wǒ shì bǐ lì shí rén

我是比利时人

I’m from Belgium

zhōng wén míng zì shì wēn shǒu nuò

中文名字是温守诺

My Chinese name is Wen Shounuo

zài zhōng guó yǐ jīng yǒu èr shí duō nián le

在中国已经有二十多年了

I’ve been in China for over two decades

zhè gè dì fāng lì shǐ míng zì shì zhì zhū sì

这个地方历史名字是智珠寺

It was known as Zhizhu Temple

lí gù gōng chà bù duō sì bǎi gōng chǐ

离故宫差不多四百公尺

About four hundred meters from the Palace Museum

zhè gè jiàn zhù shì qīng dài de

这个建筑是清代的

Built in the Qing dynasty

dì yī gè cáng chuán fú jiào de sì miào zài běi jīng

第一个藏传佛教的寺庙在北京

It was the first Tibetan Buddhist temple in Beijing

chà bù duō sān qiān duō píng fāng gōng chǐ de miàn jī

差不多三千多平方公尺的（面积）

Covering an area of about 3000 square meters

nián de shí hòu wǒ fā xiàn zhè gè dì fāng

2007年的时候，我发现这个地方

I found it in 2007

wǒ yī zhí xǐ huān gǔ jiàn zhù

我一直喜欢古建筑

Ancient buildings have always fascinated me

wǒ jué dé zì jǐ yī gè rén kěn dìng méi yǒu bàn fǎ zuò

我觉得自己一个人肯定没有办法做

But I couldn’t imagine doing it alone

suǒ yǐ wǒ zhǎo hěn hǎo de péng yǒu

所以我找很好的朋友

So I reached out to many good friends

lín fán zhōu lǐ xián jí qí tā hěn duō péng yǒu

林凡、周理贤（及其他很多朋友）

Including Lin Fan, Zhou Lixian and others

lái xiū fù zhè gè dì fāng

来修复这个地方

We together restored the temple

wǒ men zuò yī gè yì shù kōng jiān

我们做一个艺术空间

We made this art zone

duì suǒ yǒu de rén gōng kāi

对所有的人公开

And open to the public

bù shì yī gè sī rén huì suǒ

不是一个私人会所

It’s not a private club kind of thing

zhè gè dì fāng shì yī gè wén wù jú bǎo hù de dì fāng

这个地方是一个文物局保护的地方

The area is protected by the cultural relics bureau

yǒu sōng zhù sì zhì zhū sì fǎ yuān sì sān gè sì miào

有嵩祝寺、智珠寺、法渊寺，三个寺庙

There are Songzhu Temple, Zhizhu Temple and Fayuan Temple

gǎi zào qián nǐ zhǐ néng kàn zhè gè dà diàn de wū dǐng

（改造前）你只能看这个大殿的屋顶

Before the restoration only the roof of the main hall was visible

kàn bù jiàn lǎo jiàn zhù

看不见老建筑

Not the old buildings

qí tā bèi liù shí nián dài de jiàn zhù fù gài

其他被六十年代的建筑覆盖

Others were overshadowed by the buildings of the 60s

yǒu yī gè tè bié pò de lǚ guǎn xiǎo cān guǎn

有一个特别破的旅馆、小餐馆

And there was a shabby little hotel, a restaurant

jī běn shì yī gè lā jī huí shōu chǎng

基本是一个垃圾回收场

Basically a trash recycling place

wǒ men zuò yī gè xiū jiù rú jiù de yī gè gài niàn

我们做一个“修旧如旧”的一个概念

Our principle was to “restore it as it was”

bǎ wǒ men bù xiǎng bǎo liú de jiàn zhù chāi hé dài zǒu

把我们不想保留的建筑拆和带走

We removed what we didn’t want to keep

yùn le sì bǎi duō kǎ chē tōng guò xiǎo de yuàn zi chū lái

（运了）四百多卡车通过小的院子出来

It was done by trucks coming in and out the small yard over four hundred times

hěn bù róng yì

很不容易

It wasn’t easy

jī běn shàng shì liǎng sān gè yuè de yī gè gōng zuò

基本上是两三个月的一个工作

Took us two, three months to complete

dà diàn shì zuì zhòng yào de yī gè lóu

大殿是最重要的一个楼

The main hall was the focus of the project

wǒ men yòng chà bù duō yī nián de shí jiān lái xiū fù

我们用差不多一年的时间来修复

We spent one year restoring it

dà diàn lǐ miàn yǒu yī gè tiān huā bǎn

大殿里面有一个天花板

The ceiling of the main hall

yǒu hěn duō de huà chà bù duō sān bǎi duō kuài

有很多的画，差不多三百多块

Was decorated with about three hundred paintings

wǒ men bǎ mù kuài ná xià lái yī gè yī gè xiū

（我们把）木块拿下来，一个一个修

We took them down and fixed them one by one

fàng huí qù

放回去

And put them back

chà bù duō néng gòu bǎo liú bā shí duō kuài

差不多能够保留八十多块

About eighty of them were successfully repaired

xiū de wǎ piàn yǒu chà bù duō liù wàn duō piàn

修的瓦片有差不多六万（多片）

Over sixty thousand tiles were mended

bǎo liú suǒ yǒu zhè xiē lǎo cái liào

保留所有这些老材料

We kept the original materials

shǒu gōng cā

手工擦

And manually cleaned them

wǒ men shì yī gè hěn dà de yī gè kōng jiān

我们是一个很大的一个空间

The space is quite big

rán hòu yǒu hù wài yǒu huā yuán

然后有户外，有花园

We have gardens outdoors

rén dào zhè lǐ lái

人到这里来

When people come visit for the first time

wǒ xī wàng shì wa xiǎo hú tóng

我希望是：哇！小胡同

I hope they’d be like, Okay, narrow hutongs

lǐ miàn huì yǒu hěn chī jīng de yī gè gǎn jué

里面会有很吃惊的一个感觉

And then all of a sudden, such a huge open space

liù shí nián dài de chǎng fáng biàn chéng yī gè cān tīng

六十年代的厂房变成一个餐厅

A 60s factory were transformed into a restaurant

wǒ men xuǎn le yī gè fǎ shì de cān tīng

我们选了一个法式的餐厅

It serves French cuisine

yīn wèi bù xū yào míng huǒ

因为不需要明火

Because cooking French doesn’t require open fire

liù shí nián dài jiàn de yī xiē xiǎo lóu

六十年代建的一些小楼

Some buildings built in the 60s

zhè gè wǒ men wán quán xiū fù

这个我们完全修复

Were also restored

rán hòu wǒ men zuò yī gè yì shù kōng jiān

然后我们做一个艺术空间

And we made an art space

dàn shì yòng lǎo de cái liào jiàn qǐ lái de

但是用老的材料建起来的

With those old materials

nián wǒ men kāi shǐ xiū fù

2008年我们开始（修复）

The restoration project started in 2008

běn lái wǒ men jué dé yī liǎng nián zú gòu le

本来我们觉得一两年足够了

The plan was two years

dàn shì shí jì shàng bù kě néng de

但是实际上不可能的

But actually that’s impossible

nián de shí hòu shì zuì kùn nán de shí hòu

2010年的时候是最困难的时候

2010 was the most difficult time for us

wǒ jué dìng cí zhí zài shàng hǎi de gōng zuò

我决定辞职在上海的工作

I decided to quit my job in Shanghai

bǎ wǒ de gǔ quán yě mài chū qù le

把我的股权也卖出去了

And sold my stock equity

nián de shí hòu

2013年的时候

In 2013

wǒ men shōu dào lián hé guó de yī gè jiǎng

我们收到联合国的一个奖

We received an award from the United Nations

tā men jué dé zhè gè dì fāng

他们觉得这个地方

They rated our project

shì quán yà zhōu fēi cháng hǎo de yī gè xiū fù

是全亚洲非常好的一个修复

As the best restoration in Asia

duì wǒ lái shuō shì fēi cháng zhòng yào de yī jiàn shì qíng

对我来说是非常重要的一件（事情）

It means the world to me

wǒ zuò zhè gè xiū fù gōng zuò

我做这个修复工作

For the theme of the restoration

wǒ xuǎn zhè gè dēng guāng de gài niàn zuò huà tí

我选这个灯光的概念做话题

I landed on the concept of light

shì yī gè rì luò shí jiān néng kàn dào de zhuāng zhì

gathered sky是一个日落时间能看到的（装置）

Gathered Sky is an installation triggered at sunset

hěn duō de zuò pǐn shì zài bó wù guǎn

很多james turrell的作品是在博物馆

Many James Turrells are collected in museums

huò zhě shì sī rén bó wù guǎn bèi shōu cáng de

或者是私人博物馆被收藏的

Or private museums

suǒ yǐ lǎo bǎi xìng méi yǒu bàn fǎ kàn

所以老百姓没有办法看

So we ordinary people don’t usually see them

zhè shì dì yī gè de zuò pǐn zài zhōng guó

这是第一个james turrell的作品在中国

This is the first James Turrell work in China

zài shì zhōng xīn rán hòu duì wài kāi fàng

在市中心，然后对外开放

That is open to the public

wǒ men zuò hěn duō de yīn lè yǎn chū

我们做很多的音乐演出

We host many concerts

yīn wèi quán bù shì mù tóu de jié gòu

因为全部是木头的结构

Because of the wooden structure

zhè gè yīn lè xiào guǒ shì fēi cháng fēi cháng hǎo de

这个音乐效果，是非常非常好的

The music effect here is wonderful

wǒ men yǒu hěn duō de kè rén lái zhè lǐ bài fǎng

我们有很多的客人来这里拜访

We are very well-visited

zhè shì píng guǒ de

tim cook，这是苹果的（ceo）

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple

zhè shì fǎ guó de zǒng lǐ

edouard philippe，这是法国的总理

Edouard Philippe, the Prime Minister of France

yī kāi shǐ de shí hòu

一开始的时候

At first

hěn duō rén jué dé nǐ shì yī gè lǎo wài

很多人觉得你是一个老外

People thought of me as a foreigner

nǐ shì yī gè fēi cháng làng màn bù tài dǒng zhōng guó de rén

你是一个非常浪漫，不太懂中国（的人）

Who was romantic of course, but didn’t understand China

méi yǒu yī gè rén huì dào zhè lǐ lái

没有一个人会到这里来

And no one would come here

qù nián wǒ men yǒu wàn de rén lù guò zhè gè chǎng dì

去年我们有16万的人路过这个场地

But last year, 160 thousand people visited

shì lǎo wài yě hěn xǐ huān de shì zhōng guó rén yě hěn xǐ huān de

是老外也很喜欢的，是中国人也很喜欢的

Foreigners love it, Chinese love it too