crave the chance to do渴望做某事的机会
thr central melody 主旋律
distilled understanding of 对。。。的提炼
avant-garde artists先锋艺术家
drab uniformity单调的统一
staged a march举行游行示威
colossal crystal chandeliers巨大的水晶吊灯
conceptualist 概念论者
a trunkful of books 一大箱书。
carve out开拓
a gaggle of university students. 一群大学生
bowl cut西瓜头
board a coach登上一辆汽车
board a coach羽绒背心
这章谈到了先锋艺术家，以及以中国博物馆馆长Lin Suqiao 为代表的收藏家观念和境况的转变以及对艺术的不断发展。，正如他所说Chinese collectors are more interested in current things than in memory and tragedy .
中国人对西方的看法也在不断变化中。1877年，随着清朝灭亡，西方势力不断崛起，中国的知识分子开始了开眼看世界的探索。但是这些人却没有得到理解。when activists in the early twentieth century embraced European notions of the individual, they were mocked as “fake foreign devils.”直到和美国建交才有所改变Until the final years of Mao’s reign, when he established ties with the United States, admiring the West was a punishable offense.但是在八十年代，西方一直是一个充满可能行和创造的地方。But by the eighties, the West was increasingly seen as a place of possibility and self-creation.
当然作者作为一个外国人也深刻的意识到这样的事实：The ambivalence in the Chinese view of the West did not go away.
接下来作者讲到了作为唯一一位外国人的自己在中国的跟团出游。以及途中见到并了解的各类中国新兴中产阶层。
