A Visit to Harbin

I had been looking forward to visiting Harbin for a long time. About two years ago my long cherished wish（夙願）finally came true.

　　It was in winter. I arrived at Harbin after a long journey by train. As soon as I got off the train， I met with my first problem——it was too difficult for me to breathe. The air was just too cold. We stayed at my grandma's. When I entered the house， I noticed that every room had double windows， double doors and double walls. They told me that these were all used to keep out the cold. Refrigerators did not seem very useful here [in Harbin] （1） because it is like a big natural ice-box outside in winter. So every family just uses its balcony （陽台） as a sort of refrigerator. It is said that people in Harbin value natural resources very much. They make full use of them at any time. Maybe the natural “icebox” is just one case.

　　Though it was a real winter outside， in my opinion （2）， it was summer inside——just one shirt was enough， because heating equipment was used in every family. As it was so hot [warm] （3） and dry inside， fruits and ice-creams were thought to be important. Among them frozen pears and persimmons （柿子） were so delicious that I could never forget [them] （4）。 It may be hard to believe that we ate ice-creams in Harbin， a city of ice. But it is really common and you can find many cold drink and snack stalls （小喫攤） in the streets. They are very popular.

　　Another problem I met with was eating. Most families in Harbin just have two meals a day——one is breakfast and the other is supper. At noon they only have some bread and milk just as Russians do. At first I didn't know their habit [customs] （5）。 I felt so hungry at noon. So do remember： if you go to Harbin， make sure you have more than enough food for breakfast or you'll be hungry at noon.

　　What impressed me most during my stay in Harbin was Snow Carving Show（雪雕展）and Ice Lantern Show（冰燈展）。 At the Snow Carving Show you could see many vivid items of snow——some battle heroes， Venus（維納斯）and even White House. They were all made of snow——white， soft and lively. At night， it was time to see the Ice Lantern Show. Once you came into the show place， you seemed to be living in an iceworld. Ice houses， ice figures， ice temples…everything was made of ice. You would find yourself in a fairyland（仙境）。 The light——colorful， sparkling——made it more splendid（壯觀）。 While walking in the ice world， you would wonder at these masterpieces from all over the world（6）。

　　What a nice holiday！ In my opinion Harbin is the best place for winter holidays.

　　安徽省郃肥一中高二（4）班 賀佳

　　評 語

　　遊記是記敘文的一種重要形式。但是，英語遊記是比較難寫的，因爲遊記不僅需要記敘，往往還需要描述和評說，對於英語詞滙有限的中學生來說要同時做好這幾點是不容易的。這篇遊記既有詳略有致的敘述，又有恰到好処的評說，寫得生動有趣，富有信息量，讓沒有到過哈爾濱的人了解了許多哈爾濱的事。同時，語言運用也較好，特別是動詞時態的層次掌握得較好。文章中某些語言上的不足之処點評脩改如下：

　　（1）由於這是廻憶，僅用here，似乎讓人有空間錯位的感覺，加上in Harbin，或僅用in Harbin爲好。

　　（2）這裡in my opinion似乎是多餘的。

　　（3）hot有些過分了，改用warm爲好。

　　（4）加上them從語義和結搆上來說都要好一些。

　　（5）根據Longman詞典，habit一般指個人的習慣，如指社團或許多人的習慣，要用custom.

　　（6）這裡的from all over the world有些令人費解，冰燈展品來自世界各地？