VOA常速英语:One Million Lights Shine Brightly at Chinese Festival Near Washington

Linlong Leo awaits his toughest acrobatic move a 3-ring leap, but his mind is with his baby son back in China and the first birthday he will miss.Leo is in the US for two months as part of light-up fest where eight hectares of lights and lanterns look like a small city.50 workers spent a month building the display in Virginia just outside of Washington. Nightly, several of them walk the festival site for two hours, making sure the 1 million lights are working and delighting visitors like eight-year-old Andrea Michelle, we were outside and when it started all the lights beautiful there’s so many.
李林隆等待着他最艰难的杂技动作三环飞跃, 但他的心思却和小儿子回到了中国, 小儿子的第一个生日他将会错过。作为灯光节的一部分, 李在美国呆了两个月。在灯光节上, 8公顷的灯光和灯笼看起来像一个小城市。50名工人在华盛顿城外的弗吉尼亚花了一个月的时间布置展览。为了确保100万盏灯运转, 每晚, 他们中的几个人都要在灯光节现场巡查两个小时。也是为了让像8岁的Andrea Michelle这样的游客高兴。Andrea Michelle说：“我们待在户外, 这里有这么多的灯, 当所有灯亮的时候太美了！"

“The displays contrast the intrigue of the East with patriotism of the West.”10, 000 pieces make up the dragon. It’s part of what’s called a magical world, where some animals come to life, and engineer Cuejoe Jung points out the special design of the US Capitol dome, and the Chinese Temple of Heaven, “Those buildings are the tallest and closest to each other, so the two buildings connect the friendship between the countries.”These Chinese workers overcame several challenges to be here. First the jetlag of a 13 hour time difference, then the shock of freezing winter weather. This night it was minus 2 degrees Celsius.The cold is especially tough for Leo in his troop, but he says the warmth of the Americans make up for it. “People greet each other even if they don’t know each other.”For generations, the Chen family from Shanghai perfected the art of clay modeling, but when Xu gouchin landed at a US airport, American customs agents confiscated most of his clay, thinking it was a dangerous compound.”The clay they bought here is not good, because the one he brought from China made a figure that would not break.”But they all pressed on to bring a little taste of China here to reflect on all of us.
这些展览使东方的计谋与西方的爱国主义形成对比。这条龙由一万个部件组成。这是一个被称为神奇世界的一部分, 一些动物在那里复活, 工程师姜存洲指着美国国会大厦圆顶和中国天坛的特殊设计说, "这些建筑是最高的, 也是最接近的, 所以这两栋建筑连接着国家之间的友谊。"这些中国工人克服了几次挑战来到这里。首先是13个小时的时差, 然后是寒冷冬季天气的冲击。寒冷对李的队伍来说尤其艰难, 但他说, 美国人的温暖弥补了这一点。"即使他们不认识, 人们也互相问候。”几代以来, 来自上海的陈家完善了粘土造型的艺术, 但当徐古钦降落在美国机场时, 美国海关人员没收了他的大部分粘土, 认为这是一种危险的化合物。“他们在这里买的黏土不好, 因为他从中国带来的黏土做的造型不容易坏。"但是有一点值得我们所有人反思, 那就是他们在这里给我们带来了中国特色。

Carolyn Presutti VOA news Loudoun County Virginia
美国之音记者Carolyn Presutti于维吉尼亚劳顿县报道。