South Africa

Note to readers:  My Chinese friends, Zhu Xiaojian (Julia) and Yixian, recently visited South Africa. Julia’s English is excellent; however, we thought it would be fun to have both the English and Chinese versions.

The Republic of South Africa, located in the most southern point of the African continent, is 122 square kilometers (76 sq. miles) of the land. Except for the north part, South Africa is surrounded by the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean. This area is the most important and busiest sea route in the world. The climate is mild all year round. Our group was told that the average temperature in the capital Pretoria is 17 ℃ (62 F). Because of its beautiful nature scenery, colorful history and multi-racial population, it is called “Rainbow Nation”. English and Afrikaans (African Dutch) are official languages as well as four other local languages.

南非共和国地处非洲大陆的最南端,面积122平方公里。除了北边，她的东、西、南三面被大西洋和印度洋包围，是世界上最重要，最繁忙的水上通道。南非气候比较温和，首都比勒陀利亚年平均气温１７℃。南非共和国因其多姿多彩的自然景观、历史文化和不同肤色的国民和平共处而被称为“彩虹之国”。英语、阿非利卡语和四种方言为官方语言。

South Africa is the only country that has three capitals: administration capital Pretoria, legislation capital Cape Town and the judicial capital Bloemfontein. The president works in these three places. When you see the national flag waving in front of the building, you know that the president is working here today.  Nelson Mandela is much respected in this country. His portrait is seen everywhere. There is a huge statue in front of the palace in Pretoria. Many people come to pay their respect.

南非是世界上唯一同时拥有三个首都的国家：行政首都比勒陀利亚（Pretoria）是南非中央政府所在地；立法首都开普敦（Cape Town）是南非国会所在地和司法首都布隆方丹（Bloemfontein） 为全国司法机构的所在地。总统在这三地轮流办公。总统办公之地，总统府前就会升起国旗。纳尔逊·曼德拉是非常受民众爱戴的前总统。他的肖像随处可见。比勒陀利亚总统府前有一尊他的雕像，很多人前来瞻仰。

We visited The Sun City, a famous leisure and recreation place for local people. It is like a national park with a large casino. Nearby the Sun City is one of the four wild animal protection zones. People can drive into it to see wild animals wandering on grassland. We saw elephants, rhinos, springboks, giraffes, zebras and many wildebeests, which was the spotlight of this trip. How exciting! South Africa does very well in protecting wild animals.

太阳城是首都附近的一个带有赌场的休闲娱乐中心，当地居民常到这儿度假。太阳城附近是比林斯堡动物保护区。游客可以开车进去。沿途可以看到大象、犀牛、羚羊、斑马、长颈鹿和角马自由自在地在草地上游荡。这是此次旅行的亮点之一。南非在动物保护方面做得相当不错。

We toured the capital in the van, so we did not see much of the capital. At five o’clock in the afternoon, the streets were deserted. The sun did not set before eight, but no activities were arranged in the evening. On Sunday many people go to church and some have their tribe rituals outdoors.

在首都我们都是坐在车上，因而只是走马观花。尽管太阳到8点才下山，可是到了下午五点钟，街上基本上就没人行走了，我们晚上也没有安排任何活动。周日上午，很多人会到教堂做礼拜，也有一些人就在户外举行他们自己的宗教活动。

The next day, after visiting a diamond processing plant, we flew to the second largest city in South Africa — Cape Town. Waters of Atlantic and Indian Ocean join here. In early history, ships of the East India Company journeyed to the east and stopped here for supplies before continuing to the east. In 1652, the Dutch built the first port and supply station, a castle called Good Hope and later a settlement. Gradually, it became the largest city before gold and diamond were found in Johannesburg, which became the largest city and administrative capital. But Cape Town is still called the “Mother City”.

第二天，参观过一家著名的钻石加工厂之后，我们飞往南非的第二大城市 – 开普敦，印度洋和大西洋交汇之处。早期，东印度公司驶往东方的船只必须停靠在此补充给养。1652年，荷兰在开普敦建了第一个码头和补给站，还建了一个叫做“好希望”的城堡，并逐步发展成一个定居点。开普敦早年是南非的第一大城市，直到后来约翰内斯堡发现了金矿和钻石矿并发展起来后，才退居第二。

This city is famous for its beautiful port, sandy beaches and scenery. Many people come here for their holiday. The most famous spot is The Table of God, the Table Mountain. It stands by the sea with a flat mountain top for people to walk around and have a spectacular bird’s eye view of the Table Port below. At the end of the peninsula, stands the oldest lighthouse on top of the Cape of Good Hope. Breathtaking waves flap the rocks with seas of white foams. No wonder it was crowned the most dangerous water in the world.

开普敦有美丽的港口，沙滩和自然风光。很多人到这儿来度假。最有名的景点是矗立在海边的“桌山”，顶上有几公里的平台可供游人行走，因而也被称为“上帝的餐桌”。从山上可以俯瞰桌港及周边的城市，很壮观。半岛的末端就是好望角，山上耸立着最早的灯塔。翻滚着白色泡沫的巨浪拍打着海边的岩石，激起几米高的浪花。难怪这儿被誉为世界上最危险的水域。

Yixian taking photos of the vineyards

Lush vineyards along the wine route

With the mild climate and rich soil, South Africa is one of the six famous grape planting areas, which brew 3% of the wine in the world. There are many wine chateaus along the Wine Route. In 1688, persecuted Huguenot Christians left their homeland immigrating to South Africa with their advanced brewing skill. Driving along the road, hills of grape yards, rivers, lakes and red-roofed European houses composed a lyric nature symphony. The most recommended is Franschhoek Vine Valley. We were inebriated,  not only by the tasty wine, but, also by the beautiful landscape made by hard-working people. The city is kept clean and neat.

Ostrich farm

While there, we also visited the botanic garden and ostrich farm.

All of us feel like staying in this country for long. But in deep, there is still much room to improve.

由于气候温和，土壤肥沃，南非是世界上六大葡萄产地之一。世界上3%的葡萄酒出自南非。行走在风景秀丽的南非酒庄之路上，道路两旁漫山遍野的葡萄园、山谷，河流湖泊、欧式风格的红房顶酒庄构成了一幅幅怡人的田园交响诗。1688年，欧洲受到迫害的胡格诺特派基督徒大举迁徙到南非，也带来他们先进的酿酒技术。他们经营的葡萄酒园被称为“法国之角”，这就是今天“Franschhoek” 小镇的由来。勤劳的人们将小镇打理得干净整齐，游人们陶醉在美酒和美景中，流连忘返。

开普敦的国家植物园和鸵鸟园也很值得一游。

游玩的时间过得真快，还有许多景点没有参观到。但同时也在心里希望南非的明天会更好。

Julia and Yixian’s tour was arranged by China Comfort Travel.

About the Author:

Zhu Xiaojian taught English at the university in Fuzhou, China. She also briefly lived in the U.S. to learn English and become familiar with the American culture. She is the co-author of Walk Beijing. When I lived and taught English in Fuzhou (1996-97) Zhu and I became close friends. She did her best to teach me Mandarin. We never lost contact with each other. In 2007, I called Zhu and asked her if she would like to co-author a guidebook to Beijing. In August of that year, we joined forces to live in Beijing and write what became Walk Beijing.  She is an incredible person and I am honored to be her friend.