West Lake, over in Zhejiang province, is synonymous with Hangzhou. Slender West Lake, on the other hand, is an entirely different kettle of fish. For after just 1 and a half hours’ drive from Nanjing, or 40 minutes on the train, followed by a 10-minute taxi ride, and still within our own Jiangsu Province, you will find yourself in Yangzhou Slender West Lake.
浙江省的西湖是杭州的代名词。 另一方面，Slender West Lake是一个完全不同的鱼缸。 从南京开车只需1个半小时，或者坐火车40分钟，然后打车10分钟，仍然在我们自己的江苏省内，你会发现自己在扬州斯莱德西湖。
Nanjing’s neighbouring city of Yangzhou is stereotypically famed for two things; pretty ladies and fried rice. While slender is a term that could be applied to both the aforementioned, we were here for the lake, plus the surprise that it was for this correspondent to learn that hot spas are also a local delicacy.
南京的鄰近城市揚州以兩件事而聞名；美女和炒飯。 虽然“苗条”是一个可以适用于上述两个术语，但我们来这里是为了湖，而且令人惊讶的是，这位记者得知温泉也是当地的美食。
The Slender West Lake Hot Spring Resort is one of many that dot the scenic area. For one night, ¥1,500 buys you a private retreat that features two double bedrooms, two bathrooms, spacious lounge, an enormous magical flatscreen TV, and the pièce de résistance, a completely enclosed courtyard featuring a plunge pool fed by waters from within the Earth’s crust. Simply turn on the hot tap, wait 3 hours until the pool is full and the digital thermometer reads 39 degrees, then take the plunge, nude if so the heart desires.
纤细的西湖温泉度假村是众多景点之一。 一晚，1500日元可以为您购买一个私人度假胜地，该度假胜地包括两间双人卧室、两间浴室、宽敞的休息室、一台巨大的神奇平板电视和pièce de résistance，一个完全封闭的庭院，有一个由地壳内的水供水的小型游泳池。 只需打开热水龙头，等待3个小时，直到游泳池装满，数字温度计读数为39度，然后大胆尝试，如果心脏愿意的话，就裸体。
The resort utilises the thermal energy of the hot spring to heat all tap water too, employing a tubular heat exchanger, that makes for satisfying carbon zero shower.
度假村还利用温泉的热能来加热所有自来水，采用管状热交换器，可以提供令人满意的零碳淋浴。
Also included in the price, access to a large outdoor swimming pool; but with our visit in July, it was shade, not sun, that we sought. Much more of interest are the resort’s 30 outdoor plunge pools, each with different medicinal healing properties. From arthritis to menstruation, there’s literally a pool for everyone.
价格中还包括一个大型室外游泳池；但当我们7月份的访问时，我们寻求的是阴凉处，而不是阳光。 更令人感兴趣的是度假村的30个户外小型游泳池，每个小型游泳池都有不同的药用治疗特性。 从关节炎到月经，每个人都有一个游泳池。
With our back pain dispelled and generally smug feelings of wellness, it is literally just a step across Changchun Lu to the east gate of the Slender West Lake Scenic Area.
随着我们的背痛被消除，总体上自鸣得意的健康感，从字面上看，穿过长春路到斯伦德西湖景区的东门只需一步。
With weeping willows entirely surround its snaking waters, the number 24 is a big deal for Yangzhou and her Slender West Lake. During Emperor Qian Long’s reign of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 CE), the lake became well known for 24 scenic spots. The best known of all is 24 Bridge (pictured), named as a nod to its 24 parapets and 24 steps. The Five Pavillion Bridge, therefore, also needs no further introduction.
垂柳完全环绕着它的蛇水，数字24对扬州和她的纤细西湖来说很重要。 在清朝（公元1644-1911年）的钱龙皇帝统治期间，这个湖以24个景点而闻名。 最著名的是24桥（如图），因其24个护栏和24个台阶而得名。 因此，五亭桥也不需要进一步介绍。
Among the rest, tombs for a variety of other emperors, plus the White Lamaist Pagoda, a 28.5-metre-high structure, built, it is said, overnight, in 1784, to welcome an inspection tour by Emperor Qian Long. The structure, that is also reminiscent of the White Pagoda in Beijing’s Beihai Park, gives away its religious influence through architecture more akin to that found in China’s far west.
在其余的中，还有其他各种皇帝的陵墓，加上白喇嘛派塔，一座高28.5米的建筑，据说建于1784年一夜之间，以迎接前龙皇帝的视察之旅。该建筑也让人联想到北京北海公园的白塔，通过建筑更像中国遥远的西方建筑，散发出其宗教影响。
The Emperor was so impressed with his visit to Yangzhou that he declared it a favourite retreat, endowing the city with stipend after stipend on account of his luck fishing in Slender West Lake. Little did he know, the best local underwater swimmers had been recruited to dive beneath the Emperor’s boat and impale fish on to his hooks.
皇帝对扬州的访问印象深刻，他宣布这是他最喜欢的度假胜地，由于他在斯莱德西湖钓鱼的幸运，他给这座城市一个又一个的津贴。 他不知道，当地最好的水下游泳运动员被招募到皇帝的船下潜水，把鱼刺到他的钩子上。
It is gems such as this that therein lie the charm of Yangzhou. The city was, historically, one of the wealthiest in China, and up there with the best as regards links with the outside world. A major port for foreign trade since the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), with many an Arab and Persian merchant within the then city walls, in the 7th century, Yangzhou’s only chink in her armour is the massacre, in the thousands, of many of the aforementioned in 760 during the An Lushan Rebellion.
正是这样的宝石是扬州的魅力所在。 从历史上看，这座城市是中国最富有的城市之一，在与外界的联系方面，这座城市位居其中。 自唐朝（公元618-907年）以来，作为外贸的主要港口，当时城墙内有许多阿拉伯和波斯商人，在7世纪，扬州唯一的武器缺口是760年安禄山叛乱期间，上述许多人被屠杀，有数千人。
Despite the atrocities, the city’s reputation beguiles itself. Known at various periods for its great merchant families, poets, artists and scholars, it was only in 590 CE that the city began to be known as Yangzhou, the traditional name of what was then the entire southeastern part of China.
尽管发生了暴行，但这座城市的声誉仍然自我而却。 这座城市在不同时期以其伟大的商人家族、诗人、艺术家和学者而闻名，直到公元590年，这座城市才开始被称为扬州，这是当时整个中国东南部的传统名称。
Just as well then, that the city lives up to its reputation today; its ladies, rice and indeed spas, serving to underscore a metaphor for a notion of great grandeur and historical cultural reference, fit for an emperor.
那么，这座城市今天不负盛名；它的女士、米饭和水疗中心，强调了伟大宏伟和历史文化参考概念的隐喻，适合皇帝。