说起绍兴，不能不谈到为国家、民族作出极大贡献的几位绍兴人。他们之中有伟大的作家鲁迅、政治家周恩来等。在绍兴游览的景点里当然少不了这几位名人的故居。

参观名人故居，亲眼见到这些伟人的居住环境和生活细节，确实比坐在图书馆里从书上了解他们要强得多。不过，我更感兴趣的是这些故居的建筑特点。绍兴的房屋跟北方建筑明显不同。从外表来看，江南的房屋是黑瓦①白墙的，跟水乡的风景很协调。绍兴的屋顶瓦片有很多层，这可能跟气候有关，江南一带雨水很多，厚屋顶可以防止雨水漏进房子里去。而在北京，传统四合院大部分是青砖②灰瓦的，屋檐③和梁④常常装饰得五颜六色⑤。

 

Referring to Shaoxing, several Shaoxingese who made great contributions to our country must be mentioned; among them are the great writer Lun Xun and famous statesman Zhou Enlai. Therefore, the former residences of the celebrities will be among the first choices for the travelers here.

Indeed, it’s also good to know these celebrities through visiting their former residence—experience their living circumstances and know their life details—in addition to reading books from the library. However, I am more interested in the architectural features of these buildings that are quite different from those in north China. Houses in the south have black tiles and white walls, in harmony with the scenery of the water town. Due to the climate in south China, there are usually several layers of tiles on the roof in Shaoxing. It rains a lot here; so, this kind of multi-layered roof can prevent the rain from leaking into the house in the rainy season. In Beijing, in contrast, the traditional siheyuan (quadrangles) have blue bricks and grey tiles with their eaves and beams colorfully decorated.

 

① 瓦 wǎ: tile

② 砖 zhuān: brick

③ 屋檐 wūyán: eaves

④ 梁 liánɡ: beam

⑤ 五颜六色 wǔ yán liù sè: colorful