世界遺產(chǎn)：以無聲的方式講述過去的故事

On Sept 4, Gulangyu Island, off the coast of Xiamen, Fujian, was certificated a world heritage site by UNESCO. China now has 52 such sites, spread across the entire country.

9月4日，福建廈門的離島鼓浪嶼被聯(lián)合國教科文組織授予世界遺產(chǎn)證書。目前，中國全國各地共有52處這樣的世界遺產(chǎn)。

Millions of Chinese people visit Gulangyu Island every year to enjoy its natural delights and the mixture of foreign and Chinese architecture.

每年都有數(shù)百萬的中國游客來到鼓浪嶼，領(lǐng)略這里的自然美景，欣賞其中西結(jié)合的建筑。

The recognition of this beautiful, culturally remarkable island is an honor. But the fact that it is a heritage site means much more than that.

對于這座富有文化底蘊的美麗小島而言，這樣的肯定是種榮譽。但事實上，作為一處遺產(chǎn)的意義遠不止于此。

The word “heritage” refers to the invaluable things we inherit from the past. And UNESCO’s world heritage sites, of which there are over 1,000, make a rich tapestry of memories, both natural and man-made. Like a time machine, they take us back to our ancestors and even earlier, enabling us to wonder at both the natural world and human history.

“遺產(chǎn)”一詞指的是我們從過去繼承來的珍貴之物。而聯(lián)合國教科文組織1000多處世界遺產(chǎn)如同一匹燦爛的織錦，編織著自然和人文的記憶。這些遺產(chǎn)就像時光機一樣，將我們帶回到祖先的時代，甚至更早，讓我們?yōu)樽匀皇澜绾腿祟悮v史驚嘆不已。

This applies to all the sites around the world certificated by UNESCO, but in different ways. Places like Moscow’s Red Square stand for a particular moment in the civilization of humankind; they’re valuable cultural resources that tell a story of the past better than a history book could.

聯(lián)合國教科文組織在世界范圍內(nèi)認定的遺產(chǎn)皆是如此，但方式又各不相同。莫斯科的紅場等地代表了人類文明的某一特定時刻;它們是珍貴的文化資源，比一本史書更能講述那段過去的故事。

But heritage can also be a reminder of a lifestyle of the past. Just look at Vienna’s coffee culture: UNESCO gave the award, not to particular cafes in Austria, but to the culture of those places; the award was for what happened there, not for the venues themselves.

但遺產(chǎn)也能帶我們重溫過去的生活方式。看看維也納的咖啡文化就知道了：聯(lián)合國教科文組織并沒有將世界遺產(chǎn)的稱號授予奧地利某些特定的咖啡館，而是頒給了這些地點所蘊含的文化;它屬于那里曾發(fā)生的一切，而不是地點本身。

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the last century, the cafes were packed with artists and intellectuals. The popularity of these places reached its height during the last period of the great Austro-Hungarian Empire, which ended in 1918.

在19世紀末20世紀初，咖啡館里滿是藝術(shù)家和知識分子。這些咖啡館的風潮在偉大的奧匈帝國末期達到鼎盛。1918年，奧匈帝國最終解體。

By the 1950s, Austria’s coffee houses began to go into decline, just after television arrived and people chose to stay at home for entertainment rather than go out.

而到了上世紀50年代，電視機的出現(xiàn)讓人們選擇待在家里，而不是出門找樂子，奧地利的咖啡館開始衰落。

Just like Gulangyu Island and Viennese cafes, every world heritage item is worthy of care and protection. They remind us of our rich and various cultural pasts, and the things that made us who we are.

就像鼓浪嶼和維也納的咖啡館一樣，每處世界遺產(chǎn)都值得關(guān)注與保護。它們讓我們想起了豐富多彩的文化歷史，以及那些塑造了我們是誰的事物。