86 Jiangnan water town — Suzhou 江南水乡——苏州
Hi everyone, 大家好. 欢迎收看今天的成长汉语. Thanks for joining us for today’s episode of Growing up with Chinese.
小明 and Mike’s 上海 adventure continues although today they’re exploring a town outside of 上海: 苏州. It really is one of my most favorite cities in all of China. So let’s check in with our gang and see how their outing is going.
小明：爸、妈，你们看这里真是美极了。只要举起相机，随便一按，就是一张好照片！ 我要多照几张做电脑桌面。
爸爸：是啊，这儿就像一幅中国画，一步一个景。
Mike：我觉得好像到了意大利的威尼斯，只是人们划的船不一样！
小明爸：是啊。小明、麦克，这样的景致用你们学过的诗词应该怎么形容？
小明和Mike：小桥、流水、人家！
小明爸爸：回答完全正确。小桥、流水、人家。苏州真不愧是块风水宝地啊。
小明：那当然了，要不人们都说“上有天堂，下有苏杭”呢。
Mike：苏杭？ 天堂？
小明妈：哈哈，麦克，这句话的意思是说苏州、杭州的景色非常秀美，就好像人间天堂一样。
Mike：“上有天堂，下有苏杭”。嗯，的确是这样。
妈妈：我带旅游团来过苏州很多次，每次都会被这里宁静、秀丽的景色所吸引，真想在这儿多住些日子。
小明：啊，您还想在这儿住下来？ 那您不要我们俩啦？
妈妈：哈哈，就是因为有你们啊，所以我每次都急匆匆地来，急匆匆地走，都没有时间好好欣赏这儿的景色。
爸爸：我看这次是个好机会，我们一定陪你玩儿个够。走，我们去那边看看。小明：我记得在历史课上老师说苏州都有两千多年的历史了。
Mike：哇，两千多年啊。真看不出来，这条石板路都有两千多岁啦！
小明：哈哈，麦克，我说的是苏州古城，谁说这条石板路了！
Mike：噢，我说呢……
小明：走啊！
爸爸：好，好，来啦！Mike：真好听。可是，叔叔，我怎么一个字都听不懂啊？
爸爸：哈哈，她们是用吴侬软语唱的。说实话，我也听不太懂。
妈妈：麦克、小明，这就是有名的“苏州评弹”，它从明清的时候就已经很流行了。
Mike：阿姨，苏州评弹太好听了，咱们能再听一段吗？
小明：对，对，我也想听！
妈妈：好好好，我们坐下来，慢慢听。
爸爸：哈哈，没想到，这两个孩子还挺着迷！
苏州 looks like fun, doesn’t it? It’s such a beautiful town with such an incredible history. OK let’s take a few minutes to go over some of our dialogue.
Now have any of you ever seen a traditional Chinese painting? If not, you should go online and look at some; they’re gorgeous. And it’s no wonder 小明’s dad said 这儿就像一幅中国画, 一步一个景. 幅 is the measure word for painting. And 一步一个景 refers to how was every step you take you see a different picture or every step you take put you into a different picture. And he really isn’t exaggerating; 苏州 is gorgeous.
小明：爸、妈，你们看这里真是美极了。只要举起相机，随便一按，就是一张好照片！ 我要多照几张做电脑桌面。
爸爸：是啊，这儿就像一幅中国画，一步一个景。
Mike：我觉得好像到了意大利的威尼斯，只是人们划的船不一样！
小明爸：是啊。小明、麦克，这样的景致用你们学过的诗词应该怎么形容？
小明和Mike：小桥、流水、人家！
小明爸爸：回答完全正确。小桥、流水、人家。
上有天堂, 下有苏杭. Now this is a set expression for referring to the 苏州 杭州 area. Now literally translated it means above there is heaven, 上有天堂, and below there is 苏州 and 杭州, 下有苏杭. So it’s like saying that 苏州 and 杭州 are just like heaven, heaven on earth.
小明：那当然了，要不人们都说“上有天堂，下有苏杭”呢。
Mike：苏杭？ 天堂？
小明妈：哈哈，麦克，这句话的意思是说苏州、杭州的景色非常秀美，就好像人间天堂一样。
Mike：“上有天堂，下有苏杭”。嗯，的确是这样。
妈妈：我带旅游团来过苏州很多次，每次都会被这里宁静、秀丽的景色所吸引，真想在这儿多住些日子。
Now many places in China have their own musical traditions that have come down through history. And 苏州 it’s 评弹, which is often translated as ballad*1 singing.
Now it’s sung in 苏州 dialect so it can be difficult to understand if you don’t speak 苏州 dialect, but regardless the performances can be extremely engaging in a very moving. Now it combines singing with speaking all to the accompaniment of the 琵琶, which is a plucked instrument, and sometimes called Chinese lute or the 三弦 can also be heard, which is similar to the 琵琶. But has three strings instead of four.
Mike：真好听。可是，叔叔，我怎么一个字都听不懂啊？
爸爸：哈哈，她们是用吴侬软语唱的。说实话，我也听不太懂。
妈妈：麦克、小明，这就是有名的“苏州评弹”，它从明清的时候就已经很流行了。
Mike：阿姨，苏州评弹太好听了，咱们能再听一段吗？
小明：对，对，我也想听！
妈妈：好好好，我们坐下来，慢慢听。
All right everyone it’s vocabulary time. Let’s take a look at what we have lined up for today.
- 电脑桌面 computer background. diàn nǎo zhūo miàn
- 天堂 heaven. tiān táng
Spotlight
Now I said this at the beginning of today’s episode and I shall say it again now. 苏州 is one of my most favorite cities in China. It’s simply stunning.
Now it’s a day trip from 上海 although if you have the time, it’s worth it to stay a few days.
It was built around five hundred BCE so we’re talking about a town with over two thousand five hundred years of history.
Now part of what makes 苏州 so lovely is its gardens. Its stone bridges, its canals and its pagodas and it’s known to many as the Venice of China. If you walk around the old town, it really isn’t hard to imagine how 苏州 got that nickname.
Now, I could go on and on about 苏州’s beauty but seeing is always better than hearing in this case. So, instead, here is a bit of cool information.
苏州 is known as the silk capital of China, that’s right, there’s even a silk museum that you can visit and learn all about 苏州’s history of silk production and silk embroidery. As well as how silk is made starting from the silk worm.
Now I’ve been to a silk factory in 苏州 before and it’s absolutely fascinating to see how the silk thread is unwound from the cocoon*2 and then made into silk cloth. So there’s tons to do in this beautiful town, and it’s definitely worth visiting. If you’re ever in a 上海 or 江苏 province area.
Primer
It’s time to take a look at today’s language points and we begin with an adverb 不愧.
不愧 means “be worthy of” or “deserved to be called,” “to probe oneself to be.” Now typically 为 or 是 follows 不愧. So it would be 不愧为 or 不愧是. So 小明’s dad said 小桥, 流水, 人家, 苏州真不愧是块风水宝地啊. Little bridges, flowing water, families, 苏州 is truly worthy of being a treasured area. Now another example of 不愧 could be 他不愧是个英雄. He is worthy of being a hero or he deserves to be called a hero. Let’s look at some more 不愧 examples.
- 故宫真气派，不愧是皇帝住的地方。／那当然！
- 你看，这里有这么多欧式的建筑，真漂亮！／是啊，上海真不愧是“东方的小巴黎”。
All right we have a pattern next: 被 something 所 something else. Now what follows 所 is a verb. But no other sentence components should follow the verb.
Now, if your verb is monosyllabic, you need 所 in this pattern 被 something 所. If the verb is more than one syllable, you can leave 所 out if you want. Kind of confusing, all right, let’s look at an example.
In today’s dialogue, we see this pattern used in this way. 我带旅游团来过苏州很多次, 每次都会被这里宁静, 秀丽的景色所吸引. I’ve brought many tourists to 苏州 many times and every time, I’m drawn to the peaceful beautiful scenery. Now remember, when you use 被 in Chinese, it implies that something happens to you. It sets up a passive sentence structure. So another example of the 被-所 pattern could be 我被他的声音所吸引. I’m drawn to his voice.
- 太感人了，我每次看都会被它的情节所打动。／我倒觉得很一般。
All right, here’s a great phrase: 说实话. 说实话 is used at the beginning of a sentence and means honestly, in all honesty or truthfully. 实话 literally means the truth. So if you speak the truth or 说实话 you’re being frank, right? OK so 小明’s dad said today 说实话, 我也听不太懂. In all honesty, I don’t really understand it either.
- 华盛顿好玩吗？／说实话，我也没去过。
- 你觉得苏州和杭州比，哪个更漂亮？／说实话，我觉得都挺漂亮的。
好了, 我们今天剩的时间不多了. We’ve just about used up all of our time for today, but I hope you all enjoyed getting a glimpse of 苏州.
Now, don’t forget to visit our website if you have any questions or want to review anything, or watch today’s episode again. And while you are at it, leave us some questions. We love hearing from you. OK, thanks for joining us today. 大家, 加油, 下次见, bye for now.
