11月16日，埃文·凯尔抵达北京首都国际机场，在向中国捐赠二战相册两周年之际，开启他的首次中国之旅。
Two years after donating a World War II photo album, Evan Kail arrived in Beijing on Saturday to begin his first trip to China.
此次旅程受到了中国人民的广泛关注。线下，有不少人前去接机；线上，有超过千万网友涌入直播间表示：热烈欢迎！埃文·凯尔称：一落地就被中国人的热情打动了。
His visit drew huge online and offline crowds. Tens of millions joined live streams to welcome him, while many greeted him at the airport.
Evan said, "I received the warmest welcome when l got off the plane. I still can't believe all the people that were waiting to say hello. It really warmed my heart and l'm so excited to be here."
埃文·凯尔称，这次他是一个人来中国的，将在这里待一个月时间，去往北京、天津、上海、南京，并且对此次中国之行充满期待。
Evan plans to spend a month in China, visiting Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Nanjing and he eagerly anticipates his journey.
另外，他还表示不方便透露国礼瓷现在放在哪里。“它是如此珍贵的礼物，我不想冒任何风险，我想给它找个好归宿。”
图源：齐鲁壹点
17日凌晨，在天安门广场外侧，埃文·凯尔身着西装排在队伍中。尽管经过20多个小时的颠簸飞抵北京已经十分疲惫，埃文·凯尔顾不上倒时差，只睡了一个多小时就早早地起床了。他告诉记者，“很激动，也很兴奋。”
人群中，很多粉丝认出了埃文·凯尔，大家对他表示欢迎，并且上前与他合影。游客胡先生说，自己是在网上关注到埃文·凯尔的，“非常感谢他捐赠出让我们了解历史的照片。”见他穿着单薄，胡先生还把军大衣送给他。埃文·凯尔表示：“这是我穿过的最酷的外套。”
Recognized by numerous fans, Evan received a warm welcome and requests for photos. A visitor thanked him for the album donation and gifted him a military coat after noticing Evan's thinly attire. Pleased, Evan said, "This is the coolest coat I've ever had."
谈起为什么会来中国，埃文·凯尔表示：
"I donated the World War II photobook album to China two years ago, and I received this national porcelain gift for my efforts in return. This incident has had a profound influence on me. I've received profound positivity from so many of you in China and all over the world, and that's really what matters the most."
“两年前我把一本二战相册捐赠给了中国，然后收到了这份回赠的国礼瓷，这件事对我产生了深远的影响。我从中国和世界各地的许多人那里收获了满满的正能量，这才是最重要的。”
"I plan to arrive on China on Nov 16. This marks the second anniversary since donating the World War II photobook album to China. And on this anniversary, I'm excited to experience China — China's culture, its history, its people. I also want to see how China, which was recorded in the photo album, has changed over the last 100 years."
“我计划在11月16日到达中国，这也刚好是我向中国无偿捐赠二战相册两周年的日子。在这个纪念日，我很期待能够体验中国的文化，感受中国历史，结识中国人民。我也想看看，相比相册中记录的那个中国，它在过去100年里发生了哪些变化。”
2023年，在捐赠相册一周年之际，埃文·凯尔将他保留的相册电子文档制作成了一条7分钟的视频，并发布了一篇记录他过去一年心路历程的文字《穿越风暴》。后来，埃文·凯尔接受了《中国日报》的专访，详细描述了他所遭遇的网络暴力、死亡威胁和阴谋论。有人甚至提出高价购买他的相册，然而来自中国人民的支持、相册所记录的中国历史，以及作为人类良知的呼唤，均使他坚定决心无偿将相册捐赠给中国。
"It is important to preserve that. You can't throw that away, you can't erase that, because then we're doomed to repeat it."
“保护历史是很重要的，你不能抛弃它，你不能抹除它，因为那样我们就注定会重蹈覆辙。”
"So when I looked at these photos and I saw what was going on in the photos, I thought this is a war crime, this belongs to a museum, this does not belong to a private collection. And I had to do whatever I could. It's my integrity. My integrity says that that is blood money and you can't profit off that." “所以当我看到这些照片，看到照片里发生的事情时，我认为这是战争罪。这应该属于博物馆而非私人收藏。我必须尽我所能。这是我的操守。我的操守告诉我那是沾血的钱，你不能以此牟利。”
"And I hope everybody on earth carries that virtue. I did this because doing the right thing knows no borders." “我这么做是因为做正确的事不分国界，我希望地球上所有人都有这样的品质。”
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