A Visit to Harbin

I had been looking forward to visiting Harbin for a long time. About two years ago my long cherished wish（夙愿）finally came true.

　　It was in winter. I arrived at Harbin after a long journey by train. As soon as I got off the train， I met with my first problem——it was too difficult for me to breathe. The air was just too cold. We stayed at my grandma's. When I entered the house， I noticed that every room had double windows， double doors and double walls. They told me that these were all used to keep out the cold. Refrigerators did not seem very useful here [in Harbin] （1） because it is like a big natural ice-box outside in winter. So every family just uses its balcony （阳台） as a sort of refrigerator. It is said that people in Harbin value natural resources very much. They make full use of them at any time. Maybe the natural “icebox” is just one case.

　　Though it was a real winter outside， in my opinion （2）， it was summer inside——just one shirt was enough， because heating equipment was used in every family. As it was so hot [warm] （3） and dry inside， fruits and ice-creams were thought to be important. Among them frozen pears and persimmons （柿子） were so delicious that I could never forget [them] （4）。 It may be hard to believe that we ate ice-creams in Harbin， a city of ice. But it is really common and you can find many cold drink and snack stalls （小吃摊） in the streets. They are very popular.

　　Another problem I met with was eating. Most families in Harbin just have two meals a day——one is breakfast and the other is supper. At noon they only have some bread and milk just as Russians do. At first I didn't know their habit [customs] （5）。 I felt so hungry at noon. So do remember： if you go to Harbin， make sure you have more than enough food for breakfast or you'll be hungry at noon.

　　What impressed me most during my stay in Harbin was Snow Carving Show（雪雕展）and Ice Lantern Show（冰灯展）。 At the Snow Carving Show you could see many vivid items of snow——some battle heroes， Venus（维纳斯）and even White House. They were all made of snow——white， soft and lively. At night， it was time to see the Ice Lantern Show. Once you came into the show place， you seemed to be living in an iceworld. Ice houses， ice figures， ice temples…everything was made of ice. You would find yourself in a fairyland（仙境）。 The light——colorful， sparkling——made it more splendid（壮观）。 While walking in the ice world， you would wonder at these masterpieces from all over the world（6）。

　　What a nice holiday！ In my opinion Harbin is the best place for winter holidays.

　　安徽省合肥一中高二（4）班 贺佳

　　评 语

　　游记是记叙文的一种重要形式。但是，英语游记是比较难写的，因为游记不仅需要记叙，往往还需要描述和评说，对于英语词汇有限的中学生来说要同时做好这几点是不容易的。这篇游记既有详略有致的叙述，又有恰到好处的评说，写得生动有趣，富有信息量，让没有到过哈尔滨的人了解了许多哈尔滨的事。同时，语言运用也较好，特别是动词时态的层次掌握得较好。文章中某些语言上的不足之处点评修改如下：

　　（1）由于这是回忆，仅用here，似乎让人有空间错位的感觉，加上in Harbin，或仅用in Harbin为好。

　　（2）这里in my opinion似乎是多余的。

　　（3）hot有些过分了，改用warm为好。

　　（4）加上them从语义和结构上来说都要好一些。

　　（5）根据Longman词典，habit一般指个人的习惯，如指社团或许多人的习惯，要用custom.

　　（6）这里的from all over the world有些令人费解，冰灯展品来自世界各地？