2017年11月12日星期天的早晨，秋高气爽，刚刚结束西澳ESL课程的我怀着放松的心情，参加了樊阳人文讲坛的嘉定秋霞圃的人文行走活动。

On the morning of November 12, 2017 the weather was sunny. After I had finished my ESL lessons I took part in an activity with the Fang Yang Humanities Forum. 

 "不到园林，怎知春色如许！"虽然读到过有关园林的古诗文，但是总感觉园林离我们既近又陌生。跟随着樊老师的脚步，我发现了园林中蕴含着独特的中国式的审美文化，从园林发展和诗文书画的之间的互动关系，从诗文、绘画、戏曲、音乐等要素出发，从园林大格局和天人合一的观念出发，一草一木一牌匾、亭台楼阁每一处都让我感受到中国园林的独特韵味。

“You won’t know the view if you don’t enter the garden.” Although I have read a lot off poems about parks, entering this Chinese garden I still felt a bit strange as I followed along with the group led by teacher Fan. During the visit to the I saw that the garden contains a unique Chinese aesthetic culture. Every aspect of the garden’s design from the interaction between poetry and calligraphy to the painting, drama and music to factors like the landscape pattern illustrating the concept of man’s unity with nature and the smallest details on plaques or pavilions. All of these communicated the unique charm of the Chinese garden to me. 

在秋霞圃公园的城隍庙里，我们初探了二十八星宿、六十太岁神的故事，还饶有兴趣的找到了自己的太岁爷……

With the group we toured the Chenghuang Temple in Qiuxiapu Park which is located in the Jiading District of Shanghai. Inside the temple we explored the story of twenty-eight stars first and then the story of the sixty star gods before trying to finding our own star gods. 

 活动接近尾声的时候，我竟意外地接到一个任务，WACE陆贤校长让我去接待一位远道而来的贵宾--澳大利亚西澳洲政府教育署课程委员会主任Mrs. Gail Taylor。陆校长对我充分的信任，让我自己制定行程线路，接到任务的我，既兴奋又紧张，不知该如何安排，我一会儿查查路线，一会儿查查英文的解说，连中文向导也没做过的我，让我全程做英文导游，可真是一次全新的挑战，还在我忐忑不安中，妈妈的车已把我带到了Gail下榻的酒店，没时间犹豫了，我拨通了她房间的电话。

After taking part in the activity in the garden in the morning I was surprised to receive a task from the Principal of WACE, Lu Xian. Principal Lu asked me to be a guide for a distinguished Australian visitor to China. The guest was Ms.Gail Taylor who is the director of the curriculum committee of the Western Australia Department of Education.      

I didn’t know how to prepare for my task of being a tour guide. After arriving at Gail’s hotel room I felt nervous but I had no time to hesitate and promptly dialed her room.

初见Mrs. Taylor，她的亲切让我紧张的心情放松了下来，她就像是一位长辈，和她简短交流后，我了解到她非常喜欢中国的文化，我和妈妈决定先带她去参观上海城隍庙和豫园，我可以为她讲解城隍庙道家的历史文化，和豫园的中国园林之美。这二个地方正好和我早上的行程相似，而且几天前为了嘉定秋霞圃的行走我已查阅了相关网站和书籍资料，带着问题听了樊老师的解读后，我现在有信心把这个行程讲解好。但目前唯一的难点就是有一些专有名词的不知怎么更好的翻译成英语。  

When first meeting Mrs Taylor, her kindness made me feel relaxed. She was just like an elder member of my own family. She even asked me to call her Gail  After chatting with Gail briefly my mother and I decided to take her to visit Shanghai Chenghuang Temple and Yu Garden . Although I had never visited this temple myself and I had searched for information about it online a few days earlier. I felt I had the confidence to make this trip go smoothly now. The only difficulty I faced was that some of the proper nouns were difficult to translate into English.

从酒店出发，当汽车经过南浦大桥时，我就开始迫不及待的为Taylor女士讲起了黄浦江上七座大桥的历史，我竭尽所能用自己已经掌握的词汇为她讲解，然而还是会遇到一些言不达意的时候，Taylor女士就鼓励了我并且表示理解。

Leaving the hotel and then driving across the Nanpu Bridge, I couldn’t wait to tell Gail the history of the seven bridges over the Huangpu River. I tried my best to explain this important history to Gail. Even though I couldn’t communicate everything I wanted to say fluently, Mrs Taylor was able to understand me and was very encouraging.

步入城隍庙，大殿内正在进行一场道教仪式，我就告诉她道教是中国本土的一个宗教，它起源于春秋时期老子的道家学说，但当时的道家与道教并不是同一个事物，直到汉朝才真正有道教的宗教组织产生。城隍庙是道家的一个重要的祭拜场所，城隍是守护城池的神。我们在城隍庙中看到的仪式正是念经，这是教徒们用来净化自己心灵的一种方法，Taylor女士对此仪式非常感兴趣，在那里驻足了30分钟直到仪式结束。

The Chenghuang Temple is a Taoist temple located in Huangpu District. I told Gail that Taoism is native Chinese religion that originated from the writing of Laozi during  the Spring and Autumn period. Taoism as a religous tradition really began later during the Han Dynasty. The Chenghuang Temple is an important site for worship Taoist in Shanghai. In the Temple we witnessed  a Taoist ceremony where monks chanted a Buddhist sutta. This chanting is an important ritual that takes place in Taoist temples to help people purify their souls. Gail found this ceremony very interesting and we stood and watched for 30 minutes until the ceremony was finished.

穿过大殿，我接着带她参观了六十太岁神，并告诉她太岁神乃道教值年神灵之一，他们其实都是大将军，生前廉洁清正，百姓敬仰，是人们理想中的榜样，当年值班的太岁神，我们称之为值年太岁，他掌管人世间一年的吉凶祸福……Taylor女士听得津津有味，直夸我知识广博。

After that we crossed the hall and I took her to visit the images of the Heavenly Generals and told her about Tai Sui who was one of the most important Taoist deities. While looking at images of the Taoist Deities I explained to Gail that the Taoist values are honesty, uprightness and respect for people. Gail listened to my explanation with interest and praised me for my knowledge about this subject. 

从城隍庙出来，已错过了参观豫园的时间，我准备的园林之美只能等以后再为她讲解。我们在商业街上逛逛，看看我们中国的手工艺人制作的工艺品，品尝了美味的小吃。然后又去了多伦路文化街，谈谈鲁迅先生，在多伦路的尽头是日军曾经在上海的海军司令部大本营，此时天色已晚，我们在此结束了整个参观行程。

Leaving the City God Temple we realized there was not enough time to visit Yu Garden. Located just a short distance from the temple, I had prepared to explain the beauty of the garden to her.  Instead we strolled through the commercial streets in the temple neighborhood to taste delicious local snacks while observing the artisans making traditional crafts. Following this we travelled to Hongkou District to stroll along Duolun Road Culture Street and view some interesting examples of early twentieth century architecture. Along Duolun Road we chatted about writer Lu Xun who used to live in the area. In this neighborhood near Luxun Park we were able to view the former Japanese Navy Headquarters in Shanghai. At this point it was getting late so we ended the tour.

   

最后我们一起和Taylor女士去美美的品味了一顿地道的上海菜，就着黄浦江的美丽的夜景和她聊聊我的家庭和学校生活，大家都感到非常惬意……

To conclude the tour my mother and I took Gail to try some delicious local Shanghai cuisine while enjoying the amazing night view of the Huangpu River. During dinner we talked about my family and my school life. It was a very comfortable conversation and a very enjoyable dinner. 

一路陪伴Taylor女士的途中，我不仅锻炼了自己的英语口语，更培养了自己的自信，但我还是感到自己的不足与肤浅。读万卷书行万里路，上海这个我熟悉的城市，她不光是一座国际化的大都市，更是中国走向现代化的起点与最前沿，她有着自己独特的文化，我应该再深入地探究，串成一条条的线路，比如上海开埠、租界及老洋房的故事，从上海开始，做好我们澳大利亚国际高中（WACE）的文化使者。感谢陆校长对我的信任并给我这个机会，如果还有下一次，我会做得更好！

Along the way, I had a chance to practice my spoken English as well as build my self-confidence. However, I still felt that I had work to do to improve even more. I have read many books about the city of Shanghai and I know the city is not just cosmopolitan; it’s the starting point of China’s modernization and the cutting edge of it today. Shanghai has its own unique culture which should be explored including the concessions, the open port and the old villas. I feel I have done a good job as a cultural ambassador for Australian International High School. That you to Principal Lu for trusting me to and giving me this opportunity. I feel I will do better if I have another opportunity to be a cultural ambassador in the future. 

 

东方网教育频道 陈乐