Yangshuo Revisited:the Crowds, the Creeks and the Climbs

By Frank Xu（徐涵 華南師大教師）

Upon working out the title I feel already obliged to the readers for their patience. The nationwide mania for vacationing may have understandably consumed the curiosity of many for another travel log.1. mania: 狂躁，狂熱；travel log: 旅行日志。And who can blame them? Many vacations are exhausting even to read. Others are hilariously ironical, when one is summoned by a justi fied desire to escape the mad crowds of the city, only to find them again—so much escalated—many miles away.2. 另一些旅行經(jīng)歷則令人啼笑皆非，一個(gè)人出于一個(gè)正當(dāng)?shù)挠?，想要逃避城市中人頭攢動(dòng)的瘋狂，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)自己又走入了同樣的情形——而且程度有增無減——只是距離在數(shù)里之外罷了。hilariously: 引人發(fā)笑地，滑稽地；ironical: 諷刺的，令人啼笑皆非的。

Cynicism aside, I do enjoy an occasional get-away.3. cynicism: 譏諷，憤世嫉俗；get-away: 逃脫，離開。That’s why I often find myself revisiting Yangshuo, despite its bad name of being too “conventional”. I like it, for the simple reason that it offers a genuinely easy and fun experience,the one we often recall from our childhood.4. 我喜歡它，理由很簡(jiǎn)單，它帶給我們真正的放松和有趣的體驗(yàn)，喚起我們孩童時(shí)期的回憶。genuinely: 真正地，真誠(chéng)地；recall: 回憶，回想。This huge terrain provides a best playground for the child in all of us,leaving out, of course, the inevitable prospect of a storming Mom at home.5. 這片廣袤的土地為我們身體里的孩童提供了最佳的玩樂園地，當(dāng)然了，我們?cè)僖矡o需擔(dān)心在家里怒發(fā)沖冠的母親。terrain: 地域，地勢(shì)；leave out: 遺漏，省略；prospect:前景，預(yù)期。To me, the reunion with that long-lost kid is unconventional enough.

做好詳細(xì)攻略，走馬觀花地掠過一又一個(gè)景點(diǎn)，所到之處人頭攢動(dòng)摩肩接踵……假期結(jié)束帶著一身疲憊回來。這樣的旅游真的有意義嗎？本文作者帶著一家老小重游陽(yáng)朔，在綺麗的山群、青碧的河溪、藍(lán)天白云間，白天浮在碧波上遐思，夜晚躺在屋頂賞星，住在民宿與一群民間藝術(shù)家說說笑笑，挑戰(zhàn)自己攀登石巖……他們收獲了滿滿的勇氣、樂觀和滿足。

Naturally most of my trips to Yangshuo were utterly whimsy6. whimsy: 異想天開的，古怪的。,as any child play usually is. For a long month Lucy (the wife) had been worked up7. work up: 引起，激起。by the idea of the remote Yunnan. She had to go somewhere this summer, partly to take her younger brother out for a vacation, partly to blow off some steam8. blow off steam: 釋放壓力，放松。. I wasn’t too crazy about it, as per above(and the dire vision of a nerve-racking journey with the in-laws ).9. as per above: 根據(jù)上述，原因如上；dire:極端的，非常嚴(yán)重的；nerve-racking: 費(fèi)腦筋的，令人頭疼的；in-laws: 姻親（無血緣關(guān)系的親戚）。I’d much rather that we just slept the summer off. Eventually as a simple compromise10. compromise: 妥協(xié)，折中。, we thought it would be a sensible thing to drive up to Yangshuo where doing nothing has always been everything.

So off we went, with little or no planning for food,accommodation or even what to do. It was mostly a smooth ride,except for the hauntingly familiar toll booths.11. hauntingly: 令人難忘地，難以忘懷地；toll booth: 收費(fèi)亭，收費(fèi)站。But finally the Karst12. Karst: 喀斯特地形，水蝕石灰?guī)r地形。skyline was in sight. Everybody was lifted from drowsiness by the magni ficence of the landscape.13. 無論如何，我們的困倦因眼前壯麗的景色一掃而空。drowsiness: 睡意，嗜睡。And as we drove near, the night started to fall, which represented Karst terrains in a mystic air. All the peaks amid the mighty darkness suddenly turn into impending monstrous figures, as if ready to come alive.14. 沉沉暗夜里山峰突然變成逼近的怪獸，好像隨時(shí)可能活過來一樣。impending: 逼迫的，迫切的；monstrous: 像怪獸的，丑陋的。

The Xijie Fiasco15. fiasco: 徹底失敗，慘敗。

My friend Tyson lived right by Xijie or the West Street. But we had to meet far outside the parameters16. parameter: 界限，范圍。, for the whole area was an unpenetrable fortress. It was now humanly impossible to navigate through the crowds,much less to locate someone.17. 但現(xiàn)在要穿越人群基本不可能，更別說找出某人了。much less: 更別說，更不用說。Xijie was no longer one street, instead it was a myriad of alleys and pathways, each and every one of them teeming with heads and shoulders.18. 西街不再是指單獨(dú)的一條街，而是由各式小街小巷組成，每一處都人頭攢動(dòng)。a myriad of: 各種各樣的，形式多樣的；alley:胡同，小巷；teem with: 充滿，大量存在。The hot,suffocating summer air smelt of sweat, perfume and deep-fried snacks, a perfectly indescribable combination.19. 悶熱得令人窒息的夏日空氣夾雜著汗水、香水和油炸小吃的氣味，混雜的氣味完全無法形容。smell of: 帶有……氣息。It was a bizarre war, fighting our way against waves of equally bewildered faces.20. bizarre: 古怪的，奇異的；bewildered: 困惑的，不知所措的。But finally waves of crowds washed us ashore to oxygen.

The first tourist attempt in Xijie didn’t boost much the group’s faith in the trip. The Xijie fiasco was a wakeup call for my team members and the last flame of hope for a paraded holiday was thus smothered.21. 這次災(zāi)難般的西街游歷為我們每一個(gè)人敲醒了警鐘，掐滅了我們對(duì)于趕場(chǎng)般旅游的最后一絲希望。 parade: 游行，招搖；smother: 使窒息，悶死。

“Yamun”22. “Yamun”: 一旅館名。!

Now that the crew had wised up, we eventually found a lodging far out the town center. The “Yamun” (literally the Jamaican“Hello”) house sitting between two curtains of hills and right by a secluded section of Yulong River, was a cozy rendezvous for underground musicians and other artists from local or outside world.23. “Yamun”（牙買加語(yǔ)中“你好”的意思）旅館位于兩山之間，玉龍河上一處偏僻的位置，為當(dāng)?shù)睾屯獾氐莫?dú)立音樂人和其他藝術(shù)家提供了溫馨的聚會(huì)場(chǎng)所。Jamaican: 牙買加的，牙買加人的；secluded: 隱蔽的，僻靜的；rendezvous: 約會(huì)地點(diǎn)，集結(jié)點(diǎn)。Painted in the trademark Rastafarian colors of red, yellow and green, the building radiated beats of Reggae all day and all night.24. trademark: （人或物的）標(biāo)記，特征； Rastafarian: （牙買加）拉斯塔法里教的，拉斯塔法里是牙買加和其他幾個(gè)國(guó)家的黑人進(jìn)行的一種政治宗教運(yùn)動(dòng)；radiate: 輻射，發(fā)射；Reggae:雷蓋，牙買加流行的一種音樂和舞蹈風(fēng)格。Heavy metal, too, when thunders rolling through the hills add to the drums. This place was far from a hotel, not even an inn, we soon learned, for no one was treating others or being treated like guests. A line of people kept flashing in and out every room, seemingly coming from nowhere only to vanish somewhere else.25. 一伙兒人在各個(gè)房間進(jìn)進(jìn)出出，不知打哪里來，然后又消失在某處。To my best recollection there was the Reggae musician, Jah, who wore what felt like a ton of Dreadlocks; an intoxicatingly friendly young man; a sharp-looking rock’n’roller whose mood swings instantly synchronized with the music;an elderly couple whom we took for the helps but turned out to be Jah’s parents.26. 如果我沒有記錯(cuò)的話，有一位雷蓋音樂家Jah，頭頂相當(dāng)重的細(xì)辮爆炸頭；還有一位年輕人熱情奔放；另一位神情嚴(yán)肅的搖滾歌手，他的心情時(shí)刻隨著音樂節(jié)奏高低起伏，還有一對(duì)較年長(zhǎng)的夫婦，我們以為是幫手，結(jié)果卻是Jah的父母。recollection: 回憶，追憶；Dreadlock: 字面意義為“嚇人的發(fā)縷”，從頭皮處開始往下編一根根小辮子，全頭蓬松像雄獅毛發(fā)。這種發(fā)型在拉斯塔法里教徒中甚為流行；intoxicatingly: 令人興奮地；synchronize with: 與……同步，同時(shí)發(fā)生。They stayed in the house most of the day and answered actively to our demands, so I’ll say they are the hosts. But there were another cast of curious figures: a young blond whom I suspected to be a tenant, although she really made herself at home in the kitchen, a middle-aged woman with two kids.Two days later another family started appearing in the house.Throw in Lucy’s 9-year-old nephew and Jah’s huge dog,things really got complicated.

Yamun House Backyard

Our stay at the Yamun house was pleasantly unusual. The lack of hotel comfort was made up with family ambience27. ambience: 氣氛，格調(diào)。.We had our first complaints about inadequate air-conditioners and persistent bugs,which were answered with sincere apologies and honest confession of inability. The hosts did offer us their tent on the roof, but how could we? After all,these were the people who grew their own pumpkins for breakfast and walk around all day without shoes! Sure their wi- ficonnection was zippy and a single guitar probably cost my monthly paycheck, but the Rastafarians aren’t comfortseekers.28. 不可否認(rèn)，那里的無線上網(wǎng)信號(hào)很順暢，一把吉他可能就抵我一個(gè)月薪水，但拉斯塔法里教徒并不尋求舒適。zippy: 敏捷的，精力充沛的。When in Rome, we soon figured, and learnt to happily settle as well. Whatever bugs can’t kill you will only make you spider-man, right?29. 這句話幽默地模仿常用說法“Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger”。蟲子殺不死你，你就會(huì)變成強(qiáng)大的蜘蛛俠，對(duì)吧？

Between Rock and a Watery Place

Our big ideas for the vacation, apart from the starry nights on Yamun roof, were swimming and rock-climbing. The first was easy. Yulong River, the popular site for tourist rafting30. rafting: 筏運(yùn)，筏流。was right there. But as you can see, rafting is for suckers.

The real Yulong spirit is in the swimming. This was a no-rafting zone, probably to preserve the crops, so we had the river all to ourselves. We didn’t really remember to pack our swimming suits,but who cares, it’s not like the hills or the clouds would mind.Floating on the water—I can think of a thousand things and care about none.31. 仰面浮在水面上，凝視著天空，思緒萬千卻毫不在意。My earthly endeavors, if any, went drifting with the clouds.

Ok, that was all made up. The truth was I was trying to get everybody in the water! The spoiled kid and the teenager were scared of the water plants, and the girls were concerned about the sunburn!

The first on the agenda didn’t go very well. But later that afternoon was a total blast32. blast: 〈美俚〉狂歡時(shí)刻。! We met up with my friends, two veteran rock-climbers, to try climbing for the first time. They took us to a starters’ route on a crag33. crag: 懸崖峭壁，攀巖路線。called “Swiss Cheese” ,which earned its name for the holes on the face of the wall, making it resemble very much a piece of cheese. Before we tried we’d thought—I’d thought—that it would be impossible for people as gravity-challenged as me to take both my feet off the ground.34. 在嘗試之前，我們就想——好吧，應(yīng)該說是我就想——對(duì)于像我這樣難以駕馭重力作用的人來說，要讓自己雙腳離地簡(jiǎn)直就是不可能的。But as it turned out, our coaches knew what they were doing.The experience was safe and secure, of course, but by no means unchallenging. First, there was the fear, of heights, of falling down, of losing your grips. But as they said, fear, or overcoming of fear was really part of the fun climbing. Second, you wouldn’t know how physically unprepared you are until you are at your last breath and using up your last strength. I was literally just one meter from the top before I knew, all too well, that my strength had left me, and there was no way I could ever move a muscle.

Everyone else tried after me, presumably35. presumably: 據(jù)推測(cè)，可能。motivated by the idea of how much money we were saving. By the time everyone was beaten by the heat and the exercise, it was almost dark.

Homeward Bound

The climbing was summit of the trip. Everything went downhill from there. The boy, giving enough grief to the big dog, finally paid his due with a dog bite.36. 同行的小男孩將一只大狗折磨一通，最終罪有應(yīng)得地被它咬了一口。grief: 悲傷，悲痛；pay one’s due: 還賬，得到報(bào)復(fù)。Lucy and Me started our routine of fighting over who sacri ficed more in this marriage. And her brother started the routine of staring into his smartphone. It’s sad how all parties must depart, and all fun must end. I knew it was time to go home.

Of course we made the best of what was left of the trip. Boating on Li River was refreshing37. refreshing: 使人精神振作的，宜人的。, so were the day-trips to neighboring townships.But none of these planned tours scored38. score: 獲得，贏得。as much fun as a quick dip in the water when the mood was with us, or the mad grabbing on the rocks when the muscles were not.

I remember how, as a child, I used to hate being taken to the park and put in lines for the slides. It was always on those unattended hillsides and in the unknown creeks that we first found the greatest courage, the utmost optimism, and the ultimate harmony with nature.39. 正是在那些不經(jīng)修整的山坡上和不知名的小溪流中，我們第一次體會(huì)到了巨大的勇氣、樂觀和大自然的和諧。As it was with our rock-climbs, everything came down from there. We grew up to be more afraid, more inhibited, and considerably more bitter. Before anyone has realized, the young and daring was reduced to the old and fearful. So we try, all too hard, to retrieve40. retrieve: 恢復(fù)，找回。the positivity towards everything, and to relive the thrills life has to offer. But what was once human nature now is human toil41. toil: 艱苦的工作，辛勞。. Everything must be calculated, planned and implemented,even the very idea of having fun. Whatever happened to life with a little whimsy? The sweet chaos in our nature that slows us down in the diligent pursuit of the sadly predictable destiny?42. diligent: 勤勉的，堅(jiān)持不懈的；destiny: 命運(yùn)，主宰命運(yùn)的力量。Of course, I am long past the wide-eyed kid when it comes to the weight of life, or the wife.43. 說到生活的重任，或者妻子，我可早就不是一個(gè)天真無邪的小孩子了。But as you can see, brief as it was, I just hung out with that kid again.

And that’s really the best relaxation, revelation, even, knowing that out of the deepest oblivion of growth, we could still come back as courageous, optimistic and naturally contented as we always were.44. 所以，這才是真正的放松——甚至說啟示，我們知道：也許感覺不到自身的成長(zhǎng)，但我們會(huì)帶著一如從前的勇氣、樂觀和滿足回歸到生活中。oblivion: 遺忘，漠視。