西雙版納的建筑

圖、文/Nathan Pelton（蘇平，美國） 譯/張佳藝

景洪市最大寺廟的入口處的龍Dragons flanking the entrance to the largest temple in Jinghong

曼聽御花園公園的白塔The white pagoda in the Manting Yuhuayuan Park

苦學中文的人難免有意無意地聽說過西雙版納。對我來說，這是我的第一本中文會話課本中的一課，課文中有李先生游覽中國景點的相關對話。西雙版納因其豐富多元的文化、近乎完美的天氣和眾多的少數民族，被譽為國內頂級旅游勝地之一。

我的第一次西雙版納之旅是在十多年前。在那次旅行中，我大部分時間都是與傣族和哈尼族人一起度過的。我拜訪了一些村莊，品嘗了一些美味，也開始理解西雙版納文化融合的魅力。

游覽臨近的東南亞國家時，我品味著那里的食物，體味著那里的習俗、建筑和文化。但旅行結束時，我迫不及待回到中國，這個被我視作第二故鄉的地方。西雙版納則兼具中國與東南亞風情，中國文化和東南亞文化、食物與建筑在這里水乳交融。

2022年，我在西雙版納花了整整一天時間參觀城市周圍的各個寺廟和公園，拍攝建筑帶來的影響力。朝拜場所滿是有象征意義的設計細節，有巧奪天工的瓷磚和壁畫，有外表鍍金的柱子，有雕梁畫棟的天花板裝飾，有精雕細刻的屋頂線條。這些細節在彼此交融時太容易被忽視了，但拍攝這些場所和這里的動植物讓我對西雙版納建筑中蘊含的豐富文化有了新的認識。

For those who have endeavored to learn Chinese, they will have inevitably heard of Xishuangbanna. For me, it was in one of the lessons found in my very first conversational Chinese textbook. It appeared in the conversation with Mr. Li about places to visit in China. It is considered one of the top domestic tourist destinations for its rich culture, near-perfect weather, and countless minority groups.

My first trip to Xishuangbanna was more than a decade ago, and on that trip, I spent most of my time with the Dai and Hani minority groups.I visited villages and tasted some of the most amazing foods. On that first trip, I started to understand the draw of Xishuangbanna’s blended cultures.

While visiting neighboring Southeast Asian countries, I appreciated their food, customs, architecture, and culture - but at the end of the trip, I was eager to return to China, the place I now consider home. Xishuangbanna is the best of both worlds as it offers Chinese culture with a unique blend of Southeast Asian cultures, food, and architecture.

Last year in Xishuangbanna, I spent one day just visiting different temples and parks around the city, photographing the architectural influences. Places of worship are packed full of symbolic details - detailed tile work, murals, gold-encrusted pillars, ceiling ornamentation, and carefully crafted roof lines. These details are too easily overlooked as they start to mix, but taking time to photograph these sites and the flora and fauna of the area gave me a new appreciation for the richness of cultural influences found in Xishuangbanna’s architecture.

一座橋的屋頂The roof of a bridge

具有明顯東南亞風格的佛像建筑The architecture of Buddha is distinctly Southeast Asian

西雙版納總佛寺的一個古老的入口An ancient entrance into Xishuangbanna’s General Buddhist Temple

隱藏在曼聽御花園熱帶森林中的眾多寺廟之一One of the multiple temples hiding in the Manting Yuhuayuan Park’s tropical forest

寺廟內部懸掛著的彩帶Ribbons hanging from a temple interior

精美的寺廟塑像Exquisite temple statues

受游客歡迎的熱門景點——白塔The popular spot for tourists—The white pagoda