美国第一夫人米歇尔中国旅游日志

The First Lady’s Travel Journal: Our Official Visit to China Begins
第一夫人旅游日志：我们对中国的正式访问开始

March 21, 2014
2014年3月21日

After a long flight from Washington, D.C. – one that took around 20 hours – my mother, my daughters, and I arrived in Beijing to begin our official visit to China. Our first stop was at the Beijing Normal School, where we were hosted by Madam Peng Liyuan, the First Lady of China.
从华盛顿出发，在经历了差不多20个小时的长途飞行之后，我和我的母亲、我的女儿们抵达北京，开始了我们的正式访问。我们的第一站是北师大二附中，中国第一夫人彭丽媛女士接待了我们。

Madam Peng first became known to the Chinese people long before she was First Lady. Madam Peng earned her Master’s Degree in traditional ethnic music at China’s Conservatory of Music, and in 1983, she performed as a folk singer on the Chinese Lunar New Year telecast, which is consistently the most-watched broadcast in the world. In the years since, she has appeared on that telecast multiple times, while also performing for audiences throughout China, becoming one of the most popular folk singers in her country.
彭女士在成为第一夫人之前已经在中国家喻户晓。彭女士在中国音乐学院拿到民族声乐硕士学位。1983年，她以一个民族歌手的身份在中国农历新年晚会上演出，这个晚会一直是世界上观众最多的电视节目。之后若干年，她经常上电视，同时在中国各地为观众演唱歌曲，成为中国最受欢迎的民族歌手之一。

In addition to being a singer, Madam Peng has also earned the civilian rank equal to a Major General in the Chinese military (she joined when she was 18 years old). Three years ago, she was named a Global Ambassador by the World Health Organization, and she works to fight diseases like tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. And last year, she became China’s First Lady when her Husband, President Xi Jinping, became China’s President.
除了是一名歌手，彭女士还在中国军队担任文职，级别相当于少将（入伍时她18岁）。三年前，世界卫生组织任命她为国际大使，她也一直致力于抗击艾滋病和肺结核。去年，在她的丈夫习近平成为国家主席后，她成为了中国的第一夫人。

As my family and I can attest from our time together at the Beijing Normal School, Madam Peng is a warm and gracious host. And this visit was a perfect opportunity to highlight the themes of my trip: the value of education and the importance of cultural exchanges between young people in different countries.
通过与彭女士在北师大二附中的相处，我和我的家人感到彭女士是个和蔼而热情的东道主。这次访问是一个绝好的机会突出我此行的主题：教育的价值以及各国年轻人之间文化交流的重要性。

About 800 students attend the Beijing Normal School, and of those, roughly one in four are international students – including some Americans. All the classes are taught in English (one room even has a map of the United States on the ceiling), and the curriculum prepares students to study internationally once they graduate. Many students here hope to one day attend college in America.
北师大二附中的800名学生中大约四分之一是国际学生——其中包括美国学生。所有课程都用英语授课（有一个教室的天花板上甚至有美国的地图），这些课程是为了培养学生毕业后出国深造。很多学生希望能有一天去美国上大学。

Madam Peng and I first visited a class where students were actually building their own robots, and they were kind enough to do a demonstration for us. The first robot we saw could actually walk over obstacles. Another one, which was shaped like a triangle, was referred to as “bad boy” by its student creators (one of them explained to us that this robot is “really naughty”). After the robotics class, we stopped by a ping pong practice session where I got some tips from the instructor and then had the chance to play with one of the students. She was excellent (though I think she may have gone easy on me, just to be nice). We ended our visit by saying a quick hello to the 33 American students who are studying at this school through an exchange program.
彭女士和我首先走进一堂课，看到学生们正在自己搭建机器人，他们很友好地给我们示范。我们看到的第一个机器人居然可以跨越障碍。另一个三角形机器人，制造机器人的学生告诉我们它叫“坏小子”（其中一个学生告诉我们这个机器人“很淘气”）。机器人课后，我们经过一个乒乓球练习场，我跟教练学了一些技巧，还跟一个学生打了球。她打得非常棒（我想她友好地对我手下留情了）。最后，我们向正在该校参加交换项目的33名美国学生简单问好后结束了行程。

This visit was a wonderful way to start our trip and a good opportunity for us to see how students here in China are already collaborating with students around the world and preparing to expand and deepen these connections in the years ahead.
对学校的访问为我们的中国之行开了一个好头，也为我们提供了一个好机会，让我们看到中国的学生已经在与世界各地学生交流合作，并准备在未来数年扩大深化这种交往。
The First Lady’s Travel Journal: Touring the Forbidden City
第一夫人旅行日志：游览故宫

March 21, 2014
2014年3月21日

After visiting the Beijing Normal School, Madame Peng took Sasha and Malia, my mother, and me to the Forbidden City, which is located right in the heart of Beijing.
在访问北京师范大学第二附属中学后，彭女士带着Sasha、Malia、我的母亲和我去位于北京中心位置的故宫。

For more than 2,000 years (up until 1912), China was ruled by emperors who descended from many different dynasties, or families, who passed ruling positions on from generation to generation – and for nearly 500 years, the Forbidden City served as the emperor’s home.
2000多年来（直到1912年），中国由许多不同朝代或家族的皇帝统治，一代代地传递统治地位。在将近500年的时间里，故宫就是皇帝的家。

Like the name suggests, the Forbidden City is large enough to be a city of its own – it includes nearly 1,000 buildings and nearly 10,000 rooms.
正如其名字所示，故宫（紫禁城）大到足以成为一座城市—它包括了近1,000栋建筑和近10,000间房屋。

In 1925, the new Chinese government turned the Forbidden City into a museum so that visitors like us from all over the world can stroll through many of the beautiful rooms and outdoor spaces.
1925年，中国新政府将故宫改为博物馆，这让像我们一样来自全世界的游客都有机会在这些美伦美奂的房间内外漫步。

Despite its size, some of the most interesting aspects of the Forbidden City are actually very small. Intricate carvings in jade and marble and glazed colored tiles fill the rooms and tell stories about ancient Chinese history. The ceilings are covered with detailed, carved designs. And miniature sculptures sit on the buildings’ roofs, where they watched over the emperors centuries ago.
尽管规模宏大，但故宫最有趣的一些部分实际上很小。雕刻精致复杂的玉石和大理石，色彩斑斓的琉璃瓦充满了这些房间，讲述关于古代中国历史的故事。天花板上覆盖着精致的雕刻图案。建筑物的屋顶上立着微型雕塑，数个世纪前它们就在那里注视着历届帝王。

The Forbidden City is far too large to fully experience in a single visit, but highlights include the following: The Hall of Union and Peace has almost 14,000 ornamental dragons. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is where the emperor viewed birthday celebrations and coronation ceremonies from his Dragon Throne. And then there are the Imperial Gardens, where you can walk along the paths and pavilions, admiring the beautiful rock arrangements, flowers and cypress trees.
故宫太大了，一次参观不可能看完，不过亮点有以下这些：交泰殿装饰的龙有近14,000条。太和殿是皇帝坐在龙椅上观看寿辰庆典和举行登基及册封等仪式的地方。然后是御花园，在那里你可以沿着小路和亭台漫步，欣赏美丽的假山，鲜花和柏树。

While we loved our visit to the Forbidden City, we only wish we had more time to see everything. But then again, I’m not sure there could ever be enough time to fully appreciate all of the art and history within this extraordinary place.
我们非常喜欢我们的故宫之行，只希望有更多的时间来看遍所有景点。但是话说回来，我不确定，真的能有足够时间来充分地欣赏这个非同寻常的地方所有的艺术和历史。