中国建筑奇迹

念念 杨庆春

Leshan Giant Buddha

乐山大佛

A 71-meter-high giant stone Buddha sits in the beautiful Leshan Mountain at the confluence（汇流处）of the Dadu， Qingyi and Minjiang rivers.

Around the year A.D.713， construction began on the Leshan Giant Buddha in Sichuan， China. The construction was halted for about 70 years due to funding issues. The project was resumed（恢复）and completed by the year 803 A.D.

At the time， the raging rivers made it difficult for ships to pass through. And a Chinese monk（僧人）felt the statue in Buddhas honour would get the water to calm down. So he decided to have it built. In the end， so many stones fell into the water， and they actually did make the turbulent（狂暴的）waters calmer and easier for ships to pass through.

Built entirely by hand， this giant statue remains the largest statue of Buddha known to man.

在风景壮丽的四川乐山，一座高达71米的佛像端然正坐在大渡河、青衣江与岷江的合流处。

公元713年前后，乐山大佛开始动工。由于资金问题，工程停工约70年之久。复工后，大佛最终于公元803年被建造完成。

当时，湍急的河流使得船舶难以通行。一位僧人认为佛祖雕像之尊严会使河水平静下来，于是决定修建大佛。后来，很多石头落入水中，确实使狂暴的河水平缓许多，也使得船只更容易通过。

迄今为止，这座完全手工雕刻的大佛仍是佛像中的“霸主”。

The Great Wall

万里长城

Construction on the Great Wall of China began as early as the 7th century B.C. and was continued by several different Chinese dynasties. It was built to protect the borders of the country from intrusion.

It took hundreds of years to complete the Great Wall， which is over 21，000 kilometers long.

It was very difficult to build such a wall in the ancient days without any modern machines. All the work was done by hand. Thousands of men died and were buried under the wall that they built.

Made of stone， brick and wood. This 2，000-year-old wall still stands today， attracting millions of visitors annually.

长城的建造早在公元前7世纪就开始了。此后，数个朝代传递接力棒似的继续着建造工作，旨在保护王朝边界免遭外敌入侵。

历经数百年，长城终于得以建成，其长度超过2.1万公里。

没有任何现代机器的辅助，要修筑这样一座城墙是非常困难的。所有的工作都不得不依靠手来完成。成千上万的人被掩埋在自己修建的城墙下面。

长城由石头、砖块和木头构成。这座2000年高龄的城墙今天仍然屹立不倒，每年吸引成千上万的游客前往参观。

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge

港珠澳大桥

The Hong Kong-ZhuhaiMacao Bridge， the worlds longest sea-crossing bridge， opened to public traffic on Oct. 24， 2018. It is also the longest bridge in the world. It links Hong Kong and Macao to the Chinese mainland. The bridge has a total length of 55 kilometers. The Guardian（《衛报》） has described it as one of the “Seven Wonders of the Modern World”.

Builders had to make an artificial island in the Pearl River Delta（珠江三角洲） to provide the support for the bridge. There is also an underwater tunnel in the middle of the bridge. The bridge has a service life of 120 years， 20 years longer than most bridges.

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge makes travel times much faster among the three areas it connects. It shortens（縮短）the travel time from Hong Kong to Zhuhai from four hours to about 40 minutes.

The opening ceremony of the bridge was held in Zhuhai on Oct. 23， 2018.

港珠澳大桥是世界上最长的跨海大桥，于2018年10月24日正式通车。它也是世界上最长的桥。大桥把香港、澳门与祖国大陆紧密连接在一起。这座桥全长55公里。《卫报》称它是“现代世界的七大奇观”之一。

为了支撑这座桥，建筑工人不得不在珠江三角洲建造人工岛。在桥的中间处有一条水下隧道。大桥的使用寿命为120年，比大多数桥梁的平均使用年限长20年。

大桥使得人们在港珠澳三地之间快速通行，香港到珠海的行程时间从4小时缩短至大约40分钟。

港珠澳大桥通车仪式于2018年10月23日在珠海举行。