VOA双语新闻 Old China Hands' Recall Life in Shanghai

China's coastal¹ cities attracted international traders, missionaries² and adventurers for 200 years before the communist party took power in 1949. Most Westerners left soon after that, but many retain fond memories of their years in China. They are called Old China Hands.

在中国共产党1949年执政前的200年里，中国的沿海城市吸引着国际商人、传教士和冒险家。大多数西方人在1949年后很快离开了中国，但是他们当中许多人对中国有着美好的回忆。这些人被称作“老中国通”。

Several hundred people, many born and raised in China, came together to recall the international settlements they once called home. They shared reminiscences and tested their memory of once-familiar people and places, especially from the international city of Shanghai.

参加这次聚会的有好几百人，其中许多人在中国出生长大，他们回忆了过往时代在中国的日子。他们分享记忆，共同回忆了曾经熟悉的人名和地名，特别是当时的国际城市上海。

Zoya Shlakis, whose parents were Lithuanian and Russian, grew up in Shanghai. Her father, an engineer, worked in one of the city's landmarks³, the central post office. The family had an apartment on the top floor.

佐亚.什拉基斯的父母分别是立陶宛人和俄罗斯人。她在上海长大。她的父亲是一名工程师，在上海有名的中央邮局大楼工作。他们家住在大楼顶层的一套公寓。

"My childhood, my youth was spent in Shanghai," she said. "It's the only city that I ever knew, and I was a very lucky person. We always had a roof over our head and food on our table, and we got along with the Chinese around us very well. And I had a very happy childhood."

什拉基斯说：“我的童年和青年都是在上海度过的。上海是我唯一熟悉的城市。我很幸运，我们总是有房子住，有饭吃，我们和周围的中国人相处得很好。我的童年很幸福。”

Bob Gohstand, 70, comes from a Jewish family that escaped persecution⁴ in Russia and settled in China. His parents met and married in the Chinese city of Harbin. He shows a picture of himself, age four, atop his father's shoulders, after the family had moved to Shanghai.

今年70岁的鲍博.戈斯坦德来自一个犹太人家庭，他们当年逃离了在俄罗斯的迫害，在中国定居下来。他的父母在哈尔滨认识并结婚。他出示了一张他4岁时的照片，他坐在爸爸的肩膀上，那时他们一家已经搬到了上海。

"I've always loved this picture," he said. "This is my father the pharmacist, outside his shop, St. George's Pharmacy⁵ in Shanghai on Bubbling Well Road."

戈斯坦德说：“这一直是我心爱的一张照片。我爸爸是个药剂师，站在他的药店外，上海涌泉路上的圣乔治药店。”

What emerges from such pictures is a thriving community that resembles those of America or Europe.

从这样的照片我们看到的是一个类似美国或欧洲的繁荣社区。

Some residents rarely ventured outside their international enclaves, which included Shanghai's French concession⁶, with its elegant homes and tree-lined boulevards. Harold Giedt went to school in Shanghai's International Settlement, home to many Americans and British. He spent part of the year, however, in the city of Guangzhou to the south, where his family lived.

一些西方居民很少走出他们聚居的洋房和林荫大道，包括上海的法租界。哈罗德.希德特在有很多美国和英国人居住的上海公共租界内上学。但是他们家住在广州，他每年在广州渡过一些时间。

"When I would go home in the summer, in South China, I would be completely immersed in the situation where there were Chinese that were the only people I would play with," he explained. "I would speak Chinese for hours on end, not even think in English."

希德特说:“等到我放暑假回广州的时候，我已经完全和中国人融合到了一起，我只跟他们玩，我会一直说中文，连想都不想英文。”

Bob Gohstand coordinates⁷ the Old China Hands archive at California State University, Northridge, and says relations were often tense between Western nations and the Chinese government, which complained of unequal treaties forced on China. But he says to understand China today, you must first understand China of the past.

戈斯坦德协调加利福尼亚州立大学诺思里奇的“老中国通”档案。他说，在那个时代，西方国家和中国政府的关系经常相当紧张，中国政府对强加在中国头上的不平等条约不满。他说，要理解现在的中国，你必须首先理解过去的中国。

"And China yesterday included the presence of many foreigners: teachers, educators, missionaries, commercial people, military people, religious people," he noted⁸. "Every kind of person from every corner of the world came to China.

“中国以前有很多外国人在那里：老师、办学的人、传教士、商人、军人、宗教人士等等。来自世界各个角落，什么人都有。”

Some stayed for a few years. Others set down roots and stayed for many generations. The survivors⁹ are getting older now, but many continue to hold reunions and share memories of their younger days in China.

有的人呆了几年，有的人在那里落地生根，一住好多代。至今仍然活着的“老中国通”年纪已经都不小了，许多人继续举行这样的聚会，共同回忆他们年轻时在中国的岁月。

1 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

2 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句

4 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

5 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

6 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。

7 coordinates   

n.相配之衣物；坐标( coordinate的名词复数 )；（颜色协调的）配套服装；[复数]女套服；同等重要的人（或物）v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• The town coordinates on this map are 695037. 该镇在这幅地图上的坐标是695037。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者