| During the Japanese occupation in the 1940s, forced labor was used to dam the Songhua River above Jilin City in Jilin Province and build a hydro-electric power station. When the Chinese drove the Japanese out they had to fight hard, bravely, and at considerable cost to prevent the invaders from blowing up the dam and destroying the city. A statue in the center of Jilin commemorates their fight, and the hydro-electric station provides power to the city to this day. |
在上世紀40年代日本占領東北時期，侵略者迫使中國勞工在吉林省吉林市松花江段修筑水壩，蓄高水位，建造了一座水力發電站。當中國人民趕走日本侵略者的時候，他們進行了艱苦卓絕的英勇戰斗，付出很大的代價來阻止侵略者炸毀大壩淹沒城市。后來，吉林市中心樹立起一座雕像來紀念這場戰斗，而那座水電站直到今日仍然在為城市輸送電力。 |
| In winter the Songhua Lake freezes to a depth of over a meter. You can drive a car on the ice, with a certain degree of risk. A few years ago a group of local dignitaries were proceeding across the ice in a fleet of limousines when they went through and were drowned. Last year, a similar accident happened on the lake in Jingyuetan Park near the new golf club in Changchun, when a 4x4 went through the ice and its occupants died. A friend once let me drive his car on the Songhua Lake. Unaware of these past incidents, I assumed it was perfectly safe as I skidded and slewed my way for miles around the lake. |
在冬季，松花湖結冰厚達一米以上。你可以在冰上開車，但是要冒一定的風險。就在幾年前，一列地方要員的豪華車隊在冰上行進時壓穿了冰面，一行人全部溺斃。去年在長春市的凈月潭公園也發生了相似的事故，那里靠近新建的高爾夫俱樂部，一輛四驅車在公園湖面上行駛時壓穿了冰面落入湖中，車上的人全部喪生。曾經有一個朋友讓我在結凍的松花湖面上駕駛他的汽車。我那時并不知道這些前車之鑒，在冰面上一邊打滑一邊開出幾英里遠，還以為自己非常安全。 |
| In the city the lakes freeze over as well. Opposite our apartment on the banks of the river there is a big park with two substantial bodies of water. My first winter in Jilin, when the cold had fully set in and the lakes had frozen to a depth of a couple of feet, I watched one morning as a group of men made their way onto the ice armed with a huge circular saw. |
在市內，大小湖泊也全面封凍了。在我們河邊公寓的對面，有一個大公園，那里有兩片比較大的水域。我在吉林度過的第一個冬天，最冷的時候，湖面結冰厚達數英尺。一天清晨，我看到一群人走到冰面上，帶著巨型的圓鋸。 |
| They began to cut the ice into blocks the size of a large suitcase, which they stacked by the side of a small truck they had brought. I was baffled as to what they were up to – was this in preparation for some kind of ice sculpture for the New Year celebrations? |
他們開始動手切割下一塊塊大手提箱大小的冰塊，摞在他們開來的小卡車旁邊。我想不出他們要做什么。他們準備創作冰雕之類來慶祝新年嗎? |
| My curiosity was satisfied when I saw the men humping the blocks onto the slopes that surround the water, where they proceeded to use them to build a set of "bobsleigh" runs. Some of these were equipped with extra bumps and bends to add a little spice to the experience. Once the runs were complete, you could hire an inner tube from a car tyre at a price of ten yuan per hour, and have as much fun as you could take. |
我看著那些人把冰搬到湖邊的緩坡上，接著在那里用冰塊砌起一組雪橇滑道，這才恍然大悟。有些滑道建得格外蜿蜒起伏，以增添這項娛樂的刺激性。滑道一建好，你就可以用一小時十元的價格租一個汽車內胎，盡情玩樂。 |
| The total drop on the runs is about 20 metres – enough to be exhilarating without creating any serious risk. Your momentum at the bottom will carry you across to the other side of the lake. There is a kind of glorious anarchy to the things – whatever health or security regulations exist seem to be applied with the lightest of touch. Children as small as three (including my own) are dispatched over the edge on a tube with nothing more between them and disaster than their thick winter clothing and an entreaty to "hold on tight". |
整個滑道的落差足足有20米左右，刺激十足，又不會太過冒險。當你滑落到軌道末端的時候，那沖力會讓你橫越冰面，一直沖到湖的另一邊。人們都玩瘋了，什么健康守則、安全條例統統拋到腦后。才3歲大的小孩子就被大人放在汽車內胎上向下滑，除了身上厚厚的冬衣和一句“抓緊了”的忠告，什么安全措施也沒有。我家的孩子也在其中。 |
| Bumps and bruises – and the accompanying faces streaked with frozen tears – are common enough. I saw a few near things, but never any serious accidents, although a mother told me that her daughter had once broken a wrist. |
磕碰、擦傷比比皆是，小臉上也就常帶著結冰的淚痕。我也看到了一些類似的損傷，但是沒有任何嚴重的事故。不過聽一位母親說，她的女兒曾經有一次跌折了手腕。 |
![Dusk over the Songhua River in Jilin City [Jilin City Government] 松花江的黃昏](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20091116/000cf1a48b7f0c6aeb2801.jpg "Dusk over the Songhua River in Jilin City [Jilin City Government] 松花江的黃昏")
