Departure from Amsterdam Middenweg, on my way to Middle Kingdom, and everything in between.
从阿姆斯特丹中路出发，前往中国，一切尽在其间。
Day 1, 2024.02.01
Amsterdam - Zuid Amsterdam
阿姆斯特丹——南部阿姆斯特丹
Visiting the birthplace of soccer player Johan Cruijff who spent his whole career advocating the importance of the midfield as the zone that decides success by balance.
探访足球巨星约翰·克鲁伊夫的故乡，感受他一生倡导的足球哲学——中场是决定比赛胜负的关键。
Crossing the Limes, the ancient border of the Roman Empire, entering a cultural zone that will extend thousands of miles of this journey, well into Persia, providing a coherence of an historical legacy that is important till this day
穿越莱姆斯，古罗马帝国的边境，开启一段贯穿波斯的文化之旅，沿途的历史遗迹至今依然影响深远。
The river Rhine is the Great Provider of The Netherlands. Without Rhine and its Delta, no fertile land, no defense, no central position in trade and logistics. So I started to cross the Rhine/Lek at Wijk bij Duurstede. The Vikings knew it. The Romans knew it. A node in the landscape, capturing the energy of the nation. Hence Jacob van Ruisdael’s tribute when he painted that windmill under Dutch skies.
莱茵河是荷兰的伟大恩赐者。没有莱茵河及其三角洲，荷兰就没有肥沃的土地、防御工事、也没有贸易和物流的中心地位。因此，我开始在维克比杜斯特德地区横渡莱茵/莱克河。维京人知道这一点，罗马人也知道这一点。它是景观中的一个节点，承载着国家的活力。因此，雅各布·范·鲁伊斯代尔在荷兰天空下绘制那座风车时，实际上是在向它致敬。
Crossing the River Waal, from where the high waters of the stream was very clear, showing how the Dutch have been able to cope with high tides. Also the border beyond which Catholic Netherlands begins.
穿过瓦尔河，感受荷兰人如何应对潮汐的智慧，同时也标志着进入天主教荷兰的开始。
Visiting the Den Bosch cathedral, in particular the west entrance church window with the depiction of the attacks on WTC in 2001, representing the most evil zone in a powerful image of the Last Judgment.
Visiting the Den Bosch cathedral, in particular the west entrance church window with the depiction of the attacks on WTC in 2001, representing the most evil zone in a powerful image of the Last Judgment.
参观登博斯大教堂，特别是西门的彩绘玻璃窗，生动再现了2001年世贸中心的悲剧，象征着末日审判中最黑暗的一面。
First night stay in Huize Padua, home for mentally challenged people, designed among others by Aldo van Eyck, who tried to give interns daylight, openness and sense of community. Very grateful to my friends who accompanied me this first part of the journey.
第一晚住在帕多瓦之家，这里是为精神挑战者设计的，感谢阿尔多·范·艾克等人的设计，他们为这里的住户带来了光明、开放和社区感。感恩第一段旅程有朋友们的陪伴。
Day 2, 2024.02.02
Zuid Amsterdam-Waterloo, Belgium
南部阿姆斯特丹——滑铁卢，比利时
Huize Padua
帕多瓦之家
Journey to the East, encountering Dunhuang restaurant along the way.
东游记，途中遇到敦煌餐厅。
The Lion's Mound at the battlefield of Waterloo, Belgium.It marks the site of the 1815 Battle of Waterloo, where Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated.
滑铁卢战场的狮子丘，是比利时一座见证1815年拿破仑败走的历史丘陵。
Cycling for 7.5 hours, 132km.
骑了7.5小时，132公里。
Day 3, 2024.02.03
Waterloo, Belgium
滑铁卢,比利时
The Waterloo Museum now advocates for a generic message pro-peace, but when that lion was put on top of an artificial hill, it was to watch France never would go to war again.
滑铁卢博物馆现在倡导一种普遍的和平信息。当初将那尊狮子置于人造山顶的初衷，是要确保法国永不再次发动战争。
The lion is not pro-peace, it is against the empire. A message that will come back many times on my journey to the East.
这只狮子并不代表和平，而是反抗帝国的象征。这样的信息在东游记途中将多次出现。
Never to embark again on the imperial ventures that marked the Napoleonic era.
再也不踏上标志着拿破仑时代的帝国冒险之旅。
First lecture in KU Leuven with some of the attendants, including host professor Martine de Maeseneer of KU Leuven.
在鲁汶大学举行的首场讲座中，一些参与者出席了，由鲁汶大学的教授马丁·德·马森尼尔主持。
Day 4, 2024.02.04
Waterloo - Rendeux, Belgium
滑铁卢——朗德，比利时
If you think that cobble roads are a matter of cycling history, carefully preserved for Paris Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, try Komoot to cross Belgium. Just a kilometer off Waterloo and this was the offer of this navigation app.
如果你认为鹅卵石路只是自行车历史上的事，仅为巴黎-鲁贝和弗兰德斯之旅精心保存，那就试试用Komoot穿越比利时吧。离滑铁卢只有一公里，这就是这款导航app的推荐路线。
Encountered a restaurant called Heaven of China
遇到了一个叫“中国天堂”的餐厅
Not often you see religious imagery that synthesizes Old and New Testament. Here is a good example of how stories from the old, in this case the story of the Ark, prefigures the new, presenting Mother Mary as a mental renewal of the old idea of religion as a refuge.
I hope to pass the Mount Ararat in Türkiye where the Ark ultimately landed, as well as countless places before, where Maria is worshipped by people who refuse to give up on the Good.
很少见到将旧约和新约融合在一起的宗教图像。这里有一个很好的例子，展示了如何将旧故事，本例中是诺亚方舟的故事，预示着新的内容，将圣母玛利亚呈现为宗教作为避难所这一古老观念的精神更新。
我希望能够经过土耳其的阿拉拉特山，那里据说是诺亚方舟最终着陆的地方，还有无数之前的地方，那里的人们崇拜玛利亚，他们拒绝放弃对善良的信仰。
Encountered another Chinese restaurant.
偶遇另一家中餐厅，颐园饭店。
Day 5, 2024.02.05
Rendeux, Belgium-Trier, Germany
郎德，比利时—特里尔，德国
Look at Chateau Rendeux, that was my Bed&Breakfast for the night.
看看 Chateau Rendeux城堡,那是我当晚的住宿及早餐酒店。
Crossing the Ardennes is one big reminiscence of the critical phase of World War 2, when the Germans one more time pursued a turn of events before the allied forces moved into Germany.
穿越阿登高地让人深刻回忆起第二次世界大战的关键时刻，那时德国人再次尝试改变战局，就在盟军进军德国之前。
Entering Germany between Luxembourg and Trier.
在卢森堡和特里尔之间进入德国。
Arrived at Hotel Porta Nigra, Trier, Germany, ordered scrambled egg with tomato as dinner.
抵达德国特里尔的黑门酒店，点了西红柿炒鸡蛋作为晚餐。
Day 6, 2024.02.06
Tier, German- Feilbingert, Germany
特里尔，德国——费宾格特，德国
If there is one single person who has managed to be relevant for both East and West, and who through the universalism of his ideas is understandable to mankind in general, it’s Karl Marx. Born in Trier, he is acknowledged as a beloved son of the city, while being commemorated by countless visitors. This sculpture was a gift by the Chinese government, made by WU Weishan, thanking Trier for the origin of an alternative idea what really counts in political affairs, in either Western way or with Chinese characteristics;)
如果说有一个人的思想对东西方都有深远影响，且其思想的普遍性为全人类所理解，那就是卡尔·马克思。他出生在特里尔，被这座城市视为敬爱的儿子，同时也被无数访客纪念。这尊雕塑是中国政府赠送的礼物，由吴为山创作，以感谢特里尔孕育了一种政治事务中真正重要的另类思想，无论是西方方式还是具有中国特色的方式;)
reached the highest point of the day, 790m, and found a bench the perfect place for a sandwich.
骑到到当天最高点790米，这张长凳是享用三明治的最佳场所。
I expect to run into more and more sites and people who I won’t understand and even didn’t know they exist. But here in Germany I see many places I know, although sometimes still don’t understand. Imagine a cold February day, stormy, icy, and longing for some signs of Spring, when you are confronted with the German “Vergangenheitsbewaltigung”(coping with the horrible past), trying to make a sense of the senselessness of KZ Lager (Concentration Camp) Hinzert where many found there last station in the most inhuman circumstances. Jews, Russians, Polish, and many others. A message of the ultimate consequence of feeling superior.
我预计会遇到越来越多我不理解，甚至之前不知道存在的地方和人。但在德国，我看到很多熟悉的地方，有时依然感到困惑。想象一个寒冷、暴风雨交加、冰冷刺骨，渴望春天迹象的二月日子，当你面临德国的“Vergangenheitsbewältigung“（应对可怕的过去），尝试理解希因策集中营（KZ Lager Hinzert）的荒谬，那里许多人在最不人道的情况下结束了他们的生命。犹太人、俄罗斯人、波兰人等等。这传递了一种自认为优越的极端后果的信息。
120.5km,7.5 hours.
120.5千米，7.5小时。
If there is one journey that has reverberations over centuries, it’s the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Here we n Germany this Journey to the East crosses this journey eu to the West (that is the European version).
如果有一次旅行能够跨越几个世纪产生深远影响，那就是前往圣地亚哥-德孔波斯特拉的朝圣之旅。在德国这里，我们向东的旅程与这一通往西方的旅程（即欧洲版本）相交汇。
Martin Luther is a seminal figure to divide European History, almost literally. He believed in finding the truth in yourself, not in what the clergy says. When he brought up his ideas, obviously the clergy what’s not happy. So they tried to silence him, which he rebutted by expressing the classic phrase of personals independence: here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. Once the city of Worms was the scene 🎬 for prosecution. Today it can not be more happy with the “crime”.
马丁·路德是划分欧洲历史的关键人物，几乎可以说是字面意义上的。他相信真理要自己去发现，而不是仅仅听从教士的话。当他提出自己的见解时，显然遭到了教士们的不满。因此，他们试图让他保持沉默，他则以一句经典的个人独立宣言作为反击：“我站在这里，别无选择。” 曾经，沃尔姆斯城是他受到起诉的现场🎬。然而今天，这个城市对于那场“罪行”反而感到无比自豪。
like a painting.
仿佛一张画卷。