老龙头(Lao long tou)
有句俗话说：不登长城非好汉。今天呱呱就带大家到万里长城入海的地方——老龙头去看一看。
我们现在看到的长城是明朝的时候重新修缮的。老龙头就是它东端的起点。肯定有人要问了：why is it called laolongtou (old dragon's head)? 我们习惯上把万里长城比喻成一条长龙，laolongtou is the eastern end of the ming dynasty great wall extending into the sea. 那入海处的这段长城就恰好是喝水的龙头了。像这样深入大海的长城这可是惟一的一处呢。
离老龙头不远，就是号称“天下第一关”的山海关。the shanhaiguan pass was built in 1381.它和居庸关、嘉峪关并称为“中国三大雄关”。
游客们到了山海关，有一件必做的事情，就是和“天下第一关”这块牌匾合影。look at the plaque (匾额). do you find anything strange? 仔细看，原来，这块匾额上没有落款，也没有印章!这和中国的书法传统可不相符哦!
there is an interesting story about the plaque. the inscription on this plaque was written by xiao xian. 肖显是明代著名的书法家。he wrote all the characters well except the word "yi". 正在他发愁的时候，一个店小二用抹布擦桌子的时候给他带来了灵感。a mark of water was left on the table, which was in exactly the same style as "yi". 于是肖显赶紧把这个水印用到他的匾额上了。
提起长城，大家一定都会想起那个传说中哭倒了整座长城的孟姜女。her story has moved many people. 在老龙头就有一座孟姜女庙。庙里有一幅非常有意思的对联：海水朝朝朝朝朝朝朝落，浮云长长长长长长长消。so many “朝” and “长”! 念起来要好费劲啊!
其实这副对联的学问就在于多音字和断句。这个“朝”啊就是一个多音字。既可以念“朝”又可以念“朝”。而那个“长”又是一个多音字。既可以念“长”又可以念“长”。
因此这幅对联可以这样念：hai shui chao, zhao zhao chao, zhao chao zhao luo. fu yun zhang, chang chang zhang, chang zhang chang xiao. 还有其他的念法，你可以自己试试哦!
好了，这次我们就游览到这儿。十一长假快到了，you can visit the great wall during this holiday. don’t forget to take pictures and share them with us!
