走进江苏历史文化名城如皋市，这儿你能找到幸福。
I spent a week in Rugao, Jiangsu, a third- or four-tier city about 200 km northwest of Shanghai, participating in the 20th Asian Masters Athletics Championship. I went there with a simple expectation, other than trying to get into the finals of the 100m event for the 65-69 age group, to take some good photos of historical architecture, of a China before development wipes away its past. I lugged along my SLR, which I normally don’t carry especially when I was there to run and not sightseeing. It was a piece of baggage that I would have to bear with me for the whole trip.
我在江苏如皋逗留了一周。如皋是一个三四线城市，位于上海西北部200公里左右。我来这里参加第二十届亚洲老将田径锦标赛。除了希望努力进65-69岁老年组100米决赛外，我还有一个简单的想法，拍一些在中国的发展中还没有被抹去的、典型的历史建筑的照片。我带上了我的单反相机，以往情况下我是不带的，特别是当我外出比赛，而不是观光旅游的话。这次我得全程都把这个大家伙带在身边。
I did not get to see what I wanted to see in Rugao, a city famous for having the most centenarians alive in China. We arrived at Rugao at nearly midnight and the first sight of Rugao was in the morning, from the window of Wenfeng City Hotel. There, right in front of me, were rows and rows of neatly built and good quality low-rise homes of pretty recent origin. And there were many high-rise condominiums rising in the distance. The streets were landscaped and manicured and not much different from Singapore.
如皋因为是中国的长寿之乡而闻名，我在这儿并未看到我期待的东西。我们抵达如皋时已近午夜。第一眼看到它的样子，已是早晨，清晨的第一缕阳光透过窗户照进文峰城市酒店。眼前是一排排质量不错的低矮房屋，外观很新，像是最近建成的，远处则有很多高耸入云的公寓大厦。街道整齐划一，绿化美观，与新加坡的街道别无二致。
The infrastructure of Rugao was everything a modern city would have, not a third-tier city away from the futuristic coastal cities. I managed to sneak away into the villages and along the way the sight was of newly built farmers’ homes, built just behind the small living quarters of the past. The few remnants of the past that were still standing have been rebuilt and served the owners in their bigger homes as storerooms or garages.
如皋市的基础设施更是符合任何一个现代化城市的标准，根本不像一个远离发达海滨地区的三线小城。我设法溜进农村，沿途看到的是新盖的农家大院，就在以前的小房子后。不少老屋子也经过翻新成了新居的储存室或是车库。
The only pieces of the past left in Rugao were the mansion of Mo Biqiang and Dong Xiaowan and a well preserved patch of low ancient houses right in the heart of the city. These houses still serve as living quarters to some residents and small commercial enterprises. The mansion and the houses were some 400 years old and stood there to remind the people of the way of life of their ancestors.
仅存的古老建筑便是冒辟疆、董小宛故居和市中心几处保护完好的古屋。这些房子仍是一些居民的生活区和小型企业的商务区，已有400多年的历史，屹立在这里为人们讲述祖先的故事。
What really impressed me was the sight of the people of Rugao. The people were pretty well off, well heeled, living in good quality homes and looking very contented with their lives. The children, the youth and the young were a pleasant surprise. They were all at the stadium during the Opening Ceremony for the Asian Masters. Some were there to perform, some were there as spectators to this international events. And the unpredictable happened, the sky opened up, and everyone was wet. But the youth and children came well prepared, with a thin transparent raincoat over their costumes and their latest trendy wear.
真正让我难忘的是如皋人民。他们生活富足，安居乐业，看起来很享受生活。如皋的儿童、少年和青年也让人感到惊喜和意外。他们参加了第二十届亚洲老将田径锦标赛的开幕式，有的是表演者，有的是这届国际盛会的观众。突然天公不作美，大雨落下，但这些青少年有备而来，一个个拿出了透明的薄雨衣，套在了演出服装和时尚的装扮外面。
The rain did not dampen their free spirit. They ran, but to the stadium, not away. They were there to celebrate a big international event, to welcome the visitors to their home town. What was written all over their faces was a future of hope, confidence and well being. Their innocence, their free spirit, their laughter, there was not a hint of fear or uncertainties in them, as they celebrated life. The faces of the Rugao children today are the faces of joy, of a happy young people living for now and for a better tomorrow as young people should.
大雨并没有浇灭他们的热情，他们没有离开，而是在雨中跑向体育场，来庆祝这场国际盛会，欢迎远方客人来到他们的家乡。他们的脸上充满了对未来的希望、自信和幸福。他们为生活喝彩，是那样的天真无邪、无拘无束，纯真的笑容里没有一丝恐惧和犹豫。如皋儿童的面庞是快乐的面庞，是年轻人应该有的那种幸福地活在当下，为美好未来打拼的面庞。
China today has reached a point where the people could live life, enjoy peace and be themselves without a worry. Such a privilege only comes about when the country is strong and prosperous and well managed. The children and youth of Rugao are a manifestation of the children and youth of China today, living in a time when security and prosperity are a new normal. To live a happy and cheerful life of plenty, being young and enjoying growing up as children and young adults shielded from the vagaries of life, with a bright and secure future that a strong and prosperous China has bestowed upon them. The children and youth of Rugao and all over China are the new China, a people blessed to live a life never the same as the parents and grandparents of old China. This is the new China and the China Dream.
今天的中国人民已经过上无忧无虑的生活，享受和平的日子，这一切要归功于国家的强大、繁荣和有效的治理。如皋的青少年是当今中国青少年的代表，他们活在安全稳定、繁荣昌盛的美好时代。不断强大的中国为青少年茁壮成长创造了条件，他们可以无忧无虑地过上幸福而充实的生活。让如皋的青少年和中国所有的青少年过上新生活，永不回到父母成长的那个旧时代，这就是新中国，这就是中国梦。
