Wuzhen Town乌镇

Sara+Naumann+胡艺涵

Wuzhen is an ancient water town on the Lower Yangtze River Delta1. All of it seem to claim the title “Venice of China” or the “Venice of the East”. Why is this comparison used？ These old towns were built over systems of canals2 that were used in ancient times instead of roads. The canals connected up with major rivers in the area and then on to the Yangtze and the Grand Canal that extended to Beijing. The areas major commodities3 such as silk textiles4 were sold and traded along these routes.

乌镇是长江下游三角洲的一个水乡古镇。这一切似乎都印证着“中国的威尼斯”或“东方威尼斯”的美誉。为什么要用这样的类比呢？这些古老的城镇建在古代使用的运河水道系统上，而不是陆路上。运河连接了该地区的主要河流，然后连接到了长江和延伸至北京的大运河。该地区的主要商品，如丝织品，就通过这些航线进行销售和交易。

Location地理位置

Wuzhen is located about an hour north of Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province right off the Grand Canal， which is called Tongxiang County. Practically speaking， it is easy to get to from Hangzhou， Suzhou and Shanghai and can easily be made into a one■day trip.

乌镇位于浙江省杭州市以北约一小时车程处，就在京杭大运河一侧的桐乡县。实际上，从杭州、苏州和上海去乌镇都很容易，去一日游很方便。

There are two major parts to Wuzhen for tourists to visit. It is divided into East part （Dong Zha） and West part （Xi Zha） and requires an entrance ticket for each. According to many， the East Area is much more touristy5 than the West Area so if you have to choose， you may want to focus your time in the West Area.

乌镇有两个主要部分供游客游览。它分为东（东栅）西（西栅）两部分，两个区都需要门票。根据众人的经验，东栅比西栅更加旅游商业化。如果你要二选一的话，你可能更想集中时间游玩西栅。

Architecture6建筑

The architecture of Wuzhen is typical of this region. Buildings are low—usually two stories—though some have three or four. They are made from gray brick that is then either whitewashed or overlaid7 with wooden paneling8. Roofs are covered with black tile9. Inside the homes， the floors are wood and outside the paths are all stone and connected by stone bridges. The wood cladding10 gives the town a much warmer feel.

乌镇的建筑是这个地区的典型风格。建筑物很低，通常是两层楼的，但也有一些是三层楼或四层楼的。它们由灰色砖砌成，然后被粉刷成白色或嵌以木板。屋顶盖的是黑色的瓦片。屋内地板是木制的，外面的道路都是石头铺成的，并与石桥连接。木材的使用让这个小镇有了更温暖的感觉。

The Venice of the East东方威尼斯

Every water town I have visited from Zhouzhuang to Zhujiazjiao and now to Wuzhen claim the same title. It doesnt really matter； all of these villages have picturesque11 old quarters. Some villages are better than others. Wuzhen is by far the nicest water town Ive visited so far.

無论是周庄或朱家角镇，还是如今说到的乌镇，我去过的每个水乡都被冠以了同样的名头。这真的不重要；所有这些村庄都有风景如画的古老街道。有些村庄比别的更好。乌镇是迄今为止我去过的最美的水乡。

What makes it so nice？ For one， the old quarter itself is much larger. In truth， this simply means that the local government restored12 much more of the old town than other local governments have done. But the restoration13 itself seems to have been painstakingly14 done. Furthermore， the shops， tea houses， guesthouses and hotels are nicely kept without garish15 signs in the front or pushers of horrible tourist trash on the sidewalks. Therefore you get a much more authentic16 feel for the town without constantly stepping around silk scarves being thrust in your face by desperate17 vendors18. What Im saying is that the look and feel of Wuzhen is much less obviously touristic19 than other water towns in the area.

是什么让乌镇如此美好？首先，旧街区本身要大得多。事实上，这仅仅意味着这里的地方政府比其他地方的政府修复了更多的老城区。但修复本身似乎是煞费苦心了的。此外，商店、茶楼、客栈和酒店很好地保持了原样，并杜绝了摆放在门前的花里胡哨的招牌或者在人行道上推销讨厌的旅游垃圾的小贩。因此，如果你不用总是躲避被如狼似虎的小贩们招呼到你脸上的丝巾，你会得到更真实的感受。我想说的是，比起这个地区的其他小镇，乌镇看起来给人的感觉没有那么明显的旅游商业化。endprint