Another Letter to Young Readers
Bing Xin

Dear Little Friends,

On April 12, we arrive, amidst a gentle rain, in Venice, a city on the eastern coast of Italy.

Venice is a world-famous aquatic city, often compared to China’s Suzhou. But, while Suzhou is primarily a land-based city with many rivers and bridges, Venice is a port composed of more than 100 small islands cut by a broad winding waterway serving as its avenue and numerous small crisscross water courses serving as its alleys. And clusters of buildings on the small islands are linked by some 400 bridges of various sizes. There are no motor vehicles. In place of buses and motor cars, motorboats of various descriptions speed to and fro on the congested waterways. Also on the waterways are lovely black small pleasure boats with curved ends, known as gondola, a term that has been translated into the Chinese homonym gondule meaning “Share the joy of river-crossing”.

The small town of Venice is very interesting. Imagine how every building stands directly facing a waterway instead of a street or lane, and the residents, as soon as they open the door, come face to face with nothing but undulating sea waves and seagulls circling in the air. Walk down a flight of mossy stone steps at their door, and they will be able to get on a public waterboat bound for town. The city also has its own churches, palaces and other public buildings, all situated on the water front. What a wonderful sight it is when strings of their lights are reflected in the quivering water at nights!

Venice is one of the three big ports on Italy’s eastern coast doing trade with Eastern countries, the other two being Bari to its south and Trieste to its north. In its heyday, that is, during China’s Yuan dynasty in the 13th century AD, an Italian merchant named Marco Polo visited China and became an official in Yangzhou. After 20 years in China, he returned to Venice and wrote Travels of Marco Polo in which he speaks highly of China’s rich cultural relics. He makes a detailed description of Lugouqiao (1) in his travel notes. That is why Europeans today still refer to Lugouqiao as Marco Polo Bridge.
International cultural exchange usually begins with international trade. The exchange of top-quality commodities promotes mutual love and understanding between nations. Peace-loving working people welcome “mutual supply of what the other party needs”. In recent years, due to manmade barriers, Sino-Italian trade has dropped sharply. In the face of the declining business of the above-mentioned ports, Italian industrial and business circles long for reestablishment of relations and smooth development of business with China. The same urgent voice is heard throughout the country.

These few days, the weather in Europe has been unusually bad indeed. Yesterday, snow fell in large flakes on Padova when eh city was at the height of its beauty with pink peach blossoms and green willows. It was the first time for me to see a warm snow-covered spring scene.

There has been a chill in the air since last night, snow having turned into rain. The sound of howling sea wind outside my window is mingled with the melodious sound of bells. I remember that in an early spring of 20 years ago, it also rained when I first visited Venice. Therefore, I haven’t as yet seen the city in bright sunshine. Today is Saturday again, and I’m thinking of you warmheartedly. Little friends, those of you who are boarders must now be back at home for the weekend. I wonder what you are talking about with your folks at home in the lamplight. Is it about your studies or about your national construction? Having had no access to up-to-date newspapers from China for several days, I’m ill-informed about things at home. It’s probably inadvisable for one to stay abroad for too long, for he may otherwise lag behind ideologically. Little friends, you must be laughing at me for being “homesick” again. Now my fellow travelers are all gone out visiting places in spite of the rain, for tomorrow they will have to push on with the journey. I’m the only one left alone, so I manage to find time to write you a few lines so as to keep you from worrying about me. I wish you from afar a happy Sunday!