Unit J*, Review Dialogue An American architect, John Bernacki, is attending a Joint Sino-American conference on architecture in Bēijīng. During the conference, he has made the acquaintance of a certain Liú Yuèwén of the Chinese Institute of Architecture. They had the chance to talk a bit when Liú accompanied a delegation of American architects around the city to visit several ancient buildings. One evening toward the end of the conference, Bernacki is having coffee in the dining room of the Beijing Hotel. On his table he has spread out a tourist map of Beijing and a relief map of China, and is studying them intently. Just then, Liú Yuèwén comes over to his table carrying a cup of coffee. L: Jintiǎn cǎnguǎnle Gùgōng hái bú gòu lèi ma? Hái zài zhèr kàn dìtú ne! B: À! Shi ni ya? Lái lái lái, zài zhèr zuò yihuīr. Ni he shénme? Kǎfēi? L: Ùg, shi kǎfēi. Wō zài Déguode shihou hēchéng xíguàn le. B: Duì le. Wō zěnme huì wàngle ni shi zài Déguo xuéde Jiànzhù. Hui guo zhème duō nián, méiyou zài qùguo Ōuzhōu? L: You qùguo yícì, nèi shi qījiǔ-nián, zhèicì bi shàngcì duo zōule Jige dìfang. B: Shéi qùguo Ōuzhōu, shéi Jiù huì xiǎngzhe ta. Jiù xiang Zhōngguó yíyàng, láiguo Zhǒngguóde rén, bù guǎn shénme shihou, zōng hái huì xiǎngzhe ta. L: Shi a!...Gǎngcái wō láide shí-hour, ni hǎoxiàng zài yánjiū shénme? B: Mei shenme, wō zài xiāng, Běijīng-de dìxíng he ná Beijing zuò shōudū yōu diǎnr guānxi. Aren’t you tired enough after visiting the Palace Museum today? Still here, reading maps! Ah, it’s you? Come on and sit down here for a while. What are you drinking? Coffee? Yes, coffee. I got in the habit of drinking it when I was in Germany. Oh yes; how could I forget that you studied architecture in Germany. After so many years back in China, haven’t you gone back to Europe at all? I’ve been back once. That was in ’79. That time I went to a few more places than the previous time. Whoever goes to Europe will always think of it. It’s Just like China, no matter when it is that a person comes here, they’ll always think of it. Yes, indeed!...Just now when I came, you seemed to be studying something, is that so? Nothing much. I was thinking that the topography of Beijing has something to do with using it as the capital. L: Nī shuōde duì, Beijing zài Huá- běi Píngyuánde zuì běibiān, xīběi kào shin, dǒng, nán shi pingyuan. B: Zhèizhōng dìxíng rang rén ganjué bījiāo rōngyi fángbèi běifāng láide qīnlùè. L: Tèbié shi yōule Chángchēng yīhòu, gèng rōngyi fángbèi. B: Tīngshuō Chángchēng xiūguo bù zhīdao duōshāo cì le. L: Cong Qíncháo dào xiànzài, Cháng- chéng yìzhí zài xiū, women děi J ide bù guān shénme shihour wSmen dōu děi xiěoxīn Běifāng láide qīnlūè! B: Nī zhēn yōu yìsi. Duì le, wō xiǎng wSmen qiántiān qù kànguode nèiduàn Chángchēng hāoxiàng bú shi Qíncháo jiànzhude? L: Èng, shi Míngcháo chóngxīn Jiànzhude. Qíncháode Chángchēng zài Bādálīng běibian liāngbāiduō līde dìfang. Suōyi lái Zhōngguō cān-guānde wàiguo péngyou plngcháng kàndaode Chángchēng bú shi zuì lāode yíduàn. B: "Wànlī Chángchēng” zhēn yōu yíwàn lī cháng ma? L: Yōu, Chángchēng Jīngguòle qīge shěng, yígòng yōu yíwàn èrqiān lī cháng. B: Chúle Chángchēng yīwài, wSmen Jīge Jiànzhù gōngzuòzhě duì Shísān-língde dìxià gōngdiǎn yě hen yōu xìngqu. L: Tándao Zhōngguō gúdài Jiànzhù yìshu, nī qùguo Tiāntán ma? Nīmen-de yōulān Jìhuàli you r.éiyou Tiāntán? That’s right. Běijīng is in the northernmost part of the North China Plain. On the northwest it is bordered by mountains; to the east and south there are flatlands. This kind of topography made people feel as if it were easier to guard against invasions from the north. Especially after the Great Wall was built, it was even easier to guard against ^invasions!. I understand the Great Wall has been repaired I-don’t-know how many times. From the Qin dynasty down to the present the Great Wall has been under repair all along. We must remember that no matter when, we must always beware of invasion from the north! You're such a card. Oh yes—it seems to me that the section of the Great Wall we went to see the day before yesterday wasn’t built during the Qin dynasty, was it? Mm, it was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty. The Qin Dynasty Great Wall is over two hundred li north of Bādálīng. So the Great Wall that foreign friends who come to sightsee in China usually see isn't the oldest section. Is the "Great Wall of Ten Thousand Li” really ten thousand li long? Yes. The Great Wall passes through seven provinces and altogether is 12,000 li long. Besides the Great Wall, we building workers* are also very interested in the underground palaces of the Thirteen Tombs. Speaking of ancient Chinese architectural art, have you been to the Temple of Heaven? Is that on your touring schedule? B: ò, duì le, Tiāntán! Wō.xiàng-qilai le, tīngshuǒ Tiāntán gàide hěn tèbié. Kěshi, bù zhldào wèi-shenme, wōmende yóulán jìhuàli hāoxiàng mélyōu. L: Bú yàojlnde. Wōmen he Zhōngguō Luxíngshè tányitán, rúguō tǎmen méiyou shíjiān ānpaide hua, wōmen kéyi zài XIngqītiān zìjī qù. B: XIngqītiān zìjī qù! Hao jìhua! Nide xiānsheng, háizi, dōu kéyi lái ma? L: Dàgài kéyi. Wō àiren he wōde dà érzi dōu shi gǎo jiànzhude, tā-men kéyi gěi ni hāohāor Jièshào yixià Tiāntánde jiànzhù tèdiàn. B: Wōmen zènme qù ne? L: Nl xiāng bu xiāng zōuyizōu lù a? B: Kéyi a! Zài shuō, wo xiāng Xīng- qītiǎnde gōnggòng qìchě dàgài xiāngdāng ji. L: Ùg. Wōmen cōng Běijīng Fàndiàn zōu dào Tian'ānmén, ránhòu chuān-guò guāngchāng, bù yuān jiù shi Tiāntán le. B: Hāo, jiù zhème juédìng le. Bú-guò, bù zhldào Tiāntán yōu duō dà? Bàntiān kàndewán ma? L: Tiāntán bl Yíhéyuán xi&ode duō, zhǔyàode jiànzhù jiù yōu liāngbù-fen. Bàntiān dàgài kéyi kànwán. Zènme, XIngqitiān nl hái yōu biéde shì ma? B: Xīngqītiǎn xiàwu yōu rén qlng women chī fàn. Bù hāo yìsi bú qù, kèshi xīnshāng jiànzhù yìshu, nà kè shi yàojlnde shir, bàntiān dagài bú gòu! Oh, yes—the Temple of Heaven. That reminds me. I’ve heard that the Temple of Heaven is very special. But for some reason I don’t know, it doesn’t seem to be on our tour schedule. That doesn’t matter. We’ll talk about it with the China Travel Service, and if they don’t have time to set it up, we can go by ourselves on Sunday. Go ourselves on Sunday! That’s a great plan! Can your husband and children all come too? Probably. My spouse and my oldest son are both in building. They can do a proper job of showing you the special architectural characteristics of the Temple of Heaven. How shall we go there? Do you want to walk a little? That would be okay. Besides, I suppose the buses are pretty crowded on Sundays. Mm. From the Běijīng Hotel we walk to the Gate of Heavenly Peace, then we cross the square, and not far from there is the Temple of Heaven. Okay. Then that’s the decision. Only, I wonder how large the Temple of Heaven is? Could we see it in half a day? The Temple of Heaven is much smaller than the Summer Palace. The main structures include only two parts. You can probably finish seeing it in half a day. Why? Do you have other things to do on Sunday? Sunday afternoon we’ve been invited to dinner. It would be embarrassing if we didn’t go, but admiring architectural art is certainly an important thing, and half a day probably won’t be enough! - A: Bú yàojīnde, zhèige Xīngqītiān w3men zāo diSnr qù. Zāo qù zāo hui, Jiù kàn bàntiān. RúguS ni hái xiXng qù, w3men zài xiang bàn-fā yuè shiJian. - B: Hao, Jiù zhèiyang le. W3 J ide zài Ōuzhōu canguān yige Jiàotáng hái děi yòng bù sh&o shíjiān ne! L: Hāo le, Jiù zhèiyangr. Xīngqī- tiān zāoshang badiSn, zài lóuxià dà ménkSur Jiàn, rúguò yòu shénme gāibiàn, w3 zài dā diànhuà gěi nī. B: Hāode, Jiù zhèiyang! That’s okay, this Sunday we’ll go a little earlier. We’ll leave early and come back early, and Just spend half a day there. If you still want to go we’ll try to arrange a time. Okay, that sounds good. I remember it takes quite a long time to tour a cathedral in Europe! All right, that’s our plan. We’ll meet at the entrance downstairs, Sunday morning at eight. If there’s any change I’ll give you a call. Okay, that’s fine!