VOA常速英语:Uncovering the Forgotten History of Chinese Laborers in California Wine Country

Deep in a cave that stores an age’s wine is a forgotten past known to those who come to Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma County.
这个存放了一个时代葡萄酒的洞穴深处，是一段被人们遗忘的过去，来到索诺马县布埃纳维斯塔酒庄的人都知道。

“In late 1850’s to the 1870’s, they primarily were Chinese laborers.”
“从19世纪50年代到70年代，他们当中主要是中国劳工。”

The hands of low-wage laborers from China helped built the Sonoma wine industry while it was still in its infancy.These images of Chinese workers on the walls of Buena Vista Winery are reminders of their significance.
那些来自中国的低收入劳工用自己的双手建立起了索诺马葡萄酒行业，当时这个行业还处于起步阶段。布埃纳维斯塔酿酒厂的墙壁上挂着一幅幅中国工人的画像，时刻提醒着人们他们的重要性。

“They did all of the working of the fields, the plowing, the actual digging, planting and then the management of the vineyards.They definitely worked at the other properties, but Buena Vista was known to have the largest Chinese labor camp north of San Francisco.”
“他们承担了这片土地上所有的劳作，不管是耕地、挖土、种植还是葡萄园管理，全都是他们在干。他们肯定也在其他地方工作过，但是众所周知，布埃纳维斯塔拥有旧金山北部最大的中国劳动集中营。”

The Chinese workers dug these caves more than 150 years ago, what remains are these pick marks.The rocks from these caves were used as building blocks for the wine-making facilities at the time.This is one of two buildings of the original that remains today.
中国工人在150多年前就挖了这些洞穴。如今这些鹤嘴锄的痕迹依旧清晰。当时他们还用挖出的岩石建造了几栋房子，用来放置酿酒设备。我面前这个就是最初的两栋建筑之一，如今依然保存完好。

“A couple of my friends, they showed me, the so-called ‘Chinese rock fence.’People, the local people still remember Chinese laborers did something for them.”
“我的几个朋友，他们告诉我这个所谓的‘中国岩石栅栏’。当地人一直没有忘记中国劳工曾为他们做出过贡献。”

Their stories passed down by word of mouth among the locals.Historians also know about them, but what happened to them is uncertain.
这些劳工的故事在当地一代一代的口口相传。历史学家也知道他们，但却不确定他们身上到底发生过什么。

“We don’t understand where they went after, once they left the city of Sonoma. We don’t know a whole lot of names.”
“他们一离开索诺马市，我们就不了解他们的去向了。这批人当中我们知道名字的寥寥无几。”

Chinese immigrants at the time experienced violent anti-Chinese sentiment, boycotts,and in 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act, a law that restricted immigration into the United States.
当时中国移民经历了暴力的反华情绪以及联合抵制，1882年，《排华法案》颁布，限制了移民进入美国。

“They work here, they live here, most of them, they die here, they didn’t have a place to be buried.”
“他们在这里工作，在这里生活，大多数人还在这里死去。然而身后却连一块安葬的地方都没有。”

“This was sort of a forgotten history of Sonoma.And there was, we had sort of a shameful history regarding the Asia [Chinese] Exclusion Act and people want to make things right.”
“这是一段被遗忘的索诺马历史。我们还有一段极其不光彩的历史，那就是颁布排亚（排华）法案，现在我们想要弥补这个错误。”

To honor these nameless labors,the Sonoma-Penglai Sister City Committee is raising money to build this Chinese pavilion in the city of Sonoma.Ding says this would also be a piece of history for the new Chinese who are here.
为了纪念这些无名的劳动者，索诺马—蓬莱姐妹城市委员会正在筹集资金，在索诺马市建造这个中国展馆。丁先生说，这将成为索诺马新一代中国人历史的一部分。

“We can see a lot of investors from China, they purchase wineries, they purchase properties.That is the reason why we want to build this kind of physical structure,to remind the people, remind them of the history, and let us know who we are. Where we came from.”
“我们可以看到很多来自中国的投资者。他们在这里购买酒庄和地产。这就是为什么我们要把展馆建造成这个样子，我们想要提醒他们，提醒他们不要忘记这段历史，让我们知道自己是谁，来自哪里。”

So the efforts of those who helped build the wine industry here will not be forgotten.
帮助打造索诺马葡萄酒产业的中国人，他们的努力绝不会被忘记。

Elizabeth Lee, VOA news, Sonoma of California.
VOA新闻，伊丽莎白·李于加利福尼亚索诺马为您播报。