正在赶工兴建的休斯敦会展中心

清晨走过市中心，远远就看见那一排高高矗立的吊车，像一隻隻长颈的铁鸟，静静守在灰白的天空下。正在赶工兴建的休斯敦会展中心，外墙还未完全封起来，钢骨像章鱼的触角向四方伸展，工地裡机器的轰鸣声，和工人此起彼落的呼喊声，混在一起，奏出一首热火朝天的「城市进行曲」。

这几年，世界局势诡譎多变，经济时起时落，很多人选择观望、退缩，可是我站在工地围篱外，看着这片泥土上不断往上长高的楼层，心裡却涌起一股安慰：原来这座城市还愿意押注未来。会展中心不是一栋普通的大楼，它是一个舞台，未来世界各地的商人、学者、艺术家，都可能在这裡相遇、握手、签约、交流；今天的钢筋水泥，就是明天故事与机会的剧场布景。

工人们戴着安全帽，在冬日略带凉意的风中忙进忙出，有人推着满载建材的小车，有人蹲在角落仔细测量，有人站在高架上挥手指挥吊掛。一个会展中心的背后，是无数双粗糙却踏实的双手。城市的天际线，表面上是由建筑师的图纸勾勒出来的，实际上，则是由这些默默无名的人，一锤一钻敲出来的。我看着他们，总会想起自己一路走来的打拼岁月：每一个移民的梦想，不也是在尘土飞扬中，一点一滴搭起来的骨架吗？

休斯敦向来以能源、医疗、航太闻名，如今又在会展、金融、科技、文化上加码布局。这座正在赶工中的会展中心，彷彿在对世界宣告：我们不只要「做生意」，更要「匯聚世界」。将来，亚洲与美洲的企业，有可能就在这裡对话；华人社区的创业故事，也可能在这裡被更多人听见。想到这裡，我不禁在心裡默默对自己说：我们也要加快脚步，把自己的媒体、金融、文化平台，与这座城市的新引擎连在一起，让华人的声音，在这样的国际舞台上更加清晰、有力。

傍晚时分，夕阳把半完工的大楼染成金色，钢骨在光影之间拉出一条条明暗交错的线条，像是在天空写字。有人说，工地很吵、很乱，可在我眼中，那是一幅「未来进行式」的画。等到有一天，彩带剪下、会展中心正式啟用，人们拍照、留影、喝着咖啡、谈着合作的时候，也许不会记得今天这一地泥泞，但我知道，正是这些泥泞，托起了明日的光亮。

今天的日记，就留给这座正在「长大」的休斯敦会展中心。看着它，我彷彿也被提醒：无论世界怎麼变，我们不能停工，不能停步。只要还有信心、还有愿景，就要像这个工地一样——在风中，在尘土裡，继续向上盖，盖出属於我们自己、也属於这座城市的明天。

The Houston Convention Center Racing Against Time

Early this morning as I walked through downtown, I could already see a row of tall cranes in the distance, like long-necked iron birds standing quietly against the pale sky. The new Houston convention center, still under rapid construction, has yet to close up its outer walls. Steel beams stretch out in every direction like the arms of a giant octopus. Inside the site, the roar of machinery mixes with the shouts of workers, weaving together into a fiery “city march.”

In recent years, the world has been full of uncertainty. Geopolitics shift like quicksand, economies rise and fall, and many people choose to wait and see, to hold back. Yet as I stand outside the construction fence, watching each new floor slowly climb upward from this once-empty patch of dirt, a strange sense of comfort wells up in my heart: this city is still willing to bet on the future.

A convention center is not just another big building. It is a stage. One day, businesspeople, scholars, and artists from around the world may gather here—shaking hands, signing contracts, exchanging ideas. The concrete and steel rising today will become tomorrow’s backdrop for countless stories and opportunities.

The workers, hard hats on, move briskly through the cool winter air. One pushes a cart loaded with materials; another crouches in a corner, carefully measuring; someone else stands high on the scaffolding, signaling to guide a massive load into place. Behind this convention center are countless pairs of rough but steady hands. On the surface, a city’s skyline is drawn by architects on paper; in truth, it is hammered and drilled into existence by these nameless workers. Watching them, I can’t help thinking of my own years of struggle. Isn’t every immigrant’s dream built the same way—frame by frame, piece by piece, in dust and noise?

Houston has long been known for energy, medicine, and space. Now it is doubling down on conventions, finance, technology, and culture. This convention center under construction feels like a public declaration: we are not only here to “do business,” we are here to “gather the world.” In the future, Asian and American companies may sit across the table here; the entrepreneurial stories of our Chinese community may also be heard more widely in these halls. Thinking of this, I quietly tell myself: we, too, must quicken our pace—link our media, our financial platforms, and our cultural work to this new engine of the city, so that Chinese voices can ring out more clearly and confidently on this international stage.

By late afternoon, the setting sun turns the half-finished building a soft gold. The steel beams cast long lines of light and shadow, as if someone were writing in the sky. Some people say construction sites are noisy and chaotic. To me, it is a canvas with the words “future in progress” painted across it. One day, when the ribbon is cut and the convention center officially opens, people will take photos, sip coffee, talk business, and celebrate. They may no longer remember today’s mud and mess—but I know it is precisely this mud that carries tomorrow’s light.

So I dedicate today’s entry to this convention center that is still “growing up.” Looking at it, I feel as if I’ve been reminded once again: no matter how the world changes, we cannot stop building, and we cannot stop moving forward. As long as we still have faith and a vision, we must be like this construction site—pressing on through wind and dust, building upward, until we create a tomorrow that belongs both to ourselves and to this city.