驻马耳他大使姜江在“风筝节”上的致辞

Remarks by H.E. Ambassador Jiang Jiang at the Kite Festival

2018年5月12日

12 May 2018

尊敬的普雷卡总统，

同学们，朋友们，

早上好！

Your Excellency President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca,

Dear young friends,

很高兴来到美丽的夏宫出席“风筝节”活动。看到这么多朝气蓬勃的面孔和形态各异的风筝，我自己仿佛也重返快乐的童年时光。

I am delighted to come to the beautiful Verdala Palace and join you at the Kite Festival. The youthful faces, your radiant smiles, and the lovely kites of diverse forms in front of us bring back my childhood memories-fond and happy memories of course.

风筝在中国已有两千多年历史，是一种广受民众喜爱的娱乐活动，也曾被用于距离测量、通讯、风向检测等领域。据记载，公元13世纪意大利人马可·波罗从中国将风筝带回欧洲，风筝开始在西方传播，并广泛应用于科学实验，还为飞机的发明提供了灵感。英国著名学者李约瑟在《中国科学技术史》一书中，把风筝列入中华民族向欧洲传播的重大发明之一。因此可以说，风筝是中西文明交流互鉴的使者。

Kites were invented in China some 2,000 years ago. Kite flying is a popular pastime and entertainment for the Chinese. In the ancient past, kites were also used for purposes other than pastime, such as signaling, distance measuring, wind direction monitoring, to name just a few. History has it that in the 13th century Italian traveler and explorer Marco Polo returned to Europa from China with a Chinese kite. It was from then on that kites were made known to Europeans, who began to love, develop and use their own kites not only for fun but also for scientific experiments. More interestingly, kites inspired the invention of airplanes. The Science and Civilization in China, a series of books by the British scientist and historian Joseph Needham, lists the kite as one of the significant Chinese inventions introduced to Europe. I think one may say that the kite has served as an envoy for cultural exchanges between China and the West.

今天应邀参加活动的郭洪利先生，是风筝这一中国国家级非物质文化遗产项目的传承人。我谨代表中国大使馆向远道而来的郭先生表示热烈欢迎，向关心中马文化交流和儿童福利的普雷卡总统，以及组织此次活动的总统社会福利基金会和中国文化中心表示衷心感谢！

We have with us today Mr. Guo Hongli, a Chinese kite-making master. As you may be aware, the art of kite-making has been recognized as China’s national intangible cultural heritage. Mr. Guo is a representative successor of this heritage. On behalf of the Chinese Embassy, I would to extend a warm welcome to Mr. Guo, who has traveled a long way from China for this event. I would like to express my deep gratitude to President Preca for her personal support for cultural exchanges between our two countries and for children’s health and welfare. My sincere thanks also go to the President’s Foundation and the China Cultural Center that have jointly sponsored today’s event.

相信大家一定会度过一个愉快而有意义的上午。祝愿同学们的梦想像风筝一样展翅高飞，祝愿中马友谊像风筝一样乘风翱翔。

I hope and believe that our young friends will have an enjoyable and fruitful morning at the Verdala Palace. May the dreams of our student friends fly high like kites. May China-Malta friendship fly high on the wings of our joint aspirations.

谢谢大家！

Thank you.