【龙腾网】西班牙女孩的苏州回忆日记（一）
正文翻译
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.com 翻译：超级凉快 转载请注明出处
这是一篇时间跨度为几年的回忆性日记，最早的一篇有4、5年了
SCULPTURES AROUND THE LAKE
1.湖边的雕塑
In the parks around Jinji Lake there are many sculptures. Some of them are abstract, some of them are not; some of them look very nice and others make you wonder what the artist was thinking when he created them. Let me show you some of them (these are not the official sculpture names, I made them up).
在金鸡湖周围的公园里有许多雕塑。有些是抽象的，有些不是;有些看起来很漂亮，有些让你想知道艺术家在创作这些作品时是怎么想的。让我给你看看其中的一些(这些不是官方的雕塑名称，是我自己起的)。
Two Huge Drops of Water: this is one of my favourite Jinji Lake sculptures. The shiny metallic surface reflects the surroundings. You can also see the Suzhou Pants building in the background.
两大滴水:这是我最喜欢的金鸡湖雕塑之一。闪亮的金属表面反射着周围的环境。你还可以在背景中看到苏州裤衩大楼。
Pink Flamingos: it would be nicer if they were real but unfortunately they are not!
粉红色的火烈鸟:如果它们是真的就更好了，但不幸的是它们不是！
Giant Rainbow-Ant: this one is also shiny and metallic, and reflect many colours when it is sunny.
巨型彩虹蚂蚁:这一个也是有光泽和金属表面，在阳光灿烂的时候反射出许多颜色。
Monkeys on the Phone: this is one of the WTFs. What does this mean? It is not even beautiful…
猴子打电话:这是最无语的一个。这有什么寓意？一点都不漂亮。
Skaters: around the boardwalk on the east side of the lake there several sculptures depicting humans. The skaters are one of them. Fun fact: I don’t think boardskating is allowed here for real humans.
滑板爱好者:在湖东侧的木板路周围，有几个刻画人类的雕塑。滑板爱好者就是其中之一。有趣的是，我认为这里是不允许玩滑板的。
Leaf Boat: at least this one is related to the lake!
叶子船:至少这一个和湖有关！
And finally, a guessing game! Do you know who these two guys are? Hint: they are from Spain!
最后是一个猜谜游戏！你知道这两个人是谁吗？提示:他们来自西班牙！
Guess!
猜猜看！
The one in the middle is obviously me. I had to take a picture with my countrymen!
中间的那个显然是我。我不得不和我的同胞们合影！
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MY FIRST TIME IN SUZHOU
2.我第一次来苏州
I have something to confess: the first time I visited Suzhou I didn’t like it at all. It was hot (and it was only the first week of May!), it was humid,and my hostel room had bugs, including one that had the courtesy of waking me up by taking a walk on my face.
我得承认:我第一次来苏州的时候一点也不喜欢这里。这里天气很热(而且这还只是五月的第一个星期！)还很潮湿，我的旅社房间里有虫子，其中有一只在我脸上散步，礼貌地叫醒了我。
I traveled to Suzhou and Shanghai from Beijing during the May holidays with two Korean classmates. A few years ago there was one week of holidays at the beginning of May, now you can count yourself lucky if you get 3 days in a row (May 1 plus the weekend). We went by train. There were no fast trains and the journey was 12 hours.
五一假期期间，我和两个韩国同学从北京到苏州和上海旅游。几年前，五月初有一个星期的假期，而现在如果能有连续3天(5月1日加上周末)，你就算是幸运的了。我们坐火车去的。这里没有高速列车，需要坐12小时。
I don''t think this is legal. Or safe.
我不认为这是合法的，也不安全。
My first visit to Suzhou was definitely not among my favourite trips, and the city itself was in no way among my preferred cities in China. If I had chosen myself, I would have probably never moved there so I would have never met C. But destiny, or 缘分 yuanfen, had other plans for me. Now, after a few years living in Suzhou, I like it. It is a nice city. People are not rude, if anything, less talkative than in the north. Summers have been bearable. And I never had a bug running over my face again.
我第一次去苏州肯定不是我最喜欢的旅行之一，这个城市本身也绝不是我最喜欢的中国城市之一。如果要我选择，我可能永远不会搬到那里，那我也永远不会遇见C.。但是命运对我另有安排。现在在苏州住了几年之后，我喜欢上了这里。这是一个美丽的城市。人们并不粗鲁，如果说有什么区别的话，那就是不像北方人那么健谈。夏天还是可以忍受的。再也没有虫子在我脸上爬来爬去。
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BARBECUE SEASON
3.烧烤的季节
When I was 18 or 19 I went on a road trip through Ireland with my family. It was cloudy and raining most of the time, as it is usual there, but one day the sun started shining in Dublin. We were visiting a college or some place with a garden, and many people went to that garden and lied in the sun, wearing shorts and tank tops. I am from southern Spain and we have sunny days almost always, so I thought it was very funny that these people were so happy to see the sun that they would leave everything they were doing aside and go outside to enjoy the day.
在我18或19岁的时候，我和我的家人一起自驾游去爱尔兰。和往常一样，那里大部分时间都是阴天，下着雨，但有一天太阳开始照耀都柏林。我们参观了一所大学和某个有花园的地方，许多人穿着短裤和背心去那个花园，躺在阳光下晒太阳。我来自西班牙南部，我们几乎总是拥有有阳光的日子，所以我觉得很有趣，因为这些人看到太阳非常高兴，他们会把所有的事情都丢在一边，到外面去享受这一天。
Then I came to China and I experienced something similar.
然后我来到中国，经历了类似的事情。
I live in the Yangtze delta area, a place that is not exactly famous for its nice weather: winters are long, cold and humid and summers are long, hot and humid. Spring and autumn are almost non existent. You will probably be wearing long underwear and down jacket one week, and be sweating in short sleeves the next.
我住在长江三角洲地区，那里的天气并不是很好:冬天很漫长，寒冷潮湿，夏天很漫长，炎热潮湿。几乎不存在春天和秋天。你可能上一个星期还穿着长袖内衣和羽绒服，下一个星期穿着短袖都会出汗。
When Chinese people go to the park to spend the day they do something that I think it is very weird: they bring a tent. I can’t understand why someone would go outside to enjoy a beautiful day and then spend it melting inside a tent. It must have to do with the fact that Chinese people don’t like being in the sun because they hate getting tanned (it makes you look like a peasant).
当中国人去公园度过这一天的时候，他们做了一件我认为很奇怪的事情:他们带了一个帐篷。我不能理解为什么有人会出去享受美好的一天，然后却在帐篷里度过。这一定与中国人不喜欢晒太阳有关，因为他们讨厌晒黑(晒太阳会让你看起来像个农民)。
This time our relaxing day was kind of “spoiled” by a family located four or five trees to the left, who decided that it was a great idea to bring a portable karaoke machine. The daughter, who must have been 10 or 11, was singing the whole time. And no, she couldn’t sing at all. And yes, she sang “Little Apple”. I thought about recording a video but I didn’t want to torture you.
这一次，我们轻松的一天被左边四五棵树下的一家人破坏了，他们觉得带一台便携式卡拉ok机是个不错的主意。他们的那个女儿，大概10岁或者11岁，一直在唱歌。不，她根本不会唱歌。是的，她唱的是“小苹果”。我想过录一段视频，但我不想折磨你。
A day barbecueing outside cannot be complete without a kite. In Spain, kites are something kids play with when they are in the beach, but they are not very popular. In China, kites are a serious matter and more for adults than for kids. Me? I have never flown a kite. It is like fishing, I just don’t get it.
如果没有风筝，在户外烧烤的一天就不完整。在西班牙，孩子们在海滩上玩风筝，但是风筝并不受欢迎。在中国，放风筝是一件很严肃的事情，对成年人来说更是如此。我？我从来没放过风筝。就像是钓鱼，我就是搞不明白。
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A WALK AROUND SUZHOU ALLEYS
4.漫步苏州小巷
We are having a very weird summer. While in Europe and the US everybody is suffering a heat wave, here in Shanghai / Suzhou we are having a cool wave. It is July already and right now it is 17 degrees. I had never seen anything like this in all of my years in China, but I don’t complain because I seriously hate the typical Shanghai summer with 35ºC and 95% humidity. So god bless rain and cool weather!
我们正在经历一个非常奇怪的夏天。在欧洲和美国，每个人都在遭受热浪的袭击，而在苏州和上海，我们却在经历一场寒潮的袭击。现在已经是7月了，却只有17度。我在中国的这些年里从来没有见过这样的景象，但我没有抱怨，因为我真的很讨厌上海典型的35摄氏度和95%湿度的夏天。所以上帝保佑，继续下雨，保持凉爽的天气！
The only negative side of this cool weather is that I haven’t been able to go to the outdoor swimming pool yet, so it looks the 30 day pass that we bought last year and only used 7 times will not be spent this year either. My last weekends have been pretty boring, mostly staying at home. And the more I stay at home, the lazier I become and the less things I do. And this spiral is getting out of control!
这个凉爽的天气唯一的负面影响是我不能去室外游泳池了，我们去年买的30天通行证，只用了7次，看起来今年也不会用了。我以前的周末都过得很无聊，大部分时间都是呆在家里。我呆在家里的时间越长，我就变得越懒，做的事情也就越少。这简直是恶性循环！
Yesterday we had to go bring some things to C.’s parents. As it was not raining on that particular moment, we decided to make the most of trip and take a walk around the neighbourhood. C.’s parent live in an alley in the center of Suzhou, not far from Guanqian Street, the pedestrian shopping avenue. Their particular street is not very beautiful because it has been taken over by garbage collectors and recyclers, so both sides are full of metal scraps, carton boxes and other trash that they pick and sell. But other streets around are nicer and give an impression of how Suzhou was a few decades ago. C. wanted to show me the way to his primary and high school, as he grew up in that area.
昨天我们要把一些东西带给C.的父母。由于那天没有下雨，我们决定充分利用这一天的时间，在附近散散步。父母住在苏州市中心的一条小巷里，离步行购物的观前街不远。他们住的那条街不是很漂亮，因为它已经被垃圾回收者占领了，所以两边都是金属碎片，纸箱和其他他们收集来卖的垃圾。但是周围的其他街道很漂亮，给人一种几十年前苏州的印象。C.想带我去看他的小学和高中，因为他是在那个地区长大的。
The houses remind me of Beijing hutongs. If you enter through the front door, you will find yourself in a narrower alley that zigzags around many small houses.Most of the people living here are old Suzhounese people or migrants that only want a small space and a cheap rent.
这些房子让我想起了北京的胡同。如果你从前门进去，你会发现自己身处一条狭窄的小巷，在许多小房子周围蜿蜒曲折。住在这里的人大多是老苏州人或外地人，他们只想要一个小空间，租金也要便宜。
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SEASONAL FOODS IN SUZHOU
5.苏州时令食品
After spending several years in Suzhou I noticed that you can guess which month of the year it is without looking at a calendar: you only need to check which fruits are being sold in the markets, or what foods are eating the customers of the restaurants with tables on the street. Many of these products can also be found in other parts of China, of course, but I have never seen people in Beijing or Shanghai raving so much about seasonal products. In Suzhou, you know the second half of May has arrived because you step into the subway and everybody is carrying baskets with loquats; or you realize autumn is here because all the restaurants offer hairy crabs in their menu. So, what are the favourite seasonal products in Suzhou? Here’s the list I compiled:
在苏州生活了几年之后，我注意到你不用看日历就能猜出现在是一年中的哪个月份:你只需要看看市场上卖的是什么水果，或者街上餐馆的顾客吃的是什么食物就知道了。当然，其中许多产品在中国其他地方也能找到，但我从未见过北京或上海的人对时令食品如此赞不绝口。在苏州，你知道5月的下半月已经到来，因为你走进地铁，发现每个人都提着装着枇杷的篮子;或者你意识到秋天已经到来，因为所有餐馆的菜单上都有大闸蟹。那么，苏州最受欢迎的时令食品是什么呢？以下是我列出的清单:
– Crayfish (小龙虾 xiao longxia): their Chinese name literally means “small lobster”. They start appearing at the end of April and are a big favourite in the small street restaurants. There is one such place right next to my apartment in Shanghai and it is always full. The crayfish are bright red and smell really good! However I was a tad disappointed when I tried them: they are very spicy! So spicy you don’t really get to taste their true flavour (so I guess this means it is not too good). Also, the amount of meat you get is not too much; half of the crayfish is the head! Eating crayfish is definitely a pain in the ass, as you have you crack and slurp and the reward is not that great. People usually eat them with plastic gloves to avoid getting (too) dirty and there is always a basin in the middle of the table to throw the shells in.
小龙虾:它们的中文名字的字面意思是“小龙虾”。它们在4月底开始出现，在小街上的餐馆里很受欢迎。在我上海的公寓旁边就有一个这样的地方，而且总是人满为患。小龙虾是鲜红色的，闻起来很香。然而，当我尝试吃它们的时候，我有点失望:它们太辣了，以至于你不能品尝到它们的真正味道(所以我猜这意味着它的真正味道不是太好)同时，你能吃到的肉也不是太多，因为它的一半都是头！吃小龙虾绝对是一件痛苦的事情，因为你在吃的时候会发出啜吸的声音，而且也吃不到什么东西。人们通常戴着塑料手套吃，以免手被弄得太脏，而且桌子中间总有一个盆可以把壳扔进去。
– Loquat (枇杷 pipa): I think this fruit can also be found in Spain but I had never tried it. The season starts in mid May and only lasts for 2 or 3 weeks. Craziness ensues: there is a mountain close to Suzhou with a lot of loquat tree plantations and on the weekends the road there is completely jammed with families and groups of friends driving to the mountain to pick loquats. The peasants from that area have a great business: they grow trees and the city people pay to pick their fruit, so peasants save some time and earn some money! I have never done that. I have never bought loquats either as there is no need: I always get free ones from C.’s company. Many companies give loquats to their customers and employees during the season.
枇杷:我想这种水果在西班牙也可以找到，但是我从来没有吃过。它的季节在5月中旬开始，只持续2到3个星期。疯狂的事情接踵而至:苏州附近有一座山，那里有很多枇杷种植园，周末，路上挤满了人，无数的家庭和他们的朋友开车去山上采枇杷。那个地区的农民生意兴隆:他们种树，城里人花钱采摘水果，所以农民既节省了时间，又赚到了钱。我从来没有这样做过，我也从来没有买过枇杷，因为没有必要，因为C.总是会从公司带回来许多免费的。许多公司在节日期间会给他们的客户和员工赠送枇杷。
– Sticky rice wrapped in a leaf (粽子 zongzi): they start being sold at the end of May but are traditionally eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival (端午节 duanwu jie), a festivity that is normally around mid June. There are sweet zongzi and salty zongzi; the sweet ones have a filling of red bean and the salty ones have meat and boiled egg. I am a big fan of sticky rice in all of its delicious forms so of course I love zongzi! My favourite are the salty ones. I have been dreaming about them for several months already, I can’t wait for the season to start! In my previous company we would always be given a few zongzi the day before the Dragon Boat Festival.
粽子:它们是用糯米做的，包在一片叶子里。它们在5月底开始出售，但传统是在端午节期间吃，这个节日通常在6月中旬左右。粽子分为甜粽子和咸粽子，甜粽子有红豆粽，咸粽子有肉粽和鸡蛋粽。我是粽子的超级粉丝，所以我当然喜欢吃粽子。我最喜欢吃的是咸粽子，我已经梦想吃它们好几个月了，我等不及新一轮粽子季的开始了。在我以前的公司，我们总是在端午节的前一天得到一些粽子。
C.’s grandma does them herself and last year she tried to teach me how to wrap them. It is more complicated than it looks! But I think I got one right at least.
这些粽子都是C.的奶奶自己做的，去年她还试着教我怎么做，这比看起来要复杂得多。但我想我至少完成了一个。
– “Chicken-head rice” (鸡头米 jitoumi): such an interesting name comes from the shape of these seeds, round with a small beak-like protuberance. I have no idea if it has an official name in English! According to wikipedia they are the seeds of a water lily. They are cooked in a sweet soup and are soft but a little chewy. I love them! Their season is around September.
“鸡头米”:这样一个有趣的名字来源于这些种子的形状，它们长得圆圆的，有一个小的喙状突起。我不知道它是否有一个正式的英文名称。根据维基百科，它们是睡莲的种子它们是在甜汤里煮的，吃起来软软的，但是很有嚼劲。我很爱吃它们，它们的季节大约是在9月。
– Hairy crabs (大闸蟹 da zhaxie): these crabs are very appreciated in the whole country and the best (and more expensive) come from Yangcheng Lake, between Suzhou and Kunshan. When October arrives, all the fancy restaurants in China serve them at quite a pricey cost. They are very good, to be honest, but I think all the cracking and slurping (as with the crayfish) is quite annoying. Last time I ate them my MIL cracked all the parts open for me and I felt like a small child. The best piece is a yellow/orange part located inside the female crab’s tummy. They are called hairy crabs because they have some kind of hair in their “arms”.
大闸蟹:这些螃蟹在全国都很受欢迎，最好的(也更贵)的大闸蟹来自在苏州和昆山之间的阳澄湖。每当10月到来时，中国所有的高档餐厅都会以相当昂贵的价格供应它们。说实话，它们非常好吃，但我觉得所有这些掰碎它们的噼啪声和吃东西的啜吸声(就像吃小龙虾一样)都很烦人。上次我吃的时候，我的婆婆把所有的部分都给我打开了，我觉得自己像个小孩子。最好的部分是位于雌蟹肚子里的黄色/橙色部分。它们之所以被称为大闸蟹，是因为它们的“胳膊”上有一些毛。
Have you tried any of these foods? Do you like them?
你吃过这些食物吗?你喜欢吃吗？
评论翻译
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.com 翻译：超级凉快 转载请注明出处
Constance
The Suzhou Pants Building is very cool [the name definitely caught my attention and I had to check out the previous post]. My favorite has to be the first one as well – love the reflections and the background.
苏州裤衩大楼非常酷(这个名字确实引起了我的注意，我不得不去看看之前的帖子)。我最喜欢的是第一个雕塑以及，喜欢它的光影反射和背景。
Marta
Well, only us mean people are calling it “Suzhou pants”, the official name is Gate of the Orient. But come on, it does look like a pair of pants!.
嗯，只有我们这里的人叫它“苏州裤衩”，它的正式名称是东方之门。但是，拜托，它看起来确实像一条裤衩！。
Constance
if the pants fit, wear them!I love the name ‘Suzhou Pants’ as to oppose to the official name! :)
如果裤衩合身，就穿上它吧！我喜欢“苏州裤衩”这个名字，但反对这个正式的名字！:)
Ri
Such great namesーgolden chickens, pants buildings… Suzhou has it all!Love the reflective raindrops and the spider, too!I know, I know!! Don Quixote and Sancho Panza! ^^)/
如此伟大的名字，金鸡，裤衩大楼...苏州拥有这一切！我也喜欢反光的雨滴和蜘蛛！我知道最后一个雕塑，我知道！堂吉诃德和桑丘.潘沙！^^)/
Marta
Yayyy! You are the winner, haha. And I don’t have a picture, but just in front of Don Quixote and Sancho there is a sculpture of the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz!
耶！你赢了，哈哈。在堂吉诃德和桑丘面前有一个来自绿野仙踪的稻草人的雕塑，但是我没有拍照！
Karolyn
Brilliant, surreal images. But from my limited experience of Suzhou, the blue skies are the most surprising thing.
很精彩，很真实的照片。但从我在苏州的有限经历来看，蓝天是最令人惊讶的事情。
Marta
Sadly they are :( I think even Beijing has more blue sky days than us!
太可悲了，的确如此:( 我认为即使是北京也比我们有更多的蓝天！
Kimberly
The weather was sunny on Sunday and we couldn’t help but go out and walk around either. You had more interesting things to see though! I like the raindrops too. You never know what you’ll come across on a walk anywhere in China :)
如果星期天的天气晴朗，我们也会忍不住出去走走。不过你还有更有趣的东西要看！我也喜欢雨滴的雕塑。你永远不会知道你在中国的任何地方散步时会遇到什么:)
Marta
Let’s see what we come across when you come to visit Suzhou!
让我们看看你来苏州时，我们会遇到什么！
Mabel Kwong
Certainly a lovely day there. Lots of sculptures to look at. Love the first one and your captured the reflections beautifully.
那里的天气真好。有很多雕塑可以看。我喜欢第一张，你捕捉到的倒影非常漂亮。
Marta
Blue sky days are indeed lovely! If only we had them more often… :D
有蓝天的日子真棒！要是我们能经常有这样的日子就好了...
leonahinds
No way is there a Don Quijote statue in China! I was amazed at all the types of sculptures and modern public art when I was in China, but never saw anything like these! This park is now on my bucket list, thanks for sharing.
不是吧，中国居然有唐吉诃德的雕塑！当我在中国的时候，我对各种类型的雕塑和现代公共艺术感到惊奇，但是从来没有见过这样的东西！这个公园现在在我的愿望清单上了，谢谢分享。
Marta
There is actually a statue of Cervantes, Don Quixote’s writer, in the campus of Beijing University.The parks around the lake in Suzhou are a good place to wander when you get tired of all the classic gardens in the center of the city! ;)
在北京大学的校园里，有一尊塞万提斯的雕塑，他是堂吉诃德的作者！当你厌倦了市中心的古典园林时，苏州湖畔的公园是一个漫步的好地方！;)
Behind
The giant drops of water and their ripples are lovely. I like the skateboarders too. Even the ants are nice, especially for children. I hate the monkeys, though. It’s nice to see that Don Quixote and Sancho Panza made it to Suzhou.
巨大的水滴和它们的涟漪很漂亮。我也喜欢滑板爱好者的雕塑。即使是蚂蚁也很棒，特别是对孩子来说。不过我讨厌猴子。很高兴看到唐吉诃德和桑丘.潘沙出现在苏州。
Marta
I see we have a similar taste! Well, except in the skateboarders, I don’t really like them.
我认为我们有相似的品味！嗯，除了滑板爱好者，我真的不喜欢他们。
Hilary
Neat idea with the sculptures! What caught my attention was that seeing clouds and blue sky was novel. Wow… it really is that bad, eh?
雕塑的创意真棒！不过引起我注意的是你看到云和蓝天感到很新奇。哇...真的有那么糟糕吗？
Marta
Unfortunately it is :( China has a huge environmental problem. The water, the soil, the air… everything is polluted!
不幸的是:( 中国有一个严重的环境问题。水，土壤，空气...一切都被污染了！
Hilary
Huh… that’s great there’s a workaround! I have a feeling that the general population doesn’t believe everything they read??
嗯...那太好了，至少有个变通的办法！我有一种感觉，普通大众并不相信他们读到的所有东西，对吗？
Marta
I’m not very sure, I think many people don’t even consider that what they read can be untrue. But that happens also in western countries, many times news are written differently based on the writer’s belief and the same issue can be presented in two completely different ways
我不是很确定，我认为很多人甚至不认为他们读的东西是不真实的。但这种情况在西方国家也同样存在，很多时候，新闻的立场基于作者的价值观而不同，同样的问题可以用两种完全不同的方式来呈现
Hilary
Very true about different coverage of the same issue. It’s a skill to determine what is made up fluff and what is real sometimes, especially when it *sounds* like official research or sources are being quoted. This is especially true with the Internet! Your reader has to be on high alx all the time
同一问题的不同方式的报道，你说的很对。有时候，判断什么是虚假的，什么是真实的是一种技能，尤其是当它听起来像是引用的官方的研究资料的时候，在互联网上尤其如此！你必须时刻保持高度警惕。
hcyip
Interesting sculptures. It’s strange that there are so few people about. Is it because Suzhou is not crowded?
有趣的雕塑。奇怪的是周围人这么少。是因为苏州不拥挤吗？
Marta
This district was built in cooperation with the Singapore government and I don’t know if that is the reason, but the streets are wider and there is more space in general than in other parts of China or even other districts in Suzhou. It feels kind of empty
这个地区是与新加坡政府合作建造的，我不知道这是不是原因，但是这里的街道比苏州其他地区甚至中国其他地区都要宽阔，有更多的空间。不过感觉有点空洞。
MyChineseBF
Some of these sculptures are rather strange. XD I can’t get over the monkeys on the phone! It really makes you wonder what the artist was thinking. The water drops are my favorite too. :)
这些雕塑有些相当奇怪。打电话的猴子真让我受不了！它真的让你想知道艺术家在想什么。水滴的雕塑也是我的最爱。:)
TooChineseForU
I didn’t get to visit Suzhou while I was studying in Shanghai, but I’m now itching to go and check it out. I’m also interested in the gardens as well, since that’s what we first learn about when studying about Chinese history and culture in the US.
我在上海学习的时候没有去过苏州，但是我现在很想去看看。我对园林也很感兴趣，因为这是我们在美国学习中国历史和文化时首先了解到的。
Marta
Let me know when you come!
你来的时候告诉我一声！
hcyip
I’ve only visited Suzhou once and it was part of a multi-city tour. We just visited a temple, Lion Grove garden and took a boat ride on a canal, as well as a mall with a giant LED screen that was open but virtually empty. Other than the Lion garden, I didn’t find these places too interesting and as a result, my opinion of Suzhou is that it is not very interesting and kind of boring. I hope I’m wrong though, haha.
我只去过苏州一次，那是一次多城市旅游的一部分。我们参观了一个寺庙，狮子林，在运河上划船，还有一个有着巨大的LED屏幕的商场，它虽然是开着的，但实际上里面是空的。除了狮子园，我不觉得其它地方很有趣，因此，我对苏州的看法是，它不是很有趣，有点无聊。我希望我错了，哈哈。
Marta
Why were you taken to that mall?? There is absolutely nothing to see there hahaha. Even going for a walk around the lake would have been better!Suzhou is not as fun as Beijing but it is still ok ;)
你为什么会被带到那个商场？那里肯定没有什么可看的，哈哈。即使是在湖边散步也会比去那儿更好！苏州虽然没有北京有趣，但也不错;)
hcyip
You’re right; there wasn’t really anything. The tour guide wanted us to see the short movie on the giant overhead screen. The screen was fancy but there was nothing special about the video. If anything, the sight of this large, modern mall with open stores on a weekday evening and nobody around gave me a bad impression.I did find that Suzhou seemed like a prosperous city, more modern and well-off than Nanjing or Xian, and similar to Hangzhou, which I liked more.
你说得对，那里其实什么都没有。导游想让我们在头顶上的巨大屏幕上看部短片。屏幕很漂亮，但视频没有什么特别之处。如果说有什么区别的话，那就是在工作日的晚上看到这个大型的、现代化的商场和营业的商店，而周围却没有人。这给我留下了不好的印象。我发现苏州看起来确实像一个繁荣的城市，比南京或西安更现代，更富裕，更像杭州，我也更喜欢。
Marta
Yep, that mall sucks, it’s always empty! In the last couple of years a lot of new malls have been built in that district (Suzhou Industrial Park) but I don’t think there’s enough business for all of them!
是的，那个商场糟透了，总是空空如也！在过去的几年里，很多新的商场已经在那个地区(苏州工业园区)建成了，我不认为有足够的客流量给他们所有的商场！
