中秋节逛鼓楼大街

Visit Gulou Street during the Mid Autumn Festival

九月三十号号是中秋节，公司放假第一天，带老伴去北京理工大学看孩子。

September 30th is the Mid Autumn Festival. On the first day of the company's holiday, I took my wife to Beijing University of technology to see my children.

在校园食堂吃过石锅拌饭后，在中心教学楼的小公园内的长椅上躺了一会，头上阳光透过斑驳的枣树叶子晒到脸上，温暖得有些发痒。老林不停地赞叹这校园的幽静，我则看着天上游丝般的白云，不由得想到了人生，想到了命运。

After eating the stone pot mix in the campus canteen, I lay on the bench in the small park of the central teaching building for a while. The sun on my head shone on my face through the mottled jujube leaves, which was warm and itchy. Lao Lin kept praising the quietness of the campus, while I looked at the white clouds in the sky and couldn't help thinking of life and destiny.

歇过劲来又坐地铁到了鼓楼大街，这里就是电视里常报道的外国人坐小黄包车能看到老北京胡同的地方。钟楼和鼓楼相距百十米，也都被人们圈起来在卖票了。

After a rest, I took the subway to Gulou Street, where foreigners often reported on TV can see the old Beijing Hutong by small rickshaw. The bell tower and the drum tower are 100 meters apart, and they are surrounded by people to sell tickets.

据说鼓楼大街分旧鼓楼大街和新鼓楼大街，旧鼓楼大街是一条元代古街，早先的鼓楼就建在这条大街的北头，叫齐政楼。后来齐政楼毁于一场雷火，人们就在齐政楼的东面即现在鼓楼的位置上修建了一座新鼓楼。原先有齐政楼的那条街称为旧鼓楼大街，现在新鼓楼跟前的这条街叫做鼓楼大街。为了更清楚起见，后者现在改称为地安门外大街。

It is said that Gulou Street is divided into old Gulou Street and new Gulou Street. The old Gulou Street is an ancient street of the Yuan Dynasty. The earlier Gulou was built at the north end of this street, called Qizheng building. Later, the Qi government building was destroyed by a thunderstorm, and a new drum tower was built in the east of the Qi government building, which is now the drum tower. The street with Qi Zhenglou was called the old Gulou Street. Now the street in front of the new Gulou is called the Gulou Street. For the sake of clarity, the latter is now renamed Di'anmen Wai Street.

有个成语叫“晨钟暮鼓”，这词有很多种解释。有的人说它是指早晚的敲鼓击钟次序，有的人则认为敲鼓击钟是两种截然不同的信号。不管怎么说，钟鼓楼是古代报时的重要设施。后来城市大了，钟鼓声传不了那么远，就改敲鼓为放炮，一到中午就来两响，用的还是野战炮。现如今各家各户都有钟表，钟鼓楼、“炮楼”早就退休了。

There is an idiom called "morning bell and evening drum", which has many explanations. Some people say that it refers to the order of beating the drum and bell in the morning and evening, while others think that beating the drum and bell are two distinct signals. In any case, the bell and Drum Tower is an important time reporting facility in ancient times. Later, when the city became big and the sound of bells and drums could not spread so far, it was changed from beating drums to shooting. It rang twice at noon. It was still field artillery. Now every household has clocks and watches, and the bell and Drum Tower and the "turret" have long retired.

从鼓楼大街往西北方向走去就有一排的北京小吃的:魏记炒肝，杨式混沌，山东呛面馒头，褡裢火烧。

Walking from Gulou Street to the northwest, there are a row of Beijing snacks: Wei Ji fried liver, Yang style chaos, Shandong choking steamed bread, girdle fire.

我带老林吃顿褡裢火烧，牛肉大葱和鸡蛋韭菜香菇两种馅，真的是香脆可口，一小碟凉拌皮也被芝麻酱调理得清香别致。有在理工大学的石锅拌面支撑着饥饱，在这吃就是为了品偿京味小吃了。

I took Lao Lin to have a girdle fire. There are two kinds of fillings: beef, green onion, egg, leek and mushroom. It's really crispy and delicious. A small plate of cold skin is also seasoned with sesame paste. There are stone pot noodles in Polytechnic University to support hunger and satiety. Eating here is to compensate for Beijing snacks.

鼓楼大街里边则熙熙攘攘的以人为主，人多善贾，两边老四合院都开起了买卖，但以吃食为多，新疆的大串，山西的拉面，甘肃的凉皮，各地小吃都聚在这里。中国人有各省的，外国人有黑白的。都顺着这小胡同涌成一股股人流，世界就在这样的涌动中交流着，渗透着，发展着。

Gulou Street is bustling with people. There are many good people. The old quadrangles on both sides have opened businesses, but most of them are food. There are large clusters in Xinjiang, ramen in Shanxi, Liangpi in Gansu and snacks from all over the world. Chinese people are from all provinces, foreigners are black and white. All along this small alley into a stream of people, and the world is communicating, infiltrating and developing in this surge.

去这里要是想记住走路的标记是这样的：从地铁2号线鼓楼大街站下来后，从B口出去往右走到一个桥头再右转，走S型路两站远的样子，见到铃铛胡同往左拐就可去看鼓楼和钟楼了。

If you want to remember to walk here, the sign is as follows: after getting down from Gulou Street Station of Metro Line 2, go out from exit b, go right to a bridge, and then turn right. Take S-shaped road for two stops. When you see lingdang Hutong, turn left to see the Drum Tower and bell tower.

2012年10月2日

October 2, 2012