八位香港同胞安息 …!
Just back from busy and hot Shanghai one week ago, I made an appointment with my Dutch mother Eveline, to spend an afternoon at the Kralingen Lake. Eveline likes the idea but to my surprise, it is for her the first time to be at the waterside bar at the old windmill.
The idea besides drinking coffee and chatting is to try out some photographs with Eveline’s flowers. Eveline has worked a long time for the Municipality. Besides being a beautiful and special lady of Rotterdam and the Netherlands, she has a special love for flower-shaped earings. Sitting at water, she took out her flower earing treasures: Some peony and tropical flowers. The colourful flowers, the variation of surrounding nature, the cool brise in the afternoon have taken us away from all worries and we opened eyes for discoveries. At the offshore wetland, we found out that the floating sailing yard there resembles a little piece of Hongkong in Rotterdam. We saw a beautiful waterbird finding food. We met a lovely whity dog which became immediately a friend of Eveline. What a cozy and discovering afternoon!
Nature is really generous to offer us pleasurable time and many inspirations by its beauty.
Kralingen Lake (In Dutch: Kralingse Plas) is the biggest artificial lake and forest area in the city of Rotterdam, which were planed to dig out for gaining the useful peat in the 19th century. Today it is a most favorite recreational spot in Rotterdam.
一周前刚刚从繁忙而温热的上海回到荷兰，我与荷兰妈妈伊芙琳约定到克拉林根湖一起过一个下午。伊芙琳喜欢这个想法，但令我惊讶的是，她还是第一次来这个伴着老风车的水边酒吧呢。
我的想法除了喝咖啡和聊天之外，还想尝试拍一些伊芙琳的花照片。伊芙琳为鹿特丹市政府工作了多年，是属于荷兰和鹿特丹的一位美丽而特殊的女性，她对于花形耳环非常偏爱。我们在水边坐着，她拿出她的花朵耳钉宝贝，由一些牡丹花和热带花卉组成。五颜六色的鲜花，周围的自然变化，下午凉爽的微风，使我们远离平日的忧虑。我们张开了渴于发现的眼睛。在近岸的湿地，我们发现那个常见到的游艇浮屋很象鹿特丹城中的一小处香港；我们观察一只美丽水鸟的觅食；我们还遇到了一条可爱的小白狗并且它立刻成为了伊芙琳的朋友。这个下午十分惬意。
大自然非常慷慨地给我们提供了供品味的时间和很多的启示。
克拉林根湖（荷兰语：克拉林根普拉斯）是在鹿特丹市最大的人工湖和森林，它是在19世纪为了挖取有用的泥炭而规划形成的。今天它是鹿特丹人最喜爱的休闲去处之一。
Shanghai is a city changing “as wide as the sea”. The present World Expo displays the city with the theme of Better City, Better Life, and the city is displaying itself at any time. Originally I scheduled my last vacation in July for seeing the grand World Expo, as many others, however I was attracted more to the city, my city. Living in the Netherlands, although I have been visiting it quite regularly, I haven’t got much time to take a stroll in it.
A dense and kaleidoscopic city of 25 million people, when it keeps its run, endless surprises and creations could be just aside you, big or small. I was surprised by these “green snapshots”, which show that Shanghai is still very green if you take a close look, from and beyond the Chinese gardens……
Click here to view more photos.
上海这个城市的变化是“海量”的。正在那里进行的世博会展示“城市，让生活更美好”的主题，而这个城市每时每刻都在展示着自己。象许多人那样，我原本于7月的假期，是为了观看盛大的世界博览会。但是我更多地被城市所吸引了，这个我的城市。生活在荷兰，虽然我定期地造访它，但却没有太多时间可以漫步其间。
一个拥有二千五百万人的，高密度的，千变万化的城市，当它在运行着，无数大大小小的惊喜和创造可能就在你身边。其实如果你仔细查看下面这些“绿色的足迹”，你会发现上海仍然很绿，它们而且超越了中国园林的涵义… …
点击这里查看更多的照片。
Shanghai South Railway Station 上海火车南站
Pedestrian Zone on Nanjing Road 南京路步行街
Nanjing Road Century Square 南京路世纪广场
Wuding Xi Road 武定西路
Balcony View at Jiangsu-Yuyuan Road 江苏路愚园路的阳台风景
Jing'an Temple Sunken Square 静安寺下沉广场
Entrance of House Lane on Beijing Road 北京路上弄堂入口
Street View 街景
West Nanjing Road 南京西路
Aquarium in Tianzifang 田子坊金鱼缸
Street Garden at Nanyang Road 南洋路街心花园
Like across a river on a narrow bamboo bridge, every life is to be in a balanced flowing harmony. Chinese medical herbs help keeping life in the delicate balance, measured by Yin and Yang, Hot and Cool features.
However the herbal harmony with nature is not just a Chinese thing, but of many other cultures. An example is the nature healers – people of Shipibo in the Amazons. The Ayahuasca (“Spirit Wine”) made by leaves of shrubs in the Amazon forests is their special creation to heal the body and as religious sacrament for the soul.
Shipibo people haven’t grow themselves a big city yet. When they are still walking in their forest looking for their next ingredients for the Ayahuasca wine, where are we looking for our herbs in our cities?
Some people are going to Shipibo forests to heal their souls from the bustling cities. We too?
在傍晚行人渐稀的鹿特丹里走着，好像太安静了些。想起一个其实并不太喜欢但很铿锵而自由的音乐－葛仕温的蓝色狂想曲。那篇起源于火车之声和纽约之喧嚣的钢琴音乐。在想，既然每个城市都有自己的历史，那么它们是否都有自己的音乐呢？不管那些音乐多么狂热，舒适或者冷峭。它们在唱些什么，和那个城市又有怎样特殊的联系？
－阿姆斯特丹的运河之歌和阿姆斯特丹来的郁金香花。
－看鹿特丹之曲郊野般的浪漫，或者港口之歌Ketel Binkie。
－北京的音乐是否有这首可爱的童谣吉他曲北京之歌，或者传统的京韵大鼓吧。
－上海的音乐就听听这个上海之歌吧，还有周璇的夜上海，或者上海的微风。
更多歌吧…… 还是更多相思了？有一点点。
In the dusk of Rotterdam which is getting gradually less pedestrians, walking gets so quiet. Thinking of a music piece, which is not my personal favorite, but very sonorous and free – Gershwin’s piano piece Rhapsody in Blue, which is inspired by voices on train movement and New York City. I wonder, if every city has its own history, do they all have their own music? No matter how enthusiastic, comfortable or cool. What are they singing, where are the special links to that very city?
－About Amsterdam’s Canals or Tulips from Amsterdam.
－Look at the romantic Rotterdam country song, or the harbour song Ketel Binkie.
－Beijing’s music may have some of this lovely guitar enfant rhythm, or the traditional Jing Talk Song.
－Shanghai’s music to listen to the Song to Shanghai, Shanghai Night, or Shanghai Breezes.
－Shanghai’s music to listen to the Song to Shanghai, Shanghai Night, or Shanghai Breezes.
More songs… Or getting more homesick? A little bit.
橘子有令人快乐、 健康，精力充沛的独特风味。它那么受欢迎，我们甚至会忘记它原先来自亚洲东南部，它在欧洲的绰号叫 “中国苹果”（比如荷兰语的Sinaasappel）。橘子的使用如此多样，除了作为水果，它被作为香料制成众所周知的香水，像娇兰或雨果博斯。Orange has the special flavor of making one feel happy, healthy and energetic. It is so popular that we may not know its origin from Southeast Asia and its nickname in Europe ‘Chinese Apple’ (e.g. Dutch Sinaasappel). Orange is so versatile in use that, besides as fruit, it has been made as fragrance for well-known parfumes, like by Guerlain or Hugo Boss.
在十七世纪荷兰的黄金时代，玻璃橘园或巴罗克式花厅（Orangerie）原本是在意大利文艺复兴花园的种植橘子的玻璃暖房。从法国到德国和荷兰，它们是当时众多城堡中有种植功能的建筑部分，比如法国凡尔赛宫，或者卢瓦尔地区的城堡。橘子穿过当时的海上丝绸之路由南中国和东南亚到达欧洲。而直到今天，一种很小的“樱桃橙”南丰蜜桔仍是来自南中国的独特产品。During the Dutch Golden Age 17th Century, the Orangerie is originally a glasshouse for raising the oranges in an Rainassance garden in Italy. From France to Germany and Holland, they were also built as the cultivation part in numerous castles, such as in Versaille or the castles in the Loire region. The oranges which came through the Sea Silk Routes from South China and South-East Asia. However, until today, a very small cherry orange Nanfeng Orange is still a unique product from South China.
1851年在伦敦水晶宫举行的（世界）大展览开幕仪式（维基百科图片）。The opening of the Great (World) Exhibition at Crystal Palace in London 1851 (photo Wikipedia).
当时柑橘和水果的贸易刺激了新兴温室工艺的发展，这些在维基百科中可以读到。现在很多古老的玻璃橘园不光延续它们室内植物园的功能，它们也成为举行文化活动和音乐会的场所。别忘了伦敦的玻璃建筑水晶宫是作为1851年第一次世界博览会（世博会）的展览地点，它也据说是世界上首个公共游园里的玻璃暖房。－－这些告诉我这些千丝万缕的联系：“中国苹果”、黄金时代、还有今天宏大的世界博览会！The trade of the oranges and fruits at that time has stimulated the development of the emerging glasshouse technics, which you could also read from Wikipedia. Nowadays, these old orangeries are not only used as indoor botanic garden, they are also places for cultural activities and concerts. Not to forget the masterpiece of the Crystal Palace in London, which served as the venue of the first World’s Exposition (World Expo) in 1851, and (as far as I know) the first glasshouse in the world in a public park. — This tells much about the countless ties between the “Chinese Apple”, the Golden Age and today’s grand World Expo!
这个星期五下午我去城里放松了一下。发现了珍兰，老牌的法国香水的水族薄荷青草香型。带着水韵的新鲜草香和薄荷草味提醒我将要来到的母亲节。原来我希望这是从中国来的芬芳，不过还好香味是没有界限的。This Friday afternoon feels a bit relaxed in town. I discovered a fragrance of Guerlain, a very old French parfume brand, Aqua Allegoria-Herba Fresca. The watery fragrance of fresh grass and crispy mint reminded me of the coming Mother’s Day. Originally, I would wish a fragrance from China, but fragrances don’t have boundaries.
我的母亲会爱上它的。她没有象我一样在上海这样的大城市长大，而是在一个风景如画的小镇，有很多水道、 船只、新鲜水果和芬芳树木。作为中国古老水乡绍兴的女儿，她会告诉我那里的故事，比如那里的历史名人王羲之，周恩来，鲁迅等等。 当我七岁的时候，我们一家去绍兴旅行。我还清楚地记得那些对我来说神秘的小巷子，充满茂盛的树木和遮荫的院子，很多有美味的小肉馄饨和其他土特产的小店铺。My mother would love it. She was not raised up in the big town of Shanghai like me, but a small picturesque town with a lot of water canals, boats, fresh fruits and fragrant trees – As the daughter from an old Chinese water town Shaoxing, she always told me stories there, for example the big people who were cradled there, like Wang Xizhi, Zhou Enlai, or Lu Xun. When I became seven, we went on a trip to Shaoxing. I still remember so well the mysterious small lanes with lushy trees, shadowy courts, a lot of small shops with delicious specialities and tiny meat dumplings.
我们访问了舅妈家的旧房子，那是一个象小巷一样伸到远处的很长的房子。通过前厅兼餐厅，客厅，休息室，厨房，它的背面直接临着水，在运河上不时有船只带来新鲜的绿色蔬菜和菱角。The old house where we visited my aunt’s family was a very long-stretched house in the small lane. Along the front and dining room, living room, rest room and kitchen, its backside faced a water canal where boats came along with fresh green vegetables and water chestnuts.
母亲以前一直在上海的一家大医院当医生。由于绍兴有丰富的书法传统，她很喜爱书法。因此，退休后不久开始学习书法，进展令人称羡。她也很喜欢种植花卉和植物。虽然在上海市中心的八层楼居住，我们没有花园，可是我们的阳台上布满了鲜花，她用留下来的水和鸡蛋液来滋养那些花卉，还把花盆带下楼去，让它们在社区花园里得到更多的阳光。Mother has worked as a doctor in a big hospital in Shanghai. She has a love to calligraphy with the rich tradition of calligraphy from Shaoxing. After her retirement she started exercising it and made an astonishing progress. She is also a true fan of flowers and plants. Living on the 8th floor in the centre of Shanghai, we don’t have a real garden. However our balcony is full of flowers, which she nourishes with kept water and egg fluid. She takes the pots down the floors to get them more sunshines in the community garden.
来自母亲家乡的著名中国作家鲁迅有一篇众所周知的散文，关于他家的书屋和菜园“百草园”。感谢他的著作，这些老旧却依然新鲜的记忆留在许多人的心里。随着芳草的香气，法国的香水工匠也许还不知道他们造就了与一位中国母亲看不见的联系。不过，我心里仍然希望找到一种以中文“百草园”命名的绿之香…… The major Chinese writer Lu Xun from Mother’s hometown had a short but well-known essay about his book house and a vegetable garden “Hundred Grass Garden“. The old yet fresh memories are kept in many people’s mind thank to his writing. With the grass flavors, the French parfume craftmen didn’t know that they made up an invisible link to a Chinese mother. However I still wish to find a Green Fragrance with the Chinese name “Bai Cao Yuan” (Hundred Grass Garden)……
过去的一周忙着一个生态休闲的规划项目。要通过视觉感受布局一个未来的梦想是多么有趣！经过几天漫长的工作， 这个阶段以对地球的另一边进行的视频会议完成了，一个对低碳发展的贡献！The past week was occupied by an eco-leisure planning project. How interesting it is to layout a visual dream again for the future! After several long days, the plan was finalized with a video conference to the other side of the earth, a low-carbon contribution!
项目的位置邻近上海，但它也跟来自台湾的人们有关。在荷兰我认识一些台湾人，但还从没去过那里。象视频会议那样，我开始以“低碳”的网络方式浏览探询台湾的文化和历史，他们的传统意识和对自然的挚爱。也发现一些台湾的电影，比如一个新电影“艋舺”，一个发生在台北老城区的故事。我喜欢它的音乐和对现实的混合：老街上的动作片，静想的时刻，自然景象的滑动，忙碌的都市场景，痛苦的成长，既苦又甜的爱…The project location is near Shanghai, but it also has to do with people from Taiwan. I know a few Taiwan people in the Netherlands, but have never been there yet. As low-carbon as the video conference, I took a quick journey on the internet on Taiwan culture and history, their adoration of nature and tradition. Also some Taiwan cinemas, such as this new film Monga about a story took place in the old city of Taipei. I like its music and the mixture of realities: Street actions, meditational moments, nature moves, busy urban scenes, growing pains, sweet-bitter love…
我将继续寻找台湾。这就像一个探索和发现的旅程，寻找中国的另一种方式是怎样。I will continue to look at Taiwan. It is like a discovery journey, about how China could be in another way.
An impression of Taiwan through the film Monga's online images. -- Remix Xiaoying Liu 2010
