点评:To get to the ‘city’, my wife and I walked along Xi Ying Road from the Vienna International hotel where we were staying, for about 50 metres to towards the DaYanTa metro station. Then we used the lift to get up on the skywalk and cross the huge road junction and then sidled down the ramp to the southern end of ‘Ever Bright City’ or as my wife prefers the ‘City that Never Sleeps’.
It was around 7 o’clock in the evening and the city was stirring its stumps for another busy evening, night and early morning.
Suddenly, huge columns of red water shot into the sky, and we and hundreds of others shuffled over to ogle them. A spectacular start to the evening.
Then we wandered north using the illuminated Great Wild Goose Pagoda (da yan ta – 大雁塔) as a marker. We could see the pagoda from our hotel room, so reckoned we’d soon be there.
After a half-hour of walking, we got to the pagoda, we saw that the city stretched away into the distance. A friendly bao’an told us that another good hour’s walk would bring us to the other end of the street.
We soon crossed a main road and then night-life really began. We kept to the left side of the street, and wandered past innumerable stalls selling snacks, drinks, and life’s essential and not so essential tat. There are numerous shopping arcades. There are museums and theatres. My wife enjoyed the street theatre using the statues that make up the street’s central reservation to tell a traditional Chinese story. You name it, and it’s there.
When we reached the Xi’an Art museum, our legs cried enough and we slowly retraced our steps, but on the right-hand side of the street which is more-or-less the same as the left-hand side. I was nearly enticed into the chocolate museum, which is a fancy name for a chocoholic’s shop.
After three hours we staggered into the Vienna International Hotel. Somehow, we never got to experience again the delights of Every Bright City.
翻译:为了前往“城市”,我和妻子从下榻的维也纳国际酒店出发,沿着西影路走了约50米,便来到了大雁塔地铁站。随后我们乘电梯登上空中步道,穿过宽阔的十字路口,再沿着坡道下行,便来到了“恒隆广场”的南端——我妻子更喜欢称这里为“不夜城”。
当时大约是晚上7点,整座城市正开始为又一个繁忙的夜晚做准备。夜晚与清晨。
突然,巨大的红色水柱冲天而起,我们和数百人纷纷围过去观看。这真是夜晚的一个精彩开端。
随后,我们以灯火通明的大雁塔为标志,向北方漫步而去。从酒店的房间里就能看到大雁塔,所以我们以为很快就能到达。
走了半小时后,我们终于抵达了大雁塔,看到城市向远方延伸开去。一位和善的宝安人告诉我们,再走大约一个小时就能到达街道的另一端。
我们很快穿过了主干道,随后夜生活正式开始。我们沿着街道左侧前行,漫步在经过无数个贩卖零食、饮料以及各种生活必需品与非必需品的小摊之间。这里还有许多购物街。此外还有博物馆和剧院。我的妻子很喜欢那种利用街道中央的雕像来讲述中国传统故事的街头戏剧。应有尽有,什么都有。
当我们走到西安艺术博物馆时,双腿已经累得不行了,于是我们慢慢原路返回,只不过走的是街道的右侧,那里的景色与左侧大致相似。我差点被巧克力博物馆吸引进去——其实那不过是专为巧克力爱好者开设的商店罢了。三个小时后,我们摇摇晃晃地走进了维也纳国际酒店。不知为何,我们再也没能体验到“每个明亮的城市”带来的乐趣。