銀杏葉正黃 友情暖人心

位于美國中北部的印第安納州對于大多數中國人來說是遙遠而陌生的。然而，提到這里長大的總統亞伯拉罕·林肯、出生的天王巨星邁克爾·杰克遜和肯德基創始人哈蘭·桑德士上校、為世界籃球迷津津樂道的NBA步行者隊等這些耳熟能詳的名字，大家對印第安納州就不會感到陌生了。

2010年11月17日，浙江省外辦組織的省新聞代表團一行6人，前往這個早在1987年就與浙江省締結友好省州關系的地方進行友好訪問和新聞采訪。

訪問正值初冬時節，印州首府印第安納波利斯寒意已濃。車穿行在印第安納波利斯的小道上，可以看到錯落有致的房屋零星點綴在兩旁一望無際的土地上；難得見到幾個行色匆匆的路人，多數印州人和其他美國人一樣更樂于自駕車馳騁在寬敞平坦的公路上；甚至連超市、商場這些在中國本應人頭攢動的地方，也只是三三兩兩的顧客從容地拎著東西走出來。映入眼簾的一排排金黃的銀杏樹打破了這冬日蕭瑟的灰色調。銀杏樹原是中國獨有的“活化石”，在中國很多城市都尋?？梢姟Ｃ绹y杏樹的栽培，據說是得益于清代李鴻章的饋贈。這滿目的金黃也可算得上是中美友好交流的一個歷史見證吧。一路上，仰頭可見清透的藍天，微風吹過，銀杏樹落葉繽紛、黃得燦爛，陽光透過扇形的樹葉斑駁灑下，讓人產生車在畫中行的夢幻錯覺，心中蕩起絲絲暖意。

在美國，一個來自印第安納州的人不被稱為印第安納州人，而被稱為胡希爾人（Hoosier），而印州博物館正是展示胡希爾人文化、藝術和科學發展歷史、甚至是胡希爾人精神面貌的所在。博物館主要建筑用材是鋼鐵和石灰石。在印州歷史上，鋼鐵被看做是印州北部的骨架，代表著印州工業化和現代化的變革；而石灰石則是其南部的基石，象征著胡希爾人對歷史的記憶。印州博物館以鋼鐵做構架，石灰石為墻面，其寓意也在其中。自然博物館展示了印州通過發掘、采集、捐贈等途徑獲得的各類從海洋到陸地的動物、植物、地質等方面的標本和化石。自然博物館館長理查德先生見我們對碩大的乳齒象化石饒有興趣，還特地帶我們到博物館的倉庫中，熱情地搬出一盒盒乳齒象化石真品請大家觀賞。文化博物館展示了印州的人文歷史，從生活在印州的印第安人部落文化開始，講述了印州與歐洲等地區交流的淵源、印州在工業革命時期的成就、印州人民參與美國內戰和兩次世界大戰的經過、直至二戰后印州在美國現當代文化中的地位等。文化博物館館長歐戈登先生還專門引領我們前往博物館的倉庫中一睹《解放黑人奴隸宣言》真跡、林肯夫人使用過的鴕鳥毛扇子、林肯兒子使用過的玩具等藏品。在我們參觀的途中，不時有成群結隊的孩子在家長和老師的陪同下從我們身邊走過?；蛟S，這也驗證了興建這座博物館的初衷：我們的后代必須知道過去方能自立。

印第安納州自從1987年與浙江建立友好關系以來，雙方友好交往不斷加深，互利合作不斷加強，在經貿、文化和教育等方面都取得了長足進展。這一切成果的取得離不開兩省州政府的大力推動。印州副州長貝基·斯科爾曼百忙之中抽空會見代表團，接受采訪的時候表示將創造一切可能的條件，支持和鼓勵雙方加強合作。這位平易近人的女士動情地提到了她和浙江的淵源。杭州西湖邊上諸多的動物雕塑，例如水牛雕塑等，其原材料就是來自于副州長家鄉的石灰石。無獨有偶，浙江省曾贈送給印州一座石獅子用于紀念兩省州結好，現安放在印州動物園入口處，深受當地游客喜愛。雕塑無情人有情。石灰石雕塑和石獅子雕塑分別在浙江和印州的風風雨雨中見證了雙方日益深化的友城之情。

印州對浙江友好交流成果的取得更離不開其人民的大力支持。代表團還走訪了印第安納波利斯大學、羅比小學以及薩格莫研究院等機構。印第安納波利斯大學是一所州立大學，與浙江大學寧波理工學院有合作辦學項目，整個學校建筑色調以暗紅色為主。代表團到訪適值學生們上課，當得知我們想采訪幾位師生時，校長皮茲女士當即聯系學校工作人員。之后，在副校長維岡德先生的帶領下，我們順利采訪到了浙江赴印州求學的學生，也感受到了印州人民對于友城訪客的重視。

羅比小學與浙江省杭州天長小學相互結為友好學校。走進學校教學樓正巧趕上學生放學，可以聽到孩子們下課后的歡聲笑語。那些家長有事晚來接的孩子則在老師的陪同下興致勃勃地玩游戲。聽到我們是從中國浙江過來采訪的，一些孩子眨著眼睛大聲地沖我們打招呼，并且圍到我們身邊，仔細地觀察我們帶來的攝像設備。后來聽他們老師介紹，他們當中一些人曾經參與接待今年到訪的天長小學的師生。羅比小學的教室很寬敞、明亮，教室的走廊上張貼著學生稚氣的作文、圖畫和活動的剪影。學生的課程種類齊全，每門課都有專門的教室。我們依次參觀了他們的圖書館、聲樂教室、籃球教室、手工教室等等。印象最深刻的是他們的中文教室：圓形的課桌上擺放著具有中國特色的工藝品，有剪紙、絲綢、串珠工藝品、鏡框等；正對教室門的墻上粘貼著羅比小學和天長小學交流的照片，中間掛著題為“地久天長”的書法條幅。據羅比小學老師介紹，學生的中文課程由中國老師任教，不僅教授三到六年級學生中文，而且還向他們講解中國文化，包括中國重要的節日和習俗等。在參觀途中，一個還未離校的小男孩毫不羞怯地站到眾人面前，向我們展示了他中文數數的本領，讓我們備感親切。

印第安納州的薩格莫研究院辦公樓原先是20世紀初期印州商人路易斯·萊維建造的兩層樓的府邸，被稱為“萊維府邸”。整個建筑頗有意大利文藝復興時期的建筑風貌，白色的外墻取材于當地的石灰石，內部精致的彩色玻璃、鍍金的火爐、奢華的瑪瑙工藝品盡顯主人的品位與富有。一樓的照片陳列館里存放著主人的照片以及他和來訪客人的合影，包括他和西奧多·羅斯?？偨y、查爾斯·費爾班克斯副總統的合影。從這些照片里依然可以猜想到當年這座府邸里的金粉歲月。研究院的院長海恩先生和他的同事親自為代表團準備了可口的點心，泡好了熱騰騰的茶和咖啡。雙方在二樓的會議室里，圍桌而坐，相談甚歡。海恩提到薩格莫研究院目前正在對中美經貿領域交流進行深入研究，并將發表介紹美國投資環境和法律法規等方面的相關報告，以期為中國企業進入美國市場助一臂之力。

離開印第安納州的早晨起了大霧，天地間白茫茫一片。從酒店開車前往機場的路上，旭日東出，濃霧漸漸散去，露出道路兩旁的銀杏樹。經歷了百萬年前的第四紀冰川災難，銀杏樹依然能夠幸存下來，并漂洋過海來到美國扎根，足見其生命力之頑強與旺盛。兩省州的友好關系已經走過了20多個年頭，在雙方政府和人民的共同努力下，其前景必將無限廣闊?！?/p>

Zhejiang Journalists Visit Indiana， USA

Text by Yi Shuli， Photos by Huang Shulin

Most Chinese might never hear of State of Indiana in Midwest of the USA， but they have certainly heard of President Abraham Lincoln who grew up in the state， NBA superstar Michael Jordan and the founding father of Kentucky Fried Chicken Colonel Senders who were both born there. Moreover， millions of NBA fans across China surely know about Indiana Pacers.

And people in Zhejiang know more about Indiana， for the province and the state now maintain a sisterly-state relationship since 1987. Since then， the two have shared many educational， cultural and business exchanges. On December 17， 2010， a Zhejiang Journalists Delegation set out to pay a friendly visit to Indiana and go on a reporting assignment there. The group consisted of six people and the visit was sponsored by the Foreign Affairs Office of Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government.

It was early winter in Indiana. The ride toward downtown Indianapolis gave us an impressive view: houses were far and few and the land stretched endlessly between and behind them; there were few pedestrians; most people drove cars; supermarkets and shopping malls surprised us more: there were twos and threes of shoppers; we are more familiar with Chinese shopping malls: there are crowds and crowds of people. One thing that endeared us to Indiana was rows of gingko trees with golden leaves， adding a bright touch to the early winter. It is said that the gingko trees in America originally came from China when Li Hongzhang (1823-1901)， a prime minister of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)， brought them as gifts to America.

During our stay in the state， we visited a number of museums.

Indiana State Museum features steel and limestone as major construction materials. In the history of Indiana， steel represents the role the north of the state has played in industrialization and modernization whereas limestone highlights the foundation role the south plays. The state museum represents a memory of the Hoosiers， the nickname for the local people.

At a natural history museum， we saw a large collection of specimens and fossils of animals， plants and geological objects， which had come together through various channels. Seeing us take special interest in giant fossils of mastodons， the curator invited us into a warehouse of the museum and showed us more mastodon fossils contained in various boxes.

At a warehouse of a culture museum， we saw the manuscript of “The Emancipation Proclamation”， an ostrich-feather fan once used by Mrs. Lincoln， toys once owned by Lincoln’s son.

Since the sisterly-state relations between Zhejiang and Indiana in 1987， the two have strengthened friendly ties and cooperation and made remarkable progress in economy， trade， culture， and education thanks to the promotion of the governments of Zhejiang and Indiana. The Lieutenant Governor of Indiana Becky Skillman managed to find time to meet us despite her tight work schedule. In the interview， she said the state would do everything possible to support and encourage cooperation between Zhejiang and Indiana. The Lieutenant Governor mentioned her ties with Zhejiang. Some animal statues on the West Lake in Hangzhou， the capital of Zhejiang Province， are made of limestone from her hometown in Indiana. A stone lion from Zhejiang Province in commemoration of the founding of the sisterly-state relation now stands at the gate of Indiana State Zoo.

We visited University of Indianapolis， Robey Elementary School， and

Sagamore Institute， an Indianapolis-based nonpartisan think tank. The university has cooperative projects in partnership with Ningbo Institute of Technology， Zhejiang University. After learning that we would like to interview some students who had studied in Zhejiang， the university made arrangements and we were able to talk with them.

Robey Elementary School has a sisterly relation with Tianchang Primary School in Hangzhou， the capital city of Zhejiang Province. When we stepped into the classroom building， it was already the time for pupils to leave school. Children were laughing and making noises everywhere. Those who stayed because their parents would be late to pick them up were playing games under the supervision of teachers. After learning we were journalists from Zhejiang， children rushed over， saying hello and examining our cameras. Some teachers and students we met had visited Tianchang Primary School early that year.

The school had spacious rooms and walls featured drawings and essays. Unlike Chinese schools， American pupils in elementary schools move from classroom to classroom for different subjects. We walked around， visiting the library， singing room， basketball room， arts and crafts room. We were deeply impressed by the Chinese room. On a round table were paper-cut artworks， silk， strings of beads， photo frames. The wall opposite to the classroom door showed pictures showing the exchange programs between Robey and Tianchang. The Chinese class was taught by a teacher from China. The teacher taught classes from third graders to sixth graders. Moreover， the teacher gave short lectures on Chinese culture including festivals and lifestyles. A small boy endeared himself to us by showing his achievement in Chinese: he counted numbers in Chinese.

Sagamore Institute is housed in an impressive building called the Levey Mansion. Originally built in the early 20th century by Indianapolis businessman Louis Levey， the two-storey structure features Beaux-Arts architecture and draws upon Italian Renaissance Revival style. The faccedil;ade of the mansion is course-cut Indiana limestone and the interior was built and decorated to display the wealth and taste of its owners， from the exquisite stained glass skylight above the grand staircase to the onyx and ormolu fireplace imported from a European palace. In the photo gallery on the ground floor were a lot of valuable photos showing Mr. Levey and luminaries such as President Teddy Roosevelt and Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks. These photos indicate the golden years of the residence.

Mr. Jay F. Hein， the president of the institute， and his colleagues met us. We sat down in a conference room on the second floor. Tea， coffee and cookies were served. We chatted happily. Mr. Hein said the institute was conducting an in-depth study of exchanges in the field of economy and trade between China and America. The institute was to publish its research results on American investment environment and law and regulation in a bid to help Chinese business to enter American market.

The morning of the day we left Indiana was foggy. While we were on our way to the airport， the fog cleared and gingko trees shone in the early morning sunshine. The gingko tree survived the Quaternary Glacial Epoch in China and now has taken roots in America， showing its tenacity for prosperity.

The friendly ties between Zhejiang and Indiana have been going on for more than 20 years and are showing a great future thanks to the joint efforts of the peoples and the governments of the two partners.□