文/羊城晚报特派德国记者 陈泽云 付怡图/羊城晚报特派德国记者 梁喻海报/蔡红
从德国杜塞尔多夫机场出来，一路向北，公路两边绿意葱葱，紫色的醉鱼草隐现其中，半个小时车程后，我们抵达了位于莱茵河和鲁尔河交会处的杜伊斯堡市。
(相关资料图)
杜伊斯堡城市名称的第一个音素可以追溯到日耳曼语的“deus”，意为“潮湿的地区”或“浸水地”，蓝天白云下，当我们来到市中心，映入眼帘的是杜伊斯堡市政厅——在莱茵河边的小丘之上，古时候带着护城河、壁垒、栅栏的宫殿已然变身了现在的市政大厅，俨然是“浸水地的城堡”的真实写照。
而如今，这座欧洲的城市，有了一个更加响亮的名字——德国的“中国城”。在探访杜伊斯堡市的第一天，我们发现，中国元素确实在这个城市随处可见：
在古色古香的杜伊斯堡市政厅，最大的会议厅就叫作“武汉厅”，墙壁上挂着中国水墨画，杜伊斯堡市很多与中国经贸相关的重要决定都是在这里做出；
在市政府内部，专门设置了多个跟中国相关的职务，包括了杜伊斯堡市中国事务专员、市长办公室中国事务部主任、市经济促进局中国区项目经理，他们积极推进着杜伊斯堡与中国在物流、氢能等方面的合作，为中资企业落子杜伊斯堡提供助力；
在前往港口的路上，我们与多辆装载着“西安港”集装箱的卡车不期而遇、相向而过。当中欧班列抵达杜伊斯堡之后，这些大卡车往往会负责集装箱货物的“最后一公里”运输，五颜六色的集装箱在城市里穿梭，让这座城市有了五彩斑斓的新气象；
在繁华的市中心国王街上，当我们在商场里的一家中国餐馆用餐时，一位西装革履的德国男子匆匆向我们走来，他焦虑地询问我们如何激活微信，因为他明天就要前往武汉出差，使用微信才能更便捷与中国人沟通……
也许，与柏林、法兰克福、慕尼黑这些德国著名城市相比，杜伊斯堡显得有些不起眼，但是，“中国城”这个称号背后，是杜伊斯堡这座古老的重工业城市，正在努力探求一条经济转型升级的新路子，而中国所提出的“一带一路”倡议及由此蓬勃发展的中欧班列，为杜伊斯堡带来了“第二春”。
杜伊斯堡见证并参与了中欧班列发展的多个里程碑时刻：2011年3月19日，首趟“渝新欧”专列从重庆驶向德国杜伊斯堡，这标志着中欧班列正式“起跑”；2022年6月23日，一列满载电子产品、机械零件、日用百货等货物的中欧班列从重庆发出，标志着中国首条中欧班列线路开行量突破10000列，这趟列车的目的地正是杜伊斯堡；2023年7月9日，满载着汽车零件、电子仪器、化妆品、啤酒等货物的中欧班列从杜伊斯堡驶入了西安国际港站，这标志着中欧班列境内外全程时刻表班列首次实现了有来有往。
更多与中欧班列相关的故事，还将在这座“中国城”上演。中国与七千里之外的杜伊斯堡市之间，还将合写哪些传奇篇章，我们也将继续在这座城市探索，寻找答案！
Heading north from Dusseldorf International Airport, with lush greenery and purple Buddleja on both sides of the highway, after 30 minutes’ drive, we arrived in the city of Duisburg, which is situated at the confluence of the Rhine and Ruhr Rivers.
The first phoneme of city’s name can be traced back to the Germanic word ‘deus’, meaning ‘wet area’ or ‘watery place’. When we arrived at the city centre, the beautiful Duisburg City Hall came into sight. On a hill by the Rhine, the ancient palace with moat, barriers and fences has been transformed into the present city hall, which is a true reflection of the ‘castle on the water’.
On the first day of our visit to Duisburg, we found a lot of Chinese elements in the city.
In the ancient Duisburg City Hall, the largest meeting room is called ‘Wuhan Hall’, with Chinese ink paintings hanging on the wall. It is also the room where many important decisions related to China business are made in Duisburg.
Several China-related positions have been set with the Duisburg government, including China Commissioner for Duisburg, who actively promote the cooperation between Duisburg and China in the areas of logistics and hydrogen energy, and provide assistance to Chinese companies in setting up their operations in Duisburg.
On the way to Duisport, we met several trucks loaded with ‘Xi"an Port’ containers. When a China Railway Express arrives in Duisburg, these trucks are responsible for the ‘last mile’ transport of container goods. The colourful containers are shuttled around the city, giving the city a colourful new look.
Duisburg, the old industrial city, is now exploring a new way of economic transformation and upgrading, and Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China and the resulting development of the China-Europe Railway Express has brought a new life to Duisburg.
Duisburg witnessed several milestones in the development of China-Europe Railway Express.
19 March 2011, the first ‘Yuxino’ freight train departed from Chongqing to Duisburg, which marked the official start of CRE.
23 June 2022, a train loaded with electronic products and daily necessities departed from Chongqing, marking the 10000th CRE train, and the destination of this train was Duisburg.
9 July 2023, a train full of car parts, electronic instruments, cosmetics and other goods from Duisburg sailed into Xi"an International Port Station, which marks the first time that the CRE train with full timetable has realized the incoming and outgoing of China.
In the following days, We will explore the city and find more stories related to China-Europe Railway Express will be told in Duisburg!
出品人 | 杜传贵 林海利总策划 | 孙爱群 孙璇 林洁总统筹 | 吴江 蒋铮 侯恕望 孙晶 刘佳宁 骆苹
来源 | 羊城晚报·羊城派责编 | 黄婷校对 | 彭继业
