“哥德堡號”再次駛進中國

2006年7月18日，中國廣東珠江海濱成千上萬的人正在翹首以待，熱情迎接一艘來自遙遠的北歐風帆貴賓船——哥德堡號。

這艘由瑞典人歷時十年、耗資3000多萬美元、由4000名工程技術人員和志愿者合力打造的仿古商船，在中國領航員的引領下駛進了廣東南沙港碼頭，身穿灰色西裝的瑞典國王卡爾十六世古斯塔夫和身著寶藍色禮服、頭戴寶藍色禮帽的西爾維婭皇后攜手走下舷梯，他們在鮮花彩旗的簇擁下，走過長達20米的紅地毯，首次踏上中國的土地。

261年前的悲壯之旅

早在18世紀30年代，遠在萬里之遙的瑞典王國就開始了與中國的海上商貿往來，瑞典人當時精心打造的哥德堡號Ⅰ號于1738年下水，曾先后三次遠航廣州。它給這座古老的中國南方城市帶來了歐洲的呢絨、皮革、鐘表、珠寶和白銀器具，同時將歐洲喜愛的中國絲綢、茶葉、布匹、瓷器和精美絕倫的東方工藝品運回歐洲。瑞典東印度公司哥德堡號起錨離港開始它的第三次廣州之旅是1743年3月，它在1年零6個月的海上跋涉中，船員們飽受風暴、霍亂、酷熱、海盜襲擾和食物、淡水匱乏的折磨，歷盡艱辛， 終于輾轉抵達廣州黃埔港，1745年1月，休整后的船員們又為這艘風帆船裝載了19箱絲綢、2677箱茶葉、50多萬件精美瓷器、6000多錠鐵錫合金和珍貴人參、藥材、家具、藤器、燒酒、珍珠母等貨物蹣跚地踏上了歸途。1745年9月12日，哥德堡市民一早便來到海岸邊迎候這艘顛簸了8個多月的海上游子歸來。然而就在此時，一件不可思議的事情發生了：哥德堡號航行到離港口只有900米的海面時，不知為什么竟莫名其妙地偏離了航線，一頭闖進了被航海家視為絕地的“漢尼巴丹”礁石區。剎那間，船頭觸礁，船體隨即傾覆，在無數人的驚呼聲中，哥德堡號帶著疲憊的身軀和價值連城的中國財富沉入海底。

關于哥德堡號沉沒的原因，至今仍眾說紛紜：有的說它負荷超重；有的說是船上的許多船員因即將返回祖國海岸高興得喝醉了酒；有的說它在回程中經過南非海面時，因遭遇強烈風暴， 30名水手葬身大海，沖出風暴區后又有16名船員染上了可怕的傳染病而命喪黃泉，所以船到哥德堡港時，船上的水手已經寥寥無幾等等。

事后，船主東印度公司對哥德堡號進行了搶救性打撈，打撈上岸80匹絲綢、30噸茶葉和大量瓷器，拍賣所得竟然足夠支付哥德堡號廣州之行的全部成本，而且還獲利14%。不過船上還有300多噸茶葉留在海底，難怪后人寫道：“漢尼巴丹海域從此變成了世界上最大的茶碗！”

數年后，瑞典東印度公司哥德堡號Ⅱ號建成下水，然而它又沉沒在南非海域。1813年瑞典東印度公司終于關閉，于是哥德堡號的一切神奇經歷便永遠留在了人們的記憶中。

240年的茶葉依然沁人心脾

1984年，瑞典的一次民間考古活動，意外地發現了沉睡在漢尼巴丹水域的哥德堡Ⅰ號殘骸，潛水員安德斯第一次躍入冰冷的水中，一經潛入海底，那布滿海底的碎瓷片頓時把他驚呆了，同時他又驚奇地發現散落海底的貨物箱，有許多竟然完好無損！

瑞典據此當即進行海上科考發掘工作，在將近十年的時間里，共打撈出400多件完整的瓷器和9噸多瓷器殘片。當我們在越秀山鎮海樓廣州博物館細細觀賞這些出水瓷器和碎瓷片時，我們的心跳驟然加快了：那出自清朝康、雍、乾三代藝人高手的瓷器，工藝是那樣的精美，圖案色彩是那樣艷麗，不由得讓人嘆為觀止！

更為令人驚嘆的是展品中居然還有和瓷器一同出水的茶葉，這些茶葉雖然顏色已不很鮮亮，但據曾品嘗過這200多年前陳茶的瑞典文化部長比吉特·弗雷雅布夫人介紹：這種陳茶有著特殊的清香，沁人心脾，這真是匪夷所思！

發掘催生了世紀之夢

憑借歷時十年的海上打撈和發掘，哥德堡號260多年的傳奇經歷再次激發了瑞典人不盡的懷念和遐想：18世紀的光輝篇章今天還能延續和譜寫嗎？1993年，瑞典新東印度公司掛牌成立，公司決策者當即拍板：我們將以哥德堡Ⅰ號為原型，再造一艘哥德堡Ⅲ號，它將沿著前人的航跡，揚帆破浪，再駛中國廣州，以重現當年的海上絲綢之旅！

再造哥德堡號愿望很美好，但是制造資金卻大得驚人：據初步估算，重新打造哥德堡號需要3億瑞典克郎(約3億人民幣)，完成整個航行計劃還需要2億克郎。這個愿望雖然耗資巨大，且短期內還看不到盈利的前景，但哥德堡人看中的是其背后的深遠意義和長遠效益。哥德堡市第一副市長芮德凱在接受中國記者采訪時說：“我深信這個項目對中國人民是極具吸引力的，同時最重要的是，它是瑞典和中國之間的橋梁，這個項目能使我們更多地了解中國，中國人也可以更多地了解瑞典。”

這個以造船工業稱雄世界的國家，沒有想到復制一艘260年前的木桅仿古帆船，竟然比建造一艘現代化萬噸巨輪要困難得多：沒有原始設計圖紙，設計師們不得不借鑒海底沉船殘骸和僅有的文史資料摸索繪制；為了確保21世紀的仿古帆船萬無一失，哥德堡Ⅲ號又需要盡可能在保持哥德堡I號原貌的情況下，巧妙調整船艙布局，增加現代的推進裝置、電力供應設備和現代人的生活、醫療設施。

經過十年的艱辛努力，一艘長58.5米、寬11米、深9米、主桅桿高47米、排水量1250噸、壓載400噸的哥德堡Ⅲ號以它矯健的英姿出現在人們視野中。它外形酷似它的前輩哥德堡Ⅰ號，所不同的是老船額定載員140名，新船設定80名；老船裝備的30門大炮主要用于驅趕海盜，而新船上的大炮則用于施放禮炮。

重走海上絲綢之路

2003年6月6日，哥德堡Ⅲ號在瑞典名城哥德堡市新地船廠成功下水，瑞典國王卡爾十六世——哥德堡Ⅲ號建造項目的監護人與瑞典皇室成員一起出席了盛大的下水典禮；2004年9月3日，瑞典王國西爾維婭王后作為新船的教母，為其命名祝福。王后將原稱的哥德堡Ⅲ號正式命名為哥德堡號；2005年10月2日，哥德堡號從哥德堡港起錨，沿著“海上絲路”的軌跡，揚帆遠航，駛向260多年前曾經多次造訪過的中國。10萬哥德堡市民和各國游客像趕集一樣從四面八方涌向碼頭，向哥德堡號揮手告別。海軍炮臺發禮炮送行，無數航海愛好者駕著帆船、游艇，如眾星拱月一般，在長鳴的汽笛中一直將哥德堡號送到出海口。

哥德堡號乘風破浪一路前行，途經西班牙的加迪斯港、巴西累西腓、南非開普敦，繞道駭浪滔天的好望角，穿越浩瀚的印度洋，取道澳大利亞的弗里曼特爾和印尼首都雅加達，歷經19600海里的漫漫航程和290個日日夜夜，終于在2006年7月18日順利抵達廣州南沙港。

哥德堡號的遠航，其意義早已超過哥德堡市和廣州市之間的城際友好交往，它成了紀念中瑞兩國建交55周年的外交盛事，中國政府和瑞典政府都非常重視這次海上絲綢之路的復航，歡迎儀式級別定為國家級。

哥德堡號在廣州的一個月時間里，廣州市政府為其舉辦了一系列紀念活動：盛大的歡迎儀式、紀念雕塑落成揭幕、白鵝潭龍舟競渡、“哥德堡號與廣州”大型圖片展、雙邊貿易關系研討會、“海上絲綢之路”紀念廣場和哥德堡號訪問廣州紀念碑奠基典禮、中瑞國際海洋文化節等等。

直至8月19日，哥德堡號才在熱情的羊城人民戀戀不舍的目光中緩緩離開廣州洲頭咀碼頭，前往中國之旅的第二站——遠東最大的國際大都市上海。離開中國時，好客的中國人民為哥德堡號準備了珍貴的禮品：特制的一百壇高級茶葉、留著當年濃濃茶香的古徽道石板、產自中國云南的野生古茶樹制成的普洱茶、融合了“三雕、一彩、一繡”工藝的一座中式仿古船、100套精美的紫砂茶具等等，至于船員自己采購的物品，更是不計其數。

2006年11月2日哥德堡號停靠浙江舟山，舟山各界盛情歡迎和款待了來自瑞典的友好使者。哥德堡號滿載著中國人民的深情厚誼踏上回家之路時，沿途還將停靠中國香港、澳門。

Gotheborg Revisits China

On July 18， 2006， thousands of people flocked to the Nansha Port in Guangzhou in southern China’s Guangdong Province. They were there to cheer the arrival of the unique Gotheborg， the namesake predecessor of which paid its last visit to Guangzhou in 1744 and did not have a chance to come back.

If it was not the first voyage the Swedish ship took to China， then it was the first royal visit of the Swedish King and Queen to the city. After eight deafening cannon shots， Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia walked down the ship’s steps along a red carpet and set foot on the land of China.

As early as the 1730s， Sweden started to trade with China. The Gotheborg I， launched to the sea in 1738 and one of the fleet under the banner of the Swedish East India Company， took three voyages to Guangzhou， bringing woolen cloth， leather， timepieces， pearls， and silverware to China and shipping China’s silk， tea， fabric， porcelain， and artifacts to Europe.

The third voyage to Guangzhou started in March 1743. After a journey of one year and six months full of untold hardships， it arrived at the Huangpu Port， Guangzhou. In January， 1745， the ship was ready for the home voyage， with a full cargo of 19 cases of silk， 2，677 cases of tea， more than 500，000 porcelains， 6，000 ingots of iron-zinc alloy as well as ginseng and other herbal medicines， furniture， rattans， wine and pearls.

On September 12， 1745， the citizens of Gothenburg， Sweden flocked to the port to welcome the return of the ship. At just about 900 meters away from the port， the ship veered inexplicably off the route and ran into rocks and sank with all the wealth.

There were hypotheses about the sinking of the Gotheborg. Some said the ship was overloaded; some guessed that the ship crew got drunk and mishandled the ship; some concluded that the ship was seriously understaffed after dozens of sailors perished in a storm on its way back to Sweden.

The East India Company salvaged 80 bolts of silk， 30 tons of tea and a lot of porcelains from the wrecked ship. The rest of the cargo was lost. After an auction， however， the company was able to cover all the costs and cashed an unexpected 14 percent profit.

A few years later， the Swedish East India Company built the Gotheborg II， but the ship was wrecked near South Africa. In 1813， the company was closed， leaving the Gotheborg stories in people’s memory.

In 1984， a diver found the sunken Gotheborg I by accident. The following salvage project lasted nearly 10 years and more than 400 porcelains kept intact were salvaged and more than 9 tons of porcelain shards were scooped up. Today， some porcelain shards and tea from the wrecked ship are on display in Guangzhou Museum.

The archaeological findings of the Gotheborg I inspired the Swedish people. Could the glory of the 18th century come back today? The new East India Company， which came into being in 1993， decided to build the Gotheborg III on the basis of the prototype so that the new ship would follow the Silk Road on the sea all the way to Guangzhou.

The new ship would cost nearly 300 million Swedish Kronor and the whole voyage would cost another 200 million. It would be an investment with no predictable monetary return. However， the company decided to go ahead with the project. The King supervised over the building of the ship.

Rebuilding the Gotheborg proved no easy task for the country’s powerful shipbuilding industry. It was more difficult than to build a modern ship. With no available drawings of the original ship， designers had to study the wreck and the historical archive to reproduce a blueprint. To ensure the seaworthiness of the ship， the structure was readjusted inside to install a modern propulsion system， an electricity system and medical instruments.

After ten years?hard work， the Gotheborg III came into being. The replica ship measures 58.5 meters in length， 11 meters in width， 9 meters in depth， and the mainmast 47 meters in height. The 1，250 tonnage ship carries a ballast of 400 tons. The ship looks like the old one in appearance， but the crew is reduced from 140 to 80 and the cannons are designed to fire salutation， not to fight pirates.

The new Gotheborg III was launched on June 6， 2003. A gala ceremony was held in Gothenburg， attended by the Swedish royal family. On September 3， 2004， Queen Silvia， as godmother of the ship， christened the ship as Gotheborg officially. The ship set sail to China on October 2， 2005. One hundred thousands of Gothenburg residents and foreign tourists waved goodbye to the sailing ship on its maiden voyage.

The voyage was more than an event of friendship between Gothenburg and Guangzhou. It was a diplomatic celebration to mark the 55th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between China and Sweden. The two governments gave first priority to the event. All the welcome ceremonies were held at the state level.

The Gotheborg stayed in Guangzhou for a month. A series of events and activities were staged to celebrate the revisit of the Gotheborg. The ship then left Guangzhou on August 19， 2006 for Shanghai， carrying precious gifts from Guangzhou people.

On its way to Shanghai， the ship docked at Zhoushan on October 2， where it received warm welcome， too.

(Translated by David)