Marielle de Dardel（戴蕙兰），生于 1959 年，弗里堡大学国际办公室主 任。曾于1980年在北京师范大学学习。其丈夫戴尚贤，现为瑞士驻华大使。

　　初次踏上中国大陆的土地，便是在深圳，我从香港徒步过来。在体会了融合中英特色、喧嚣熙攘的城市后，我觉得自己仿佛置身于一个国家公园，那里绿树成荫，树木林立，我看到许多人穿着制服，仿佛他们是护林员似的。学生时代的我，游历数地，多数为西欧国家，对于那些环境的改变，我不惊亦不忧。然而，深圳这个羽翼未丰的新经济区深深吸引了我，我无法抗拒这里悠闲的气氛和广阔的空间。最初，我和朋友的计划是乘火车去莫斯科旅行。然而，出于种种原因，我们最终选择了一条速度更慢更长的路线，到达了我们的最终目的地:北京师范大学。因为只有放慢脚步，才能充分享受我们的旅行。正如我们预期的那样，我们一路不断发现新事物，这些前所未有的体验让我们不禁一度期望这场旅行永远不会结束。其实早在巴黎的时候，我的朋友瓦莱睿和我便开始了在巴黎东方语言与文化学院进行中国研究。她在那所大学曾经学过俄语，那时候我正好在进行第二次实习，同时一边在进行第二年的艺术史研读。在好奇心的驱动下，我们对无前人走过的道路充满热爱，希望去探寻探索一条西方人并不常走的路，那就是神秘的东方文化之路。东方文化的神秘色彩其实早已渗进到我们的生活中，正如小时候我经常听人跟我说，“看，小家伙，这个就是瓷器（中国）。”那个年代，在我们法语中，中国和瓷器是一词两意，童年的时候，我去祖母家的乡村小屋，经常会听说或见到“瓷器”，也许从那时起，我就与“中国”结下了不解之缘。

　　在旅居中国的日子里，让我们最为惊讶的是我们两年来学习普通话的努力得到了回报，在去北京的火车上，我们甚至交到了中国朋友，用中文跟他们进行简单的交谈。那一次同车的主要是本地中年人，他们对我们一切的事都充满了好奇，这成就了我记忆中内容最丰富的一次交谈。众所周知，瑞士在中华人民共和国建国后仅仅三个半月就承认其合法地位，这些正面的情感转化成了中国人对我母国了解的渴望。因此，我们几乎刚到中国就结识了新朋友，这种自然而然的亲切感真让人享受。我清晰地记得当时我跟瓦莱睿说，“这一路的景观和体验，让我回想起意大利的旅途。这里连绵不断的稻田让我感觉我置身都灵，辈分间如此亲密的关系和他们嘈杂的谈笑声也让我的思绪回到了意大利。”

　　当时我的手提箱里装满了送给一个九岁女孩的礼物，她是我在巴黎一位中国教授的女儿。教授身处巴黎，两年都无法见到孩子，想念之情可想而知。那个年代既没有移动电话也没有互联网，只能通过社区的传呼电话才能联系上教授的妻子，这真是一个莫大的挑战。可幸功夫不负有心人，我联系上了她，而且和她们母女俩的聚会总是在美丽的北京公园里野餐，这使我得以以一个非局外人的视觉去感受这座城市的日常，以更开放的视角去了解这座温暖的城市。

　　那个年代街上唯一的色彩是七色彩虹般的旗帜，彩旗在空中自在飘扬，与长安街上的红花相映生辉。骑着车一路前往到肃穆的天安门广场再到繁忙的王府井，感觉真是奇妙极了！地图上看起来很近的距离而事实上并非如此。每次骑车要穿过繁忙的街道，我都感到压力重重。为了不在晚饭时候迟到，我们甚至在下午五点就出发！满街的自行车很是壮观，交警像钟表指针一样指挥交通，让人印象特别深刻。我意识到我不能一味地将这里经历的一切与我熟悉的文化进行对比。未来的几个星期，我要尽量理解和适应新环境，新规则。这些想法的转变让我发现了更多有趣和美好的细节。我爱上了晨光熹微时中式建筑轮廓映出的神奇景象，尤其是颐和园的日出更是独有一番韵味！还有人们在上班路上都爱吃上一口现炸的早点，那味道和景象别有生趣！那些画面，那些炸物的香气，那些丰富的情感，直到如今仍深深地存记在我的脑海里。漫步公园时鸟儿的歌唱，适应新生活环境后的轻松，与人沟通所获得的快乐，新的口味，新的菜肴，人们健康的观念以及公园里大伙儿打太极拳的场景，至今都让我无法忘怀。

　　一些词汇和它们的概念对我来说被赋予上了新的含义，比如空间和大空间；或者从火车总站所见到的行色匆匆的人流或长龙所产生对拥挤的概念；还有像微笑这样再普通不过的词，当我们和路人眼神交汇的瞬间，连眼眸里的微笑都富含意味。当然还有一些已知的概念，也被赋予上一种全新的意义和深度：比如团结、友谊、分享等等。他们以不同的方式不同的层面来诠释我所珍视的一些价值观，使我感到从未如此沉醉在如此一个全然不同的社会里。我有对渴望新知和领悟的强烈好奇心和无穷渴望，那些所有提出的不管是有解答还是未解答的问题，都对我的思维方式和理解力产生了巨大影响。我想，这一切都深深地影响了我们这代学生，不论我们来自何方

THE SUMMER OF 1982

Marielle de Dardel

Marielle de Dardel, born in 1959, Director of the International Office of the University of Fribourg, studied at Beijing Shifan Daxue in 1980, married with Jean-Jacques de Dardel, Ambassador of Switzerland to the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Mongolia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

I first set foot on mainland Chinese soil in Shenzhen, as I walked across the border from Hong Kong. After the tumult of the densely packed Sino-British city, I felt as if I had arrived at a national park, laced with greenery and trees, where I saw people wearing uniforms that made them look like forest rangers. As a well-travelled student who had visited many places, mainly in Western Europe, I was neither taken aback nor uneasy about this change of setting. In fact, I was rather charmed by the laid-back atmosphere and the open spaces I discovered in the fledgling economic zone. Originally, my friend and I had wanted to travel via Moscow by train. However, for various reasons we finally chose to reach our final destination, the Beijing Normal University Campus, via a much slower route. The idea was to slow down our pace so as to better enjoy our journey. And indeed, in this manner we made so many enjoyable discoveries and had such a rich experience that I remember wishing our travels would never end. Valérie and I had started our Chinese studies in Paris at INALCO (Institut des langues et civilisations orientales) at the same time. She had also studied Russian at the University, whereas I was undertaking a second period of training, along with my studies in Art History, which I had started a year earlier. We were driven by curiosity, a passion for untrodden paths and a wish to better understand a world so different from our own. Actually, this world had already made considerable inroads in our daily lives, as we would discover: “Ceci mon petit, c’est du Chine” (“This, my little one, is China”). Indeed, in those days, “Chine” was also the French word for porcelain, and in my earliest memories I can recall hearing and seeing a lot of China while visiting my grandmother’s country home.

At the beginning of our sojourn in the PRC, our main surprise was to realize that spending two years learning Mandarin was an effort that had paid off, as we were able to have conversations and exchange ideas with our new friends in the train headed for Beijing. Our travel companions were mainly middle aged and extremely curious, which enabled us to have some of the most varied conversations I can remember. It was well known that Switzerland had acknowledged the Republic a mere three and a half months after its inception, and the ensuing positive attitude led to a friendly desire for information about my home country. We thus made new friends almost immediately and enjoyed realizing how “normal” it all was. I have a very vivid memory of telling my friend Valérie how much not only the landscape, but also the experience in the train caused memories of Italy to flash through my mind. I remember explaining to her that this was probably due to the rice fields I had seen time and again around Torino, as well as the close relationship between the generations and the resulting noisy discussions that had been part of my Italian surroundings.

My suitcase was filled with presents for a nine-year-old girl, the daughter of one of my Chinese professors in Paris, who missed her terribly and who would not be able to see her for two years. At that time there were no mobile phones or internet connections. Getting in touch with my professor’s wife was a challenge, as I had to reach her through the phone shared by the neighbourhood where she lived. However, in the end I succeeded and the get-togethers with her and her daughter were always a feast, and a delightful opportunity to have picnics in the beautiful parks of Beijing. This gave me an insider’s view of ordinary life in the city, which was very welcome.

The only colours which stood out in the streets were those of the rainbow-coloured f lags put up here and there, which mingled with the beautiful red flowers along the main avenues. It felt magical to cycle to Tiananmen square, or to arrive in the busy Wangfujing! Distances seemed quite short on the map and this frequently led us astray: Oh! The stress of pedalling through busy traffic so as not to be late for a dinner appointment! As I recall, they were usually set at the surprisingly early time of five o’clock in the afternoon! The bicycle traffic was amazing, as were the policeman and policewomen, moving their arms and bodies as precisely as the hands on the faces of our watches. I quickly lost the urge to try to equate what we were experiencing to what we knew from elsewhere and stubbornly tried to understand the new rules which would regulate my life for the coming weeks. The silhouettes of the various architectural styles were magical sights in the early morning, as was the special quality of the sunrise at Yihe Yuan! And then there were the enticing smells of the fried guojie that people would grab for breakfast on their way to work. Some of the images, the characteristic smells, and the accompanying emotions remain very vivid in my mind up to this day: birds singing as I walked through the parks, a feeling of lightness as I mastered my environment, the joy of communicating, new flavours, new dishes, the need to be healthy and to exercise taiji in the parks… Some words and concepts took on a new meaning for me,

such as space and large space, or crowd, as we watched the never-ending flow of people hurrying or waiting in line in the main train station; common words such as smile, as we walked and exchanged eye contact with the people we passed and shared glances full of meaning. And then there were familiar concepts, which took on a new meaning, a new depth: solidarity, friendship, sharing, to name just a few of the values that I came to cherish in a different way, at a different level, as I felt ever more deeply immersed in this very different society. My curiosity, my thirst for discovery, knowledge and understanding were immense, and all of the questions asked, whether answered or unanswered, had a huge impact on my way of thinking and of experiencing. This, I felt, was shared by all students of my generation, irrespective of their backgrounds.