictures and pointed at the site, but we weren't allowed to get off the boat. The Chinese flag was blowing in the wind. On a distant mountain was a sign in 20-foot characters. "Build the Three Gorges Dam, Exploit the Yangtze River," it said. Module 5 三峡之旅 1996年8月，一位年轻的美国英语教师彼得o赫斯勒，来到长江之滨的涪陵。他和另一位同事将在那里的一所教师进修学院任教两年。整个城里只有他们两名外国人。元月底，第一学期结束了，他们有四周的春节假期，可以随处旅游。他们决定顺流而下。 我们打算买到“江油号”的船票。同事们说：“你们不要坐那种船。它们太拥挤，主要是用来运货的。乘客多是沿江做生意的人。那些船不停靠庙宇，也不会有别的外国游人乘坐。”我觉得听起来还不错。我们出示护照后便上了船。 在一个美丽的午后，我们离开码头。当我们顺流而下穿过山区的时候，阳光很灿烂。男人们乘坐着江边的竹筏，运煤的小船来来往往。太阳落山时，我们的船在丰都靠岸。我们目睹太阳在白塔后西沉，美丽极了。 穿过长江第一峡——瞿塘峡时，我们正在睡梦中。江水在两英里高的峰恋间奔流，峡谷狭窄处只有350英尺。我朋友说：“至少我们能看见另外两个峡谷。” 船到巫山时，我们绕道溯游大宁河，观赏了几处小峡谷。第二天，我们经过了长江的大峡谷。在一个美丽的上午轮船驶过巫峡。我们还经过了湘江，那是公元前三世纪一位诗人——屈原的家乡。长江有太多的历史。块块巨石形象各异，条条支流都流淌着传说，座座小山承载着过往。穿过长江第三峡——西陵峡后，轮船驶入大坝建设处的江面。所有的乘客都上了甲板，大家拍照片，对着工地指指点点，但不可以下船。五星红旗在风中飘扬着。远山上写着20英尺大的汉字“建造三峡大坝，开发长江资源”。 Cultural Corner Postcards to Myself In 50 years of travelling Colin McCorquodale has visited every country in the world, except three. And everywhere he goes, he sends himself a postcard. He always chooses a postcard with a beautiful view, and sticks on an interesting stamp. Usually he writes just a short message to himself. His latest one, from the Malvinas islands, reads Good fishing. On a wall in his home in London there is a large map of the world. There are hundreds of little red pins stuck in it. "It's good to get a pin in the map," says Mr McCorquodale, "but I follow the rules. I'm allowed to stick one in only if I've been in a place for more than 24 hours." Naturally, Mr McCorquodale has his favourite places. New Zealand he describes as "wonderful". In Europe, Italy is a favourite place. "There's a saying in the travel trade that all tourists are ripped off. Well, at least the Italians rip you off with a smile." Of China he says,"This is one country in the world which is completely different. There's no European influence. It's been around for 6,000 years, yet it's a country of the future." Wherever he goes, Mr McCorquodale takes with him a photo of his wife, a candle, a torch, a shirt with a secret pocket, and a pen for writing his postcards. So why does he do it? For the postcards or the travel? Mr McCorquodale laughs. "I do it for the journey," he says. "I get a kick out of travelling. And all the planning." |
