Upon the relics of our ancestors, we strew technology and investment in the name of reinvigoration. Then, on those formerly dusty sites, we gladly bestow the brand-new architecture with blossoming light bulbs and vining glass ornaments.
我们以复兴的名义，在我们祖先的遗迹上洒满了技术和投资。然后，在那些曾经尘土飞扬的场地上，我们很高兴地为全新的建筑赋予了绽放的灯泡和藤蔓玻璃装饰品。
Such is how Nanjing’s new cultural landmarks have been created in the last decade. They are hybrids of history and modernity. Standing in the Porcelain Tower Relic Park, I was aware of this change that seems subtle but has nevertheless suffused corners of the city with which I am so familiar.
这就是近十年来南京新文化地标的诞生。它们是历史与现代的混合体。站在瓷塔遗址公园里，我察觉到这种看似微妙却弥漫在我熟悉的城市角落的变化。
If time rewinds to the years when “cultural attractions” still meant “keeping our historical relics just as they are”, I would have described Nanjing’s attractions as quiet, old-fashioned places we visit simply for the sake of paying tribute. Standing obstinately with their dim walls and solemn atmosphere, they are frozen tokens of the past; skeletons of the old Nanjing alive only in history books and grandparents’ tales. The space locked up within those imposing red walls, city walls and marble walls was always immense, but there was no way I, a modern-era child in today’s clothing, could blend in without being a pebble dropped into an undisturbed pond.
如果时光倒流到“文化景点”还意味着“保持历史遗迹原样”的年代，我会把南京的景点描述为安静、老式的地方，我们只是为了致敬而去的。它们固执地矗立着，墙壁昏暗，气氛庄严，是过去的冰冻记号；老南京的骨架只存在于历史书和祖父母的故事中。那些雄伟的红墙、城墙和大理石墙所封闭的空间总是巨大的，但我这个穿着今天衣服的现代孩子，不可能融入其中，而不成为一颗落入平静池塘的鹅卵石。
There was no way these settings and I could become one with the inevitable gap of time and style wedged between.
这些环境和我不可能成为一个不可避免的时间和风格之间的鸿沟。
So I inquired as to their secrets with silent gaze.
于是我默默地凝视着询问他们的秘密。
When modern technology found its place in Nanjing’s newly emerging cultural attractions, the first splashes were indeed breathtaking. In 2014, the Six Dynasties Museum, masterpiece of Mr. Bei Jianzhong, joined the cultural block of Changjiang Lu. In 2015, Niushou Shan’s Usnisa Palace, with its lavishly embellished dome and marble corridors that wore the lustre of ¥4 billion, made a stunning debut. In the same year, the construction of the Porcelain Tower Relic Park was completed, and the tower that was once one of Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages was reborn as a tower of glass. All three projects took place upon Nanjing’s important relics, and all three aimed to reinvigorate those relics with a more modern intelligence.
当现代技术在南京新兴的文化景点中占据一席之地时，最初的飞溅确实令人叹为观止。 2014年，贝建中先生的代表作——六朝博物馆入驻长江路文化街区。 2015年，耗资40亿人民币打造的牛首山佛顶宫惊艳亮相，其华丽的穹顶和大理石走廊熠熠生辉。同年，瓷塔遗址公园竣工，这座曾经的中世纪七大奇迹之一的塔重生为玻璃塔。这三个项目都发生在南京的重要遗址上，这三个项目都旨在以更现代的智慧重振这些遗址。
Interestingly, as a native Nanjinger, I came to know about those newly-emerging landmarks, not through dinner-time chats with my elder family members (like I used to when they gave me advice on which fun parts of Nanjing to explore after school), but through social media.
有趣的是，作为一个土生土长的南京人，我并不是通过与长辈的晚餐聊天（就像以前他们给我放学后可以探索南京哪些有趣的地方的建议），而是通过社交媒体来了解这些新兴地标。
These were photos of girls posing against the Porcelain Tower’s brilliant LED background, hands spreading their Hanfu dress, and close-ups of the interior of the Six Dynasties Museum, featuring silhouettes of bamboo on linen curtains and plastic plum blossom branches curling with deliberate quaintness. Plainly suggestive of the designers’ ambition to combine archaic Chinese style with modern aesthetic, to some degree, the attempt worked well.
这些照片中，女孩们在瓷塔明亮的 LED 背景下摆姿势，双手摊开汉服，还有六朝博物馆内部的特写镜头，亚麻窗帘上的竹子剪影和故意卷曲的塑料梅花枝，显得古雅。直白地暗示了设计师将中国古风与现代审美相结合的野心，从某种程度上来说，这种尝试取得了良好的效果。
Contrary to the attractions developed decades earlier, where mossy bricks are the modest objects of inquiry, Nanjing’s new generation of cultural landmarks comprise shiny glass showcases, newly-painted murals and sophisticated lighting effects. While all eager to radiate their glamour and absorb visitors, patrons to such are very often youngsters estranged to the city’s history.
与几十年前开发的景点相反，长满青苔的砖块只是朴素的探究对象，南京的新一代文化地标包括闪亮的玻璃陈列柜、新画的壁画和精致的灯光效果。尽管所有人都渴望散发自己的魅力并吸引游客，但这些场所的主顾往往是对这座城市的历史疏远的年轻人。
The older cultural attractions are sanctuaries of the undisturbed past, while the newest ones are galleries opened up toward modernity.
较古老的文化景点是未受干扰的过去的庇护所，而最新的文化景点则是向现代开放的画廊。
Thus, while the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum, City Wall gates and Confucius Temple remain the distinct landmarks of Nanjing in the minds of the elder, so the reputations of the Six Dynasties Museum, Usnisa Palace and the Porcelain Tower Relic Park grow with the aid of the fast-developing internet. The latter seem to fit better into the vibe of modern Nanjing.
因此，明孝陵、城门、夫子庙在老一辈人的心目中仍然是南京的标志性建筑，而六朝博物院、佛山宫、瓷塔遗址公园则借助高速发展的互联网，名气越来越大。后者似乎更适合现代南京的氛围。
So do Nanjing’s newer cultural attractions have a definite advantage over the older ones?
那么南京较新的文化景点相对于老景点是否有一定的优势呢？
I saw the answer, “no”, in the Porcelain Tower Relic Park. The brightly-lit walls with hanging lights and the embossed and polished sculptures of characters from Buddhist stories were remarkable, though not as remarkable as they appear online in photos with filters turned on, but there was something that confused me throughout the whole tour. Walking through the souvenir stores, I finally understood that puzzlement. Were the archaised sights that would each fit perfectly into photo frames what I came for? Did I see what I ought to see?
我在瓷塔遗址公园看到了答案：“不”。灯火通明的墙壁、浮雕和抛光的佛教故事人物雕塑都很引人注目，虽然不像网上打开滤镜的照片那么引人注目，但在整个参观过程中，有一些东西让我感到困惑。逛完纪念品商店，我终于明白了这个困惑。这些与相框完美契合的古色古香的景点就是我来这里的目的吗？我看到了我应该看到的吗？
The root of the confusion, I believe, is that the focus of the exhibition drifts from its initial purpose. The park, just as its name suggests, was constructed to better introduce the rich story behind the Porcelain Tower to the public, but when the actual relic of the tower is endowed with a modern design, it loses its power to provoke visitors’ inquiry. When the space is bustling with hints of the modern world, there is not much silence left for one to quietly ponder a piece of coloured glaze from 6 centuries ago; to realise she remains estranged from her city’s complicated past.
我认为，造成这种混乱的根源在于展览的焦点偏离了最初的目的。这座公园，顾名思义，是为了更好地向公众介绍瓷塔背后的丰富故事而建造的，但当瓷塔的实际遗迹被赋予现代设计时，它就失去了引起游客询问的力量。当空间里充斥着现代世界的喧嚣时，却没有太多的安静可以让人静静地思考一件6个世纪前的琉璃；意识到她仍然与这座城市复杂的过去疏远。
The same applies to the Six Dynasties Museum and the Usnisa Palace. We feast our eyes on their splendid, innovative design, but at the same time, we forget to give due significance to the relics upon which they stand. The emphasis of such cultural attractions now falls on “attraction” rather than “cultural”.
六朝博物馆和佛尼萨宫也是如此。我们对它们辉煌、创新的设计大饱眼福，但同时，我们却忘记了它们所矗立的遗迹应有的重要性。如今，此类文化景点的重点已从“文化”转向“吸引力”。
In many ways, Nanjing’s new cultural attractions bring things together; they demonstrate how technology and modern aesthetics can connect a young generation to historical relics. On the other hand, however, they eliminate the space for our contemplation of the relics and their past. That brought together is worthy of applause, but that which is broken apart needs to be fixed in time.
南京的新文化景点在很多方面将各种元素融为一体。它们展示了技术和现代美学如何将年轻一代与历史文物联系起来。然而，另一方面，它们消除了我们思考文物及其过去的空间。聚集的值得鼓掌，但分裂的需要及时修复。
