中国新年-天下奇观 打树花 (听力天天练，今日6分钟）
I travelled west of Beijing to a town which has preserved
one of China's most extraordinary ancient light shows.
If you want to see a centuries-old slice of China, Nuanquan is a good place to start.
Its name means warm spring town
and it's called that because it has a geothermal spring which never freezes,
a bonus really here in the winter when the temperature dropped to minus 20 degrees.
Because of this, Nuanquan has been inhabited for over 20,000 years
and much of what you can see here dates back to the Ming Dynasty,
and it's over 500 years old.
But it is not just these ancient buildings I've come to see.
I'm here because Nuanquan is a place
where some of China's oldest New Year traditions have also been perfectly preserved.
One of the most spectacular and the most dangerous of them is called Dashuhua
which basically means creating a canopy of flowers.
A canopy of flowers made from flying shards of molten metal.
This tradition was started here 500 years ago as a cheap alternative to fireworks by a blacksmith like Mr Xue.
His family have been blacksmiths here in Nuanquan for an incredible 14 generations
and he is the last in a long line of Dashuhua masters.
The tradition has been that the art is passed down from fathers to sons,
and Mr Mr Xue has two daughters.
Who's next? Who is gonna take over from you?
Creating a light show out of molten iron is a dangerous business,
but Mr Xue has agreed to show me how it is done.
The molten iron has been cooking for about 45 minutes and it is looking pretty hot
but, before we let any sparks fly, Mr Xue has to get into protective clothing.
If you think he is going to don a full asbestos suit with some goggles and helmets, think again.
Ready to go in the most flammable protective gear I've ever seen,
Mr. Xue gives me my first ever demonstration of Dashuhua.
That was a small-scale demonstration,
if you want to see the full version
you've got to go inside tonight into the theatre.
Traditionally, Dashuhua was performed outside,
but the demand is so big today that a specially built venue packs in 1,500 each night.
The old city walls have been recreated
and throwing molten iron onto those ancient walls
was where Mr. Xue's forefathers invented the art.
The dancing and singing are just the warm up before the massive Dashuhua finale.
And now for Mr. Xue's big moment.
Protected only by his grandfather's sheepskin and a straw hat,
Mr. Xue is the eye of a storm of molten metal.
That was amazing. And the effect is beautiful.
I know fireworks have come a long way in 500 years, but for me, Dashuhua still holds its own.
I feel really privileged to have witnessed an ancient tradition performed
by the last of the Dashuhua Masters.
If you want to see what modern day fireworks are capable of,
join me and Ant in Hong Kong in a couple of nights time
when we will be at one of the most spectacular firework displays on earth.
But from fireworks to ice works and these intricate ice sculptures,
all part of an international competition.
This year there are 25 teams competing to take part with ten countries represented.
Mr Sun is an expert who has crafted for the festival in the past.
He's telling us about his tools,
and the a tool like this, the flat one, is for just chip away the other bits.
And this... And this tool is for doing detail, like the fish fins.
He doesn't get cold hands at all.
It's made by his wife!
One thing you will find all over China in the lead up to Spring festival are these, monkeys.
That's because 2016 is the Year of the Monkey,
one of the animals from the Chinese zodiac.
我来到了北京西边的一个小镇来看
中国最非凡而古老的灯光表演之一
如果你想体验下中国百年前的风貌，那么暖泉镇是个不错的开端
暖泉意为温暖的泉水
因为这里有一口永不结冰的地热温泉
冬季温度降到零下20度时，这着实是个福利
人们也因此在暖泉镇生活了2万多年
而你所看到的这些大多可以追溯到明朝时期
足有500多年的历史
我来这里要看的不只是这些古建筑
我来到暖泉镇还因为这里
完好保留了一些中国最古老的新年传统
而其中最为壮观和危险的就是“打树花”
基本上就是要造一顶花冠
一种由飞溅的热熔铁水做的花冠
这项传统起源于500年前的这里，最初是一名薛铁匠做的一种廉价烟花替代品
他的家族在暖泉镇世代为铁匠，至今竟然已传承了14代，这是一连串打树花大师中的最后一位。传统上这技艺是父传子的，而薛先生有两名女儿，可她们谁会继承你的技艺呢？用热熔铁水打出光耀是项危险的行当，但薛先生同意为我展示这一技艺。铁水已经烧了大约45分钟了，看着也非常热了。
但在火花飞溅之前，薛先生需要穿上防护服。如果你觉得他会穿石棉消防服，戴上护镜，头盔的话，那可就错了。薛先生穿好了我所见过的最易燃的护具后，让我生平第一次见到了树花。那只是场小型演示，如果你想看完整版的话，那你就得到今晚的剧院里。
传统上，打树花都是户外进行的。但现在想看的观众太多了，所以专门建了个每晚能容纳一千五百人的剧场。老城墙被复建起来了
铁水就是被抛向这些老城墙
正是薛先生的先祖创造了这项技艺
唱歌跳舞只是暖场而已，大型打树花将最后压轴登场
现在是薛先生的专场特辑了
仅靠祖父留下来的羊皮衣以及草帽
薛先生身处铁水火花的风暴眼之中
那真是惊人。效果真是太美了
我知道烟花已有500的发展历史，但对我来说，打树花仍无可替代
我十分有幸能欣赏到最后一位打树花大师
所表演的这项古老传统
如果你想看现代的烟花有何能耐
那么随我和安特到香港待几晚上
那时将有地球上最为壮观的烟花表演之一
但从烟花到冰“花”，和这些复杂的冰雕
都属于一场国际竞赛
今年有25队代表十个国家来参赛
孙先生是位专家，以前就为冰雪节做过冰雕
他在跟我们说他的工具
而像这样的工具，平的那个是用来铲掉其它冰块的
而这个…这个是来做细部的，比如这些鱼鳞
他的手一点儿都不冷
是他老伴给做的!
临近春节之际，你在全中国都会发现这些，猴子
这是因为2016年是猴年
猴是中国十二生肖之一
