翻译旅游篇--万里长城

The Miracle of All Times – The Great Wall

永恒的奇迹—万里长城

Listed as a World Culture Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987, the

Great Wall is a true marvel and a testament to the long history of the Chinese Civilization. The Great Wall stretches from ShanHai Pass in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. The most comprehensive archaeological survey in April 2009, using advanced technologies, has concluded that the entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851.8 kilometers.

It’s believed that the Great Wall was firstly built in Warring States

Period (475-221 B.C.), and primarily strengthened in three dynasties: the Qin (221 -206 B.C.), the Han (202 – 220 A.D.) and the Ming (1368-1644). In the early days, the Great Wall became stronger, its defense role increased. The building styles of each dynasty added their own flavor and advanced the techniques learned from the previous. Where possible, natural barriers were integrated into the path of the wall. It’s said that the length of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers is about 2,232.5 kilometers.

The first emperor, Qin Shihuang, who unified China by force set

about constructing one Great Wall – by joining existing one and filling

the gaps. There are no surviving historical records indicating the exact length and course of the Qin Dynasty walls. Some parts of the Great Wall have almost disappeared. Some parts have been overwhelmed by the elements. Some have been buried by the desert. Others eroded by local people recycling the wall’s materials for constructions in their villages. Most of the walls that we are familiar with today were built in Ming Dynasty, which built the biggest, longest, strongest and most ornate Great Wall ever.

The Ming Dynasty Great Wall starts on the eastern end at ShanHai

Pass, near Winhuangdao, in Hebei Province, next to Bohai Sea. It once spanned 9 provinces and 100 countries, but the final 500 kilometers of the Great Wall effectively ends ant the historic site of JiaYu Pass, in northwest GanSu Province, at the limit of the Gobi Desert and the oases of the Silk Road.

The ShanHai Pass mentioned above is one of the most famous passes

of the Great Wall. It’s known as the First Pass under Heaven. To the east of it, there is a Meng Jiangnv Temple, which was built in memory of Meng Jiangnv, the heroine of the most popular folklore concerning the Great Wall of China. The husband of Meng Jiangnv was forced to go to the construction site for the Great Wall in the nuptial night. Meng Jiangnv waited for the return of her husband and months went by like centuries. When winter came, she decided to visit him and bring him some clothes.

However, she arrived at the site only to find her husband toiled to death and buried under the Great Wall. She was so sad that she kept crying for 7 days and nights. Finally, part of the Great Wall fell apart and the body of her husband appeared.

Besides the ShanHai Pass, another famous part of Great Wall should

be Badaling which is the most representative and best-protected part the Great Wall in Ming Dynasty. More than 400 celebrities like Nixon, Margatet Thatcher and Vladimir Putin etc. have visited and 130 milliion tourists have been there. After the Beijing Olympic, you could visit there, being greeted by the Olympic structure ―One World, One Dream‖, which could be seen in the MV of Beingjing Welcomes you.

Today, more and more people from all over the world are visiting the

Great Wall of China, to stand on a watchtower and view the wall snaking into the distance. Why don’t you stand up, take a package with you and walk on the Great Wall? The one who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man. You might take a photo with certain head of state, if you’re lucky enough.

长城是一个伟大的奇迹，作为中华文明悠久历史的证明，1987年

被联合国教科文组织列入世界文化遗产名录。它东起山海关，西至罗布泊，大致沿着内蒙古南部省界划出一道弧形。2009年4月，一项蚕蛹先进技术的考古学调查经过全面完善的计算，最终算出所有长城加在一起的总长度为8851.8千米。

现在人们普遍认为长城早在战国时期（公元前475-221年）就开

始修建，主要在秦朝（公元前221-206年），汉朝（公元前202-公元220年）和明朝（1368-1644年）这三个时期得到重要发展。早期人们修建长城是为了分疆划界也为了防御外敌入侵，但随着长城的加长，它的防御功能也随之增强。每个朝代修建的长城都融入了该时期的建筑风格和特色，建筑技术也在前朝的基础上也有所突破和进步。凡是能“因地形，用险制塞”的地方，各朝代都会利用危崖绝壁、江河湖泊作为天然屏障与长城融为一体。据说整个长城天然险的长度达到2232.5千米。

中国第一个皇帝秦始皇在用武力统一全国之后便开始着手修建一

个完整的长城。他名人将原先所有的长城都连接起来，但是现存的史料里并没有记载秦长城的具体长度和线路。后来有些长城几近消失，有些被风雨侵蚀淹没，有些隐匿于沙漠之下，有些被当地居民拆掉用来建造自己的村落。直到明朝才又修建起最宏大、最绵长、最坚固而又华丽的长城，现在我们所熟悉的大部分长城都是明长城。

明长城东起河北秦皇岛附近的山海关，紧邻渤海，曾穿越9个省

100多个城市，但西部最后的500多千米长城几乎成为碎石堆，所以现在明长城最西面实际上是到中国西北部甘肃省的嘉峪关—丝绸之路上的绿洲，戈壁滩的尽头。

上文提到的山海关是长城多个关卡中最为著名的一个，素有“天

下第一关”之称。在它的东部有一个孟姜女庙，是为了纪念孟姜女而修建的。孟姜女哭长城是中国家喻户晓的民间传说。相传孟姜女和丈

夫新婚当晚，丈夫被官兵抓走修长城。孟姜女就在家里一直等待丈夫回家，度日如年。等到冬天时，孟姜女决定去探望丈夫，给他带一些冬衣。结果等她赶到长城脚下时却发现自己的丈夫早已累死被埋在长城下。孟姜女伤心不已，在长城脚下连哭了七天七夜，终于长城崩塌，孟姜女丈夫的遗体出现在孟姜女眼前。

除了山海关，另外一段有名的长城莫过于八达岭长城。这是明长

城中保护最完善，也最具代表性的一段。至今共计有1.3亿多游客参观过这段长城，其中有400多位名人，比如尼克松，撒切尔夫人和普京等。北京奥运会过后，如果你再去八达岭，首先引入眼帘的便是那巨大的奥运口号“同一个世界，同一个梦想”，在《北京欢迎你》这首歌的音乐电视中就有这个镜头。

现在还有更多人从世界各地赶来一堵长城的风采，站在瞭望塔上

看长城蜿蜒到远处的山顶感受那份宏伟。你何不站起来，拿起背包也来爬长城呢？要知道，不到长城非好汉！如果你足够幸运的话，没准还能和某些国家元首合影哦！

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