主：What do you think of all these tall buildings and the widened roads? Do you think that these are signs of modernization? Are all these changes good? 宾：这个问题提得好，但是我觉得这
主：What do you think of all these tall buildings and the widened roads? Do you think that these are signs of modernization? Are all these changes good?
宾：这个问题提得好，但是我觉得这是个相当复杂的问题。
主：Why is it complicated?
宾：这个问题得从两个不同角度来谈。一方面是我作为一个外国人所期待的…… 我想看的，我感兴趣的和中国人想看的或者想让我看的肯定是不一样的。另一方面就是现代化与旧城文化保护相互冲突的问题。
主：Then let’s see what are the differences between a foreigner’s expectations and what the Chinese would like to see.
宾：这个问题看来最好这么来谈，一般情况下，中国朋友带我们参观城市的时候，都是带我们去看现代建筑，比如机场、大桥、会展中心等等城市里最新的东西。但是外国人对老城区、小街小巷、古旧建筑更感兴趣，也就是那些使这个城市有别于我们所看过的其他城市的东西。一个外国人到过的其他地方可能比一般中国人多，所见过的机场和桥梁对他们来说没什么太大的不同，但是西安的庙宇他们就觉得有别于法国的教堂，更重要的是，中国城市的老房子更有别于英国城市里的老房子。
主：That is to say, foreigners are interested in the things unique in China, but there is a contradiction between modernization and preservation, as you mentioned just now from another perspective. The space of a city is limited; the old part of the city should be reconstructed, and in fact the new buildings are symbols of the prosperity of a city. Isn’t this a good thing?
宾：当然，繁荣与发展对你们来说是很重要的，对我们也是很重要(你们认为发展很重要，我也这么看)。问题是当一个国家发展的时候，人民的生活水平也随之提高，甚至可能提高很快。他们需要让别人看到这种变化的事实。你们似乎忽略了，对以前的事物需要加以保护，不止是保护那些庙宇或者宫殿，而且应该保护人们居住的房屋，保护老城区的原貌。文化遗产一旦遭到破坏，你们是无法挽回这种损失的。
主：You are quite right. People nowadays are starting to realize the importance of the preservation of heritage. Some local governments are making great effort to deal with the contradiction between development and preservation. Well, because of the limitation of the time, I’m afraid we have to stop now. Thank you ever so much for your coming to discuss this topic with us. We hope you’ll come again.
（责任编辑:秩名）
