今年上半年，甘肃三木自行车博物馆吸引了超90万游客前来参观体验。2019年初，67岁的兰州本地收藏家柴林从日本、意大利、英国和荷兰等多国收集了1300多辆古董自行车，建成这座博物馆并正式免费向公众开放。
游客通过博物馆内的VR、BIM等高科技装备可以了解到古董自行车的结构和历史，还有不少去过的网友说在这里找到了“童年的滋味”。
[Photo/Xinhua]
How many bicycles do you need in your life? For 67-year-old Chai Lin, the answer is 1,300 and counting.
你一生中需要多少辆自行车？对于67岁的柴林来说，答案是1300辆，而且还在继续增加。
Bicycles were first introduced into China in the 19th century. During the past several decades, they have evolved from a symbol of wealth to a common means of transportation.
自行车最早是在19世纪传入中国的。在过去的几十年中，它们已经从财富的象征演变为一种普通的交通工具。
Chai's obsession with bicycles dates back to the 1960s when he saw some people riding the two-wheeled vehicle in his home city of Lanzhou, capital of Northwest China's Gansu province.
柴林对自行车的痴迷开始于上世纪60年代，当时他在家乡兰州（中国甘肃省省会）看到一些人骑着两轮自行车。
"They were like flying on the streets, and my heart went flying with them," recalled Chai. Since then, he dreamt of owning a bike.
“他们就像在街上飞翔，我的心也跟着他们一起飞翔，”柴林回忆道。从那时起，他梦想拥有一辆自行车。
为梦想存钱
However, in that era of scarcity, a bicycle was still a luxury for ordinary Chinese. Even when Chai started working in 1979, earning more than many of his peers, he had to cut back on other expenditures for at least four months before he could save up for a domestic bicycle.
然而，在那个物资匮乏的年代，对于中国老百姓来说自行车仍是奢侈品。柴林1979年开始工作时，虽然他的收入比许多同龄人都多，但他也不得不省吃俭用四个月，才攒够钱买一辆自己的自行车。
To get enough money sooner, Chai made use of his talent in calligraphy and painting - a skill he started to learn from 6 years old - by selling artworks on the street.
为了尽快挣到买自行车的钱，柴林凭借自己的才能在街上摆摊卖书法和绘画作品。他从6岁就开始学习书法和绘画。
Thanks to all the efforts and "crowd-funding" in his family, Chai got his first bike, a British-made Raleigh, at the price of 880 yuan ($136) in 1980.
凭借着自己的努力和家人的“众筹”，柴林在1980年以880元的价格买下了他的第一辆自行车，一辆英国制造的兰令牌自行车。
The whole family treasured the bicycle. Chai's mother made a dust-proof "coat" for it, and Chai cherished it so much that he was even reluctant to ride it.
全家人都很珍视这辆自行车。柴妈妈为它做了一件防尘“外套”，柴林太喜爱这辆车了，他甚至不愿意骑它。
After becoming a businessman years later and earning enough to buy fancy motorbikes and cars, Chai's passion for bikes, however, didn't dwindle at all. He began to collect bikes of various brands and ages, especially antiques, from around the world through auctions and other means.
几年后柴林成为一名商人，赚了足够的钱购买高档摩托车和汽车，然而，他对自行车的热情丝毫没有减弱。他开始通过拍卖和其他方式从世界各地收集各种品牌和年代的自行车，尤其是古董自行车。
The collecting experience is exciting, but it can also be "drudgery" sometimes, he said, especially when time differences forced him to attend online auctions overseas in the wee hours in China.
他说，收藏自行车很开心，但有时也可能是“苦差事”，尤其出于时差原因，他不得不在凌晨时分在中国参加海外在线拍卖的时候。
"I had to keep clicking with my mouse every time I made a bid. I clicked all night, and my fingers got numb," he said.
他说：“每次出价时，我就要点鼠标。我点了一整夜，手指都麻了。”
"Fortunately, I was young at that time and could endure it."
“还好当时我还年轻，还扛得住。”
Hard-won items have brought Chai immense satisfaction, but many people around him didn't think so. Some friends say Chai bought nothing more than a pile of scrap metal, while others think he was blowing money on nonsense.
来之不易的自行车给柴林带来了巨大的满足感，但他周围的许多人并不认同。一些朋友说柴林买了一堆破铜烂铁，其他人则认为他在浪费钱。
But he was never swayed by those cynical comments. In his eyes, the bikes he collected are also showcasing the development of global industrial civilization.
但他从未被这些冷嘲热讽影响。在他看来，他收集的自行车也展示了全球工业文明的发展。
For example, he said, Japan-made bicycles have witnessed the process of standardization of Japanese craft production. Strict specifications apply to every part of a bike, ranging from a 4-millimeter screw to a wheel and a tire, he said.
柴林说，例如日本制造的自行车见证了日本工艺生产标准化的过程。从4毫米螺丝到车轮和轮胎，自行车上的每个零件都有严格的规格。
Chai has collected nearly 100 Japanese bikes, noting that they are the "darlings" of bike collectors globally.
柴林收集了近100辆日本自行车，他说它们是全球自行车收藏家的“宠儿”。
With his collection growing, there was no space big enough to keep it. In 2009, with the support of the Gansu provincial government, he invested 200 million yuan for a museum just for his bikes.
随着他的藏品不断增加，没有足够大的空间来存放。2009年，在甘肃省政府的支持下，他投资2亿元修建了一座自行车博物馆。
[Photo/Xinhua]
热爱
After 10 years' efforts, the Gansu Sanmu Bicycle Museum, located in Chengguan district of Lanzhou, finally opened to the public in January 2019 free of charge.
经过10年的努力，位于兰州城关区的甘肃三木自行车博物馆终于于2019年1月免费向公众开放。
With an area of 18,659 square meters, the museum stores not only bikes, some 200 years old, but also some 13,500 bike-related accessories, manuscripts, books and photos.
博物馆占地18659平方米，不仅收藏了自行车（有的自行车有200多年历史），还收藏了13500件自行车相关配件、手稿、书籍和照片。
The museum has been designated as an off-campus research center for local primary and middle school students and is also popular with tourists. In the first half of 2021 alone, it received more than 900,000 tourists.
这座博物馆被指定为当地中小学生校外研学基地，也深受游客欢迎。仅在2021年上半年，就接待90多万游客。
Chai has constantly upgraded the facilities inside the museum, equipping it with state-of-the-art technology. For example, a VR installation is available for visitors to experience the feeling of riding on different types of bikes.
柴先生不断更新博物馆内的设施，为博物馆配备最先进的技术。例如，虚拟现实装置可供游客体验骑不同类型自行车的感觉。
Due to limited space, a large part of Chai's collection is not yet exhibited and has to be stored in the warehouse, driving him to improve the museum.
由于空间有限，柴林的大部分藏品尚未展出，必须存放在仓库中，这促使他改进博物馆。
"Bikes carry unique and precious memories of our generation. I hope to expand the scale of the displaying area of the museum and provide a comfortable 'home' for my bikes," he said.
他说：“自行车承载着我们这一代人独特而珍贵的记忆。我希望扩大博物馆展示区的规模，为我的自行车提供一个舒适的‘家’。”
来源：Xinhua
编辑：董静
