Yesterday I featured a video clip from the Chinese aircraft-maker AVIC celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Chinese PLA Navy. It features an aircraft carrier and fighter jets, and is suffused with an '80s Top Gun aesthetic, right down to the beefcake shots of muscle-bound pilots (what, no volleyball game?).
The whole thing was overlaid with a stirring anthem, and I asked readers if they could translate. One reader, who prefers not to be identified, offers the following translation, with the caveat that it is approximate and was put together quickly:
Want to fly in the sky like an eagle
The blue sky is the first dream
The river flows further
The ocean is powerful.(Chorus 1)
The sun gives the moon hope
The dome of heaven is blue
The star light is bright.
[fold]
The ocean nurtures deep love
The water is sweet (and with effort) becomes glorious
Embrace a dream to fly
Flying higher towards your dream.The world applauds
To go through the difficult wind
And embrace the sun.Chorus (1) (Sung again)
Chorus (2)
We come from everywhere
The hot blood in our hearts
Your dream becomes a light
If you want to become splendid
You have to blossom.Repeat Chorus (2), further short repeats.
*
Written at end:
Our country chooses people who are devoted
Our country remembers people who are dedicated.