我的北京之行

虽然唐山离北京很近，只有两小时的车程，但这只是我第三次来北京。因为前两次经历距离现在有些远，此次之行，我暗下决心要再一次而且要仔细地体会一下这座城市的味道。

不知不觉中，城市成为了绝大多数人的精神归宿。听新闻说，到2050年，中国的城市人口将首次超过乡镇人口。人们讨论着城市一角的兴衰，感觉着城市给人生活带来的影响，上海世博会也打出了“城市让生活更美好”的旗号。这让人不由觉得那些被少数人所追捧的“原生态”就这样地被甩在了脑后。

在我的眼里，北京是一个招人嫉妒的城市：它给外地人来此地定居设定了很高的门槛，却又对本地人十分眷顾。仅仅听北京人的言谈，就能感觉到他们不经意中流露出的优越感——老人们到天坛晨练，晚上在长安街散步，在天安门广场放风筝……许多大事都围绕着北京发生，来自五湖四海的人相聚在首都。这一切都着实令人向往！

第一天 七月四日 星期日

坐上了到北京四惠的长途车，经过两个多小时在高速路上的飞驰，过了一个收费站，世界的颜色瞬间发生了改变——目不暇接的各种标示牌像即时贴一样粘在马路两旁，还有奇形怪状的广告牌，当然少不了现代大城市的记号——高楼。北京的绿化在我看来做得还是相当不错的。我猜城市发展必将形成北京这种经典格局，或许北京是在效仿国外的大城市的规划：郊区的高楼主要是居民楼，商业区主要在三环周围，然后再往里就是名胜和行政部门。各个功能区相互重叠，没有特别明显的界限。

中午20点左右，我终于到了目的地。

北京的地铁让我对这种交通方式有了新的理解。我一直认为“地铁”就只能在地下，没想到北京的地铁不乏地上部分。乘坐地铁的手续很简单：买了票后直接到楼梯入口刷一下就可以了。就是在上火车这件事提醒了我依然是在中国——车厢的门刚一打开，守候在站台上的人变蜂拥而入，差点把我的包挤到车下面去。地铁里的空调温度有些低，本来就体质弱的我打了好几个喷嚏。

我是初次坐地铁。我没有去抢座，因为我想看看车外的景色，但让我感到遗憾的是，坐地铁终究不同于坐火车。我坐的这个应该叫“地上铁”。感觉上和坐公交没什么两样，除了少了些颠簸。它的速度还没有跑在马路上的水泥搅拌车快，但它的加速度确实令我感到惊奇。

今天，气象台发布了高温黄色预警信号。整个一下午我都在八里桥的一个公寓里度过。总之这就是北京郊区给我的印象。

第二天 七月五日 星期一

来北京，就自然而然地想到了要去鸟巢看一看。早上八点半从驻地出发，路上买了饭就坐上了地铁，将近九点多才到了奥林匹克公园站。

地铁站出口做得很有中国韵味，我的视线首先就被油许多鼓组成的一个建筑所吸引了。那是一个走廊，有自动扶梯。因为不是什么盛会，所以整个建筑就被圈了起来。走在台阶上时，眼前就是玲珑塔。过了马路，才发现它也被圈了起来。奥林匹克公园确是个名副其实公园：大大的广场鸟巢和水立方就沿中轴对称地分别坐落在东边和西边，两侧有不少的树木和供人歇脚的荫蔽。广场上奥运歌曲一直回荡，荫蔽处的屏幕也一直都在播放奥运会开幕式的画面。

鸟巢的门票价格令我感到一些欣喜，在北京这么高消费的地方，实在是难得。我恨兴奋因为我就到了传说中的国家体育场里。想一想，在零八年，这里曾经是如此热闹，难免有种物是人非的感慨。

鸟巢首先给我的感觉是比我想想中的要大，我坐在里面的座椅上，那里的视线是难以想象的开阔。向上看，有种眩晕的感觉。我观察了许久，也不知道这座椅的颜色是按什么规律安排的。因为天气炎热，所以里面难免有股橡胶味。走在外侧的走廊里，仰视它的钢结构，

真是壮观，这也让我相信它的确是现代建筑中的一个奇迹。里面还陈列着当时在开幕式上演员用过的道具，有船桨，正方形的鼓[*]，和古筝。令我感到愉悦的还有体育场走廊里的装潢，和各种部门的安排，可能是考虑到了体育场日后的经济效益，在游客身上花了不少心思。

鸟巢是非常值得进去看个究竟的，和在电视上感觉很不一样。只是到了现在，里面还有奥运纪念品的专卖店。我想，奥运会毕竟仅存在于一个特定的时期，既然过去了，难道还会有人认为现在它的纪念品有什么重大意义吗？要是再过去十年呢？特许专卖店的东西价格贵得离奇，就连鸟巢里面和附近的饮料居然比别处贵两块。但即使这样，人们还是热衷于在里面购买纪念品，毕竟是有纪念意义的，可能在别处买，给人的感觉就不一样了。

不巧赶上水立方施工，没能进去参观。从外面看，每块膜之间严丝合缝，十分精致，而且晶莹剔透，的确吸引人。但水立方应该叫做“夜间建筑”，蓝色的外表在蓝天的应沉下显得颜色单一，和照片中的夜景相比只能甘拜下风了。

在回来时，我特意留意了一下北土城站，那个地铁站是青花瓷样式的，在灯光下显得格外迷人，很有种古今交融的的感觉。当然也体会了拥挤，令我印象深刻。

第三天 七月五日 星期一

很幸运，我居然赶上了今年北京最热的一天，最高气温39℃。所以白天没敢出门。

傍晚七点时，我终于开始了今天的行程。我从来没有游览过夜间的天安门，今天则是上好的机会让我过足了眼瘾。

将近七点半，我才抵达了天安门广场。不知不觉中，雄伟的天安门便映入眼帘。这时的游客相当多，老人、小孩、年轻人应有尽有。还有执着的小贩，随时准备将手中的水、冰棍儿、纪念品卖给每一个过路人。那电视上常有的镜头也随着呈现出来：川流不息的车辆时走时停，在晚霞的衬托下一派现代都市的繁华景象。不一会儿，广场上的灯统统点亮，把黑夜变成白昼，喷泉也来凑热闹。真是名副其实的灯火通明！

天安门的南面就是人民英雄纪念碑。不知今天是什么日子，纪念碑附近到了晚上就清了场，我只能和其他游客一样，站在远处驻足欣赏。如今的纪念碑前多了两块大屏幕，上面来来回回地播放视频，都是国庆时用过的。我穿过地下通道，绕了天安门广场半圈，一路上拍照的人，坐在花坛前小憩的摩肩接踵；地下通道里一个人卖的玩具把一名女士吓得直跳，操着外地口音的人卧在旮旯里，乞讨的人也占据了一席之地。我又回到了天安门前，想拍几张天安门的正脸。天安门前到了傍晚似乎一直都有士兵站岗。随后，接了家里来的问候电话，开始向王府井前进。

晚上的王府井不比白天冷清，或者说比白天还热闹，也许是现在的人热衷于夜生活的缘故。我也很荣幸地加入了夜生活大军中。因为从驻地出来前没吃晚饭，所以步行街口处的麦当劳显得格外刺眼，我十分奇怪为什么在这里很难找到一家能容得下我的中餐馆。王府井的步行街上有几个装置，是一些品牌的户外广告，是围绕着今年世界杯主题设计的。我只是在街上遛了遛，仅仅这样就让我领略了一下北京夜色的魅力。

不过在长安街这样的地方，也有不少拾垃圾的人、开助力车的人、在路边卖小商品的商贩，他们在这里苦苦劳作，和这里的灯红酒绿相比较，让我的心中有种说不出的滋味。

第四天 七月六日 星期二

天坛，一提到北京的名胜，肯定少不了它的话题，可直到今天我才真正零距离地接触到了它。

我乘地铁到达了天坛东门站，车站口有两名春光满面的老人坐在一张桌子两旁。“天坛公园往前走再向右拐。”一句标准的北京话让周围的几名游客猝不及防，我更是吓了一跳，才看清牌子上的字，上面摆着“义务指路”的牌子，就立刻享受了免费的服务。我当时有点懵，我随后问了一个问题让我到现在都后悔。我问：“这里那边是北？”老大妈会心一笑，给我往后指，“这边，这边是北。”

其实我根本就没必要知道方向，因为在旅游景点，随着大拨走一般是不会错的。往前行，看见一处自行车整齐地排列成几行，再往右一瞅，一帮老奶奶们和旅游团夹杂行于路中，看来就这儿了。天坛的人很多，门口处大多是本地人，九点多到天坛公园跳舞的人，除了北京的闲人们还会有谁？舞曲的音量很大，走了两百米开外还能感到空气在震动。北京人可真会生活。

越往里走，外国人就越多，甚至比天安门广场上的人还多。看来比起政治景点，文化景点更具有吸引力。我把大部分时间都交给了祈年殿，毕竟那是个很有名的地方，以往都是在印刷品上看到的。祈年殿最让我震惊之处就是它的圆形屋顶极其规则，我从不同角度，拍了几张照片，结果发现好像除了上面那块“祈年殿”牌子的位置在变，真个建筑就想静止的一样。遗憾的是不能进到里面去。周边的一些宫殿里陈列着与古代祭天相关的展品，到处都是留影的人，导致我连照一张建筑的照片的机会都没有。因为今天是阴天，所以我没能看见照片上蓝天衬托下的祈年殿。最大的回报是今天凉爽的天气，天坛公园很大，从东门到景点的距离很远，如果天气像昨天那么热的话，恐怕我得晒死在半道上。祈年殿出口是新年门，门后的石台纤尘不染，我也幸运地找到了一个石阶。随后的时间里，我又去了圜丘和回音壁。

我早早地就结束了本次行程，就算是这次北京之行的终点站吧。

此次北京之行，虽然时间短暂，但对我来所收获很多，我对北京的印象一直停留在其高不可攀的城市，各个方面都达到了理想的水平。事实上，北京人除了将北京话以外，从骨子里也是中国人，只是在某些方面他们会比较开放，敢作敢为，向着理想的生活环境默默地努力。然而也有一些素质相对较差的人，比如天坛公园里的售票员，他们工作时心不在焉，要么打电话聊天，要么对游客冷言冷语，和地铁站口处的那位大妈形成了鲜明的对比。身在北京的女同志最令我佩服，尤其是在晚上。在唐山，晚上九点以后就很难再见到独自在路上走的女性了；而在北京，即使到了深夜，依然能看到她们急匆匆的拎着大包小包的身影。总的来说，北京是个充满活力的城市。我会永远把这次经历珍藏在心中。

[*]我不认为那个是“缶”。

No! No Goo Goo Dolls!

Which kind of fellows do love the Goo Goo Dolls on earth? Nearly the girls I think! Probably nowhere could find a guy even from the west coast of the Pacific who loves Goo's music.
Goo's music is authentic to me. Alternative rocks have given consideration to ordinary normal peoples feelings for its properties. Rzeznik's voice gave their music brand new explanation of authentic feelings and fresh blood to this kind of music I think.
I'm glad to see their latest single "Home" being released. Can't wait for their new album.

Thoughts on the Past 17 Years of My Life

“Negative moods are just patents of negative persons.”

My high school life ended eventually with my finishing the college entrance examination without a satisfying result. Where can I go now? I clearly know my current level, which means I made a big mistake for I believe that this isn’t my real level. Three years ago, I was admitted by a good high school in the city, and it was a great surprise to the whole family. Three years later, well, a completely strike occurred to me. Regretting for my laziness and ignorance, I’d always consider it the ultra-goal to a student being admitted by a famous university in the country. But it was not until one day did I realize the meaning of “graduated students” in universities. I realized that the march of study is still ahead of me.

I used to dream of living a normal life abroad in the future. Soon I found it’s wasteful to do this after devoting ones heart and soul to learning and researching. In other words, if I can live abroad, I must be a brilliant student, while a brilliant student usually does not will to live normally. This is contradictory. The problem is how can I calm down and really do something for the future. Now I know there are no reason and no necessity to complain about the situation. Thus, how I can get rid of them counts a lot.

My 18 is just around the corner, with a confused expression on the face. The most terrible thing is I’m lazy cat lack self-control. But I just don’t want to disclose my injury. On the bus backing from the examination site, my classmates, especially the boys, were all extremely pleasant, celebrating for the 3-month-vacation. After two days’ of the vacation. I find the life without some meaningful work is very boring. Actually, I have few all time pals around, which means there’s little hope to start business. Nor do I have sexy muscles… That’s really suck!

An unexpected thing occurred during the first talk between the math teacher and me. She encouraged me to restart grade 3 after I finished grade 3, all because of the math. Weeks before the examination, she carried on this topic once again, in which she figured out the cases above. Now, I’d consider it sincerely. I was about to study art and get a job on designing then. Later I was told such thing cost a great deal. I believe I can get along with those subjects. But I forget which goal I’m going to reach on this way.

I looked up the catalog, only to find I’ve merely got a little interest in some of the professions list on provided by universities, or just lack of confidence for my current situation. Which type of people does the world really calls for, Creative team players? Another one should be skillful. I must be skillful.

Just like writing on this blog. I know few will read it for certain, but I still working on it. Maybe someday I become shinning, would my former struggle be seen.

Chinese Translation

寂静的路灯

夜幕降了下来，世界将光明寄托在灯光上。
夜晚的路灯总是那么迷人：苍白的光泛着幽蓝倾泻到柏油马路上。一片片薄纱拼接成一条银河，沿着行人的目光，流淌到视线的尽头。它们个个挺着身躯，任凭风吹雨打，整齐地迎接着过往车辆的无意的检阅。一盏盏明亮的灯，连成一串，如同一条长蛇，随着道路的曲折蜿蜒回转，又仿佛是架在空中的铁轨，载着树荫和风声，穿梭在青天之下。
路灯在风的陪伴下显得沧桑而写意。风吹得人抬不起头，吹得灯光凌乱不堪，像是一支急躁的画笔，用仓促的笔触堆砌出夜晚的荒凉。而这荒凉又让这每一笔显得格外凝重。雨中的路灯则让人觉得宁静而浪漫。湿透了的路面模模糊糊地把路灯的倒影摆弄了一番，却又见得水洼里的那只精灵在波痕的陪衬下越发的晶莹而活跃。路灯驱赶着黑暗，也无意中给了黑暗最好的诠释。
人们常常将人生比作路。斗转星移，光阴如逝。赶路的人太匆忙。人们赶着去寻找美景，却不知着默默无闻的美就在自己的脚下，自己的心里。

No Where Can Be the Last Scene

I must say I have a strong reminiscence. I used to live in a community with a history of more than thirty years. We moved out finally to a newly-built one last year. Just because of such low prices of a department are not to be missed in a remote corner of the city which is said to be the center of the district that my parents heard and thought. The new department lies on the north to the community, what used to be woods and a hill. Shinning windows are in the sunshine on those standard 6-level buildings, which are tidy and refreshing in the eyes of those urban-addicted, but not to me.

The prophecy had come true. After the completion of the outer ring road, broader roads connecting the outer ring and the inner ring are need. The government’s policy has been declared three years ago. That is mandatory evictions. I’ve watched TV at that time and seen old buildings being torn down in downtown. We live in suburb, so I’ve never thought such misfortune would befall us. A project with a stupid enough title “Golden Mountain Developments” started. In order to build a broader road, an existing path which was just connecting the two rings was chosen – the one gets through our community. How unique the stuff is!

Mother used to tell me stories of our neighborhood. The community completed its construction in the 1980s’ after the big earthquake in 1976 by the PLA. It was public housing of the Kailuan Group. The community was almost a concentrated city, a mini version of a modern city. It contains everything a city could have, a garden filled with cedars and a pavilion, a hospital, a bank, a library, a kindergarten, an elementary & senior middle school, a cultural station, a grocery store, a food store, a public bath, and even a cinema. All of these had been well placed on a 0.6 km² area with 32 blocks of flat at the foot of the Yanshan Mts. There were buttonwoods shading the entrance. Early in the morning, boys and girls would go to school along the “Red Scarf Street”. There used to be speakers on each top of poles, and they were responsible for broadcasting music and news in the morning. Every evening, there were always young people dancing in the cultural station with joy, both and old men talking and smoking. I can still remember when I was a child, my mother usually bring me to the food store to see how noodles were made. We went to the hospital for vaccination. North of the community grew white birches the same age as me my mom said. Still I’m keeping those photos we took among them.

…These are the scenes only lives in memory. Actually, the community had already decomposed before the eviction. But the buildings remained for the entire period. However, the realities are always cruel.

It is a wise idea to hire foreign migrant workers to conduct this project, for they just treat all of our treasures like bricks and wood. Judging by their accent and appearances, I’m sure they came from Henan Province. Everything was ruined in ten days. Memories of thirty years died in noises of ten days. Passersby mostly are original households here. They can’t help stopping to watch. Some complicated looks appears on their faces. Each time I’m on my way to school, I forced myself with a traditional concept of Chinese: “That’s none of my business.” But I just couldn’t chock back my sadness. The Radiator Springs had its reborn, how about simply erase it from the earth?

“Small family homes for everyone.” This is a most absurd but common used slogan in evicting areas for many reasons in China. Turn a once quite neighborhood into a business quarter maybe the best interpretation of “constructions” nowadays. Years of wandering after leaving home back the wanderer but being unable to find his home. This is the development given us.