Tidal wave watching / 钱塘观潮


双语博客. My first attempt of writing the same thing in both English and Chinese. It is pretty time-consuming. English version is in the second half below.

上次回国在杭州时,我爸爸建议去钱塘江看潮。我知道那不是一个好主意,因为我们路不熟,不知道具体在什么地方,也不知道涨潮的时间,顶多也就是从别人问到一些并不可靠的信息。当然也忘掉了伟大领袖毛主席的“没有调查,就没有发言权”谆谆教导。但因为前一天吵过架,我也懒得解释。

老婆身体不舒服,并且饿。但我很想营造一个家庭其乐融融的氛围,没说清楚,就拖着她上路。实际上她并不太明白我们要做什么。怪我不好,我的交流能力还需很大的提高。

所以我们发扬了不做计划、不落实细节、“跟着感觉走”的优良传统,爸、妈、哥嫂一家和我们一家经过两个多小时的艰苦卓绝的长征之后终于在下午五点抵达目的地。看了公园的涨潮周期表后才知那天的潮要到晚上十一点左右才能来,并且公园六点前收费。我们决定先吃饭。但嫌菜贵,决定当即掉头回去。感谢老婆的劝阻,我们买了门票进了公园,也算不虚此行,有此照为证。

这张照片的背景就是雄伟壮观波涛汹涌的钱塘江大潮。我拍这张照片时,老婆坐在石阶上擦眼泪。她现在觉得这一切滑稽得不得了,可当时一点都不好玩儿!

Watching the tidal waves / 钱塘观潮

While in Hangzhou last August, my dad suggested we go see the tidal wave. I knew it was a bad idea, because we didn’t know where exactly it was, how to get there, and the timing of the wave. Because of a fight the previous day, I didn’t want to explain anymore.

So, typical of the Ji clan, my parents, my brother’s family, and us headed out in the early afternoon. My better half was a bit under the weather, hungry and tired. But I wanted to create a happy family together image, so I dragged her along. She didn’t have a good idea of what was going on then. That was really my fault, I should have explained better.

After more than two hours of driving, we finally arrived around 5:00pm, and were faced with the cruel reality that the wave wouldn’t come until 11:00pm that night. The park charges admission before 6. So it was decided to have an early dinner. That plan was soon canceled because the food there were too expensive. Disappointed, we decided to head back right away. Thanks to my better half’s persuasion, we changed mind, bought the tickets and entered the park.

So we can say we’ve seen the tidal wave. You can appreciate all its glory through the background of the picture. While I was taking that picture, my better half sat on the stone steps wiping away her tears. She thinks it is hilarious now, but I assure you it was not fun then.

, ,

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.