跑出来的浙里缘分

郑剑瑾

在杭州的七年时间里，意大利小伙个天（本名Gentian）跑遍了浙江的山水。他爱运动，喜欢跑步、骑车、潜水……“我喜欢浙江、喜欢杭州，更喜欢这里的山水，如果可以，我想一直在杭州住下去，这是我一步步跑出来的缘分。”

我希望可以在这里定居

2020年10月17日，杭州上城区玉皇山南基金小镇，2020杭州大宋108公里越野赛现场，个天这个来自异国的选手第22个冲过终点线。“3小时14分27秒。”过线后，个天弯下了腰：“膝盖不太好，带着伤跑，成绩没有去年好，去年可是拿了季军呢。不过这并不影响我对这些山山水水的热爱。我和浙江的缘分可都是一步步跑出来的呢。”

2012年第一次来杭州待了一年后，个天去了乌克兰;2014年再次来到杭州后，这一待就是7年。“我喜欢浙江，喜欢这里的山水。杭州有很好的大学，有美好的风景，还有各种本地菜和国外的美食，没有城市比这里更适合生活了。”

个天爱运动，不是简单的喜欢，而是极致的热爱。他每周都要骑行、爬山、跑步、踢足球，而杭州这个美丽的地方也满足了他对各种运动的需求。“只要有空我每天早上都会起来去西湖边跑步，清晨六点多的西湖非常美，跳舞唱歌的老人，还有香喷喷的油条和馄饨;我经常骑车去龙井山，7分05秒就可以骑到山顶;杭州的千岛湖也很不错，在环湖绿道骑行让人心旷神怡。”

不仅西湖、龙井、虎跑等地名张口就来，浙江省内各地的马拉松也是个天必打卡的运动项目。杭州马拉松、横店马拉松、奉化马拉松、诸暨马拉松、舟山马拉松……“温州、台州、宁海、舟山、湖州、嘉兴、海宁、丽水……只要有时间，只要有比赛，我都会过去。2018年12月10日参加的诸暨西施马拉松比赛，是我参加过的最美的一场比赛。那天正好遇到下雪，在白色的雪地里跑步，这种体验感真的太棒了！”

“相比较城市马拉松，我更喜欢越野型的比赛。看得见山，望得到水，不仅可以挑战自己，在运动的时候我整个人都是放松的。这些年，我越跑越喜欢浙江，我和这里的缘分，都是一步步跑出来的。” 个天告诉记者，“繁华的城市建设、极美的生活环境、优秀的学府，杭州真的满足了我的所有要求。假如要在全中国找一个城市定居，那肯定是杭州”。

安吉的竹子好看好用又好吃

在个天的记忆中，印象最深的一次是骑行到湖州安吉，看着大片大片的竹海他震惊了。“我第一次看到连绵的竹海，整座山上都是竹子，翠绿翠绿的;我也是第一次看到当地人采摘和烹饪‘新鲜的竹子’。他们告诉我，竹子可以做成睡觉用的竹席、吃饭的筷子、放笔的笔筒以及各种有用的东西，神奇的是，它被做成菜肴后真的很美味，尤其和肉一起炖煮，我可以多吃一碗米饭。”

在记者的科普下，个天终于明白“成年”的竹子并不能食用，只有在竹子“小时候”被称作笋时，才能加工成各种菜品。“竹子让我对浙江的印象又好了很多，大大地加分。我很希望我的家乡也可以拥有如此美丽、有用和美味的东西。”

从安吉出来，个天骑车前往太湖源风景区以及天目山自然保护区。“太湖源风景区里有很多的参天大树、瀑布和石壁，一望过去山峦连绵，水又特别清澈。在那边骑行的时候，我还看到了很多从没有见过的鸟类和爬行动物。”

仙都国家级风景名胜区也是个天非常喜欢的骑行目的地。“我乘坐高铁到丽水后，两天时间里在风景区以及附近骑了200多公里。骑行结束，我和骑友在河里游泳。其实我觉得丽水和衢州之间的山脉区域真的非常适合露营。”

在个天眼中，丽水和衢州不仅有山有水，也有历代文人墨客、达官显贵留下的无数文化财产。尤其是仙都的缙云山，素有“黄山之奇、华山之险、桂林之秀”的美誉;而衢州有气势壮观的龙游石窟，鬼斧神工的江郎山，原汁原味的药王山，古色古香的廿八都，极其清幽的天脊龙门……确实很符合休闲观光和露营。

“我的国家并不像浙江这样，拥有如此多美丽的地方和令人印象深刻的美食。我真的太爱这里了。”个天哈哈大笑。

告訴国外的朋友浙里很美

在中国的近10年里，个天的第一次中国年、第一次春晚、第一次喝白酒、第一个红包都让他记忆犹新。“春节的时候路上空荡荡，这些人都去哪里了呢？这曾让我觉得困惑又神奇。按照中国的属相，我就是那只可爱的小兔子。我吃遍了各地的美食，我还知道中国喜欢6和8这两个数字。”

虽然普通话讲得不怎么样，但个天对中国的民间习俗倒是很了解。“我学会了做麻婆豆腐和宫保鸡丁，我很喜欢吃东坡肉，比起我家乡的面包面条，中国的食物简直太丰盛了。我经常骑车100多公里到没人知道的小村子，有时就为了吃一种当地的点心或者一碗面条。记得在安吉时，我在一个叫做双一村的地方吃了油炸小鱼。这是一种只有当地小溪里才有的野生鱼，经过油炸后松脆可口，如果不是下午要骑车，可以喝点小酒，那简直太棒了。”

跑遍半个中国的个天每次出去都会用视频记录自己的旅行日记。“我国外的朋友和家人都不是很了解中国、浙江的情况，我用视频告诉他们我生活的城市非常美好，我去了哪里玩，我吃了什么，这就是我最真实的生活，我想把这些快乐分享给他们。我告诉他们杭州的南方大肉包价格便宜，下雨天的西湖非常梦幻。2018年7月，我在泰顺骑行的时候吃了当地美味的米线。我在舟山环岛骑行后，吃了当地很美味的小海鲜……”

2019年，个天和几个朋友合作开了一个工作室。除了组织一些纯公益性质的体育赛事外，偶尔还会为合作的运动品牌“代言”，写一些推广文案。“我大学里学的是公共管理，平时也会写一些和专业相关的学术论文。我希望能进入学校进行教育工作，我想尝试在浙江、在杭州留下来。”

个天有一个“大计划”：从杭州出发，骑车去意大利的罗马。“全程10万公里，每天骑行150公里，总共需要2个月，经过新疆、哈沙克斯坦、伊朗……沿着丝绸之路前行，我要去推广中国文化、浙江文化。”

Running into a Second Home

By Zheng Jianjin

“3 hours 14 minutes and 27 seconds，” the scoreboard at the 2020 Hangzhou Song Cross Country Race read.

“Not as good as last year， because of my nagging knee problem，” panted Gentian Qejvanaj， an Italian expat living in Hangzhou. “I came in third in last year’s race！ “

The first time when Gentian Qejvanaj， who is also known as Ge Tian by his Chinese name， came to Hangzhou in 2012， he stayed for a year before moving to Ukraine. In 2014， he came to Hangzhou again， and this time around， he has stayed for seven years and counting， as he plans to settle in Hangzhou.

“I love Zhejiang and love its mountains， rivers and lakes，” said Ge Tian. “There are top universities in Hangzhou， beautiful sceneries， and delicious local cuisine and foreign food — there is no better place to live in than here. If I have to choose one Chinese city to settle down， it would definitely be Hangzhou.”

Ge Tian is a sports enthusiast. Not just your average enthusiast who practices sports as a hubby， but someone who devotes his life to sports. Cycling， climbing， running and playing football are just some of his regular activities every week， and Hangzhou happens to be the place that meets his various needs.

“I get up early every morning and go for a run by the West Lake. The West Lake is very beautiful at six o ‘clock in the morning. There are old people dancing and singing， as well as aromatic fried dough sticks and wontons，” Ge Tian observed. “I often ride up to the mountain in Longjing village and it takes me only 7 minutes and 5 seconds to reach the top. The Thousand Island Lake is also very good， and cycling on the green paths around the lake is relaxing and enjoyable.”

As well as those must-visit places like West Lake， the Longjing village and the Dreaming of the Tiger Spring， marathon races held in Zhejiang are also must-attend events for Ge Tian. “The Hangzhou marathon， the Hengdian marathon， the Fenghua marathon， the Zhuji marathon， the Zhoushan marathon …” Ge Tian rattled off a list of competitions he had been to. Wenzhou， Taizhou， Ninghai， Zhoushan， Huzhou， Jiaxing， Haining， Lishui … time permitting， he would participate in every race.

“The Zhuji Xishi Marathon on December 10， 2018 was the most beautiful race that I have ever been in，” according to Ge Tian. “It was snowing and running amidst snow flakes is so amazing an experience.” Compared to urban marathons， Ge Tian likes cross-country ones more， as he can enjoy the landscape at the same time. “I feel totally relaxed when I run in the mountains and along the rivers. In these years， the more I run， the deeper I’m in love with Zhejiang.”

One place that has left an indelible impression on Ge Tian’s memory is the Great Bamboo Sea in Huzhou city’s Anji county， where he once cycled to. “It was the first time that I had seen a sea of endless bamboo， as the whole mountains were covered with bamboo， full of green，” recalled Ge Tian. “It was also the first time I had seen the locals picking and cooking fresh bamboo [shoots]. They told me that bamboo can be made into mats to sleep on， chopsticks to eat with， pen holders， all kinds of useful things. Miraculously， it’s really delicious when it’s cooked， especially when it’s braised with meat， and I can eat an extra bowl of rice with it！”

“Because of bamboo I love Zhejiang even more！ And I would love for my hometown to have something so beautiful， useful and delicious.” Afterwards， he continued to bike and travel to the Taihu Yuantou Scenic Area and Tianmu Mountain National Nature Reserve. “Towering trees， waterfalls， stone walls， undulating mountains and lucid waters. I also saw many birds and reptiles that I had never seen before.”

The Xiandu Scenic Area is another favorite cycling destination for Ge Tian. “After taking the high-speed train to Lishui， I rode for more than 200 kilometers in the scenic spot and around nearby areas in two days， before finishing with a swim together with my fellow cyclists. In fact， I think the mountain area between Lishui and Quzhou is really suitable for camping.”

Having been in China for almost a full decade， Ge Tian can still vividly remember celebrating the first Chinese New Year， watching the first Spring Festival Gala， drinking baijiu （Chinese liquor） for the first time and receiving the first red envelope. “Where are all these people during the Chinese New Year when the roads are empty？” he asked rhetorically. “According to the Chinese zodiac， I am a cute rabbit！”

Although he is still improving on speaking Mandarin， Ge Tian is quite familiar with Chinese folk customs. “I learned how to make Mapo Tofu and Kung Pao Chicken. I love Dongpo Pork， and compared to my hometown， the Chinese food is so rich，” as a gourmet， Ge Tian simply couldn’t stop when speaking of delicacies. “I often cycle more than 100 kilometers to small villages that no one knows about， sometimes just to try local snacks or a bowl of noodles. I remember once eating crispy fried fish in a place called Shuangyi village when I was in Anji. It’s a kind of wild fish only found in local creeks. If not for fear of ‘drinking riding’， it would have been even better with some alcohol.”

Indeed， Ge Tian has already traveled around half of China. He would record his every trip in videos and put them up in his vlog. “My friends and family still need to know more about China and about Zhejiang，” Ge Tian explained. “I’m just telling them that the city I live in is an amazing place， where I’ve traveled and what I’ve eaten. This is my real and happy life， which I’d like to share with them.” The cheap and meat-stuffed steamed buns in Hangzhou， the delicious rice noodles in Wenzhou’s Taishun county， the irresistible seafood in Zhoushan …

In 2019， Ge Tian teamed up with several friends and opened a studio， organizing charity sports events and helping marketing sports brands. He has a “grand plan”： He will cycle from Hangzhou， all the way to Rome， Italy. “The whole journey is about 100，000 kilometers， and if I cover 150 kilometers a day， it will take two months，” Ge Tian was full of anticipation. “Through Xinjiang， Kazakhstan， Iran ... along the Silk Road. I’m going to promote Chinese culture， and Zhejiang culture.”