假如给我一支画笔
［越南 ］ 邓蓉 中国地质大学（武汉）
假如给我一支画笔，让我描绘中国，5岁的我会用红色的画笔去画中国。自我记事起，只要周围的人一谈到中国，我就会想到越南随处可见的中餐厅和中国商店。这些地方总是到处都张贴着红色的窗花、红色的对联，店牌下还会挂着一对红色的灯笼。爸爸妈妈跟我说，中国人都喜欢红色，他们觉得红色是幸运的颜色。“噢！红色的中国，我记住了。”
假如给我一支画笔，让我描绘中国，10岁的我会用黄色的画笔去画中国。10岁的时候，我们的学校开设了孔子课堂，我因此有了一个漂亮的中文老师。她会教我们拼音和汉字，还会给我们讲中国的历史故事。从她那里，我知道了中国原来有那么悠久的历史，而黄色在中国历史上可是非常厉害的颜色，中国古代的有些皇帝会穿黄色的衣服，因为黄色是龙的颜色，代表着光明和力量。从她那里，我还认识了一个叫李隆基的皇帝，他当皇帝时，可让中国进入了“开元盛世”，很多国家都派人来中国学习。“噢！黄色的中国，早在千年前就那么厉害了。”
假如给我一支画笔，让我描绘中国，13岁的我会用蓝色的画笔去画中国。2014年的时候，我总在网上看到一些关于中国环境的报道，一些报道说，北京的天是灰色的，他们说那灰灰的东西叫“雾霾”，会导致很多健康问题。我真担心那些住在北京的中国人，特别是我的中文女老师就回到了北京，我不希望她因为雾霾生病，我想她重回越南工作，于是我给她发了邮件。可她却让我别担心，还告诉我北京的天其实和越南一样。我不相信，我觉得她是不想让我担心她。可后来有一天，我在家里看新闻时，电视里播放了一条关于在北京举办APEC会议的视频，越南记者正站在北京的一个广场上报道新闻，身后是蓝蓝的天，那么蓝的天果然和越南海边的天一样，蓝得纯粹，蓝得迷人。这下我真的不用为我的中文老师担心了。“噢，蓝色的中国，根本不是其他国家说的样子。”
参观黄鹤楼 ／ 邓蓉提供
假如给我一支画笔，让我描绘中国，18岁的我会用好多颜色来画中国。这一年，我获得了奖学金，来到了中国武汉进行预科学习。刚进学校我就被大片的绿色包围，我以为在中国只有大学里才会有那么多的树；没想到当我收拾完宿舍，跟着同胞们去逛武汉时，我才发现整个武汉其实都被编织在绿色里。不管是大路还是小巷，两边都种着树，满目的绿让我觉得武汉是长在森林里的一座城市。除了绿色，我还要用灰色来画中国的城市，可不是因为武汉的天灰，武汉的天和五年前新闻里北京的天一样蓝，我用灰色的画笔，是因为这儿的灰色高架桥真的太多了，我从来没在越南的哪个城市见过这么多车行驶在马路上，每一座灰色的高架桥上都是快速奔跑的车辆，好像飞龙一样，自由穿行。如果你问我要用什么颜色来画中国人，我会毫不犹豫地告诉你：“我要用橙色的画笔。”为什么呢？因为橙色是阳光的颜色，让人觉得温暖又亲切。刚来中国的时候，我的汉语发音其实还不太好，虽然我早就学过汉语，但我除了上课的时候说汉语，很少在平时生活里用汉语和大家交流，所以每次在学校外说汉语，我都会有点儿不好意思。有一次，我在学校外面买奶茶，那个人问我：“你从哪里来？我猜你是广西人，对不对？” 我说：“其实我是越南留学生，对不起，我的发音还不太好。”那个人特别吃惊，他说我的汉语好极了，普通话比很多中国人还标准。从那时起，我不再因为发音自卑了，还主动参加了学校的朗诵大赛呢。因为我发现不管在什么地方和中国人讲话，他们总是表扬我，让我感到心里暖暖的。“噢！中国人是和阳光一样的颜色。”
中国地质大学（武汉）南望山校区 ／ 邓蓉提供
今年的我19岁，去年刚以汉语满分的成绩通过了预科结业考试，虽然疫情让我不得不在网上开始我的大学生活，但我知道我和中国马上就能见面了，因为武汉早就成了全世界最安全的城市。等我重回武汉的时候，我要继续用我的画笔向我的家人、我的同胞描绘中国。
中国地质大学（武汉）南望山校区 ／ 邓蓉提供
If You Give Me a Crayon
［Vietnam］ Đặng Thùy Dung， China University Of Geosciences（Wuhan）
If you give me a crayon and ask me to paint China， I would like to select a red one when I was 5 years old． As far as I can remember， whenever people around me talked about China， I would think of Chinese restaurants and Chinese shops everywhere in Vietnam． These venues were always pasted with red papercuts on windows and red couplets． A pair of red lanterns were hung under the shop sign． My parents told me all Chinese people like red color as they think it symbolizes good luck． “Oh， red China！ I do remember．”
If you give me a crayon and ask me to paint China， I would like to select a yellow one when I was 10． At the age of 10， our school had a Confucius class and we got a pretty Chinese teacher． She taught us Pinyin， Chinese characters and told us historical stories of China． From her I learned that China has such a long history with yellow as a very powerful color． Some emperors of ancient China were dressed in yellow， because it is the color of dragon that represents light and power． From her， I knew an emperor named Li Longji， who brought China into the “Great Reign of Kaiyuan．” During his reign， many countries sent people to China to study． “Oh！ Yellow China！ It was already so powerful thousands of years ago．”
If you give me a crayon and ask me to paint China， I would like to select a blue one when I was 13． In 2014， I always read some online reports about China’s environment． Some of them said that the sky in Beijing was gray， which they claimed to be smog and lead to many health problems． I was really worried about Chinese people living in Beijing， especially my Chinese teacher who had been back to Beijing． I don’t want her to get sick because of smog and wished she could come back to Vietnam． I emailed her but was told my concern was no necessary as the sky in Beijing is the same as in Vietnam． I didn’t believe it until I watched a video about APEC meeting broadcasted on TV． A reporter of Vietnam was reporting news in a square of Beijing and behind him the sky was crystal blue． The pure and enchanting blue is the same as what you can view at the seaside of Vietnam． I need not worry about my Chinese teacher anymore． “Oh， blue China！ It is not like what other countries described．”
If you give me a crayon and ask me to paint China， I would need more than one when I was 18． I won scholarship and came to Wuhan in China’s Hubei Province for preparatory study． As soon as I entered school， I was surrounded by a large stretch of green． I thought so many trees could only be seen in universities of China； Unexpectedly， when I settled down in my dormitory and strolled around Wuhan with my compatriots， I found that the whole city was woven with green． Both roads and alleys are planted with trees． The green everywhere makes me feel that Wuhan is a city in the forest． Besides green， I would also select gray color to paint cities in China． It is not because the sky in Wuhan is gray． Instead， the sky here is as blue as Beijing showed on TV five years ago． I use gray because there are too many gray overhead bridges． I’ve never seen so many cars on the road in any city of Vietnam， which are like dragons flying freely． If you ask me what color is proper for painting Chinese people， I will say without hesitation， “Give me an orange crayon please．” Why？ Orange is the color of the sunshine， which makes you feel warm and kind． When I just arrived in China， my pronunciation of Chinese was not good enough． Though I learned Chinese for a long time， I seldom communicated with others in Chinese in my daily life except I had to in class． I felt a little embarrassed every time I spoke Chinese outside school． I bought milk tea outside and was asked by the vendor， “Where are you from？ I guess you are from Guangxi， aren’t you？” I replied， “In fact I am an overseas student from Vietnam． I am sorry that my pronunciation isn’t good．” The vendor was very surprised and expressed my Chinese was fluent． He even said my putonghua is better than many Chinese people． From then on， I no longer felt inferior for my pronunciation and even took the initiative to participate in the school reading contest． I found no matter where I speak with Chinese， they always warm my heart with praise． “Oh， Chinese people are of the color of the sunshine．”
I am 19 years old this year． Last year I passed the preparatory examination with a full score in Chinese． Though I had to kick off my university life online due to the COVID－19 pandemic， I do know I will see China very soon as Wuhan is now the safest city in the world． When I return to Wuhan， I will carry on painting China with crayons for my family and country fellows．
