Category: City Guide

Orderliness and Cheap cost impressed by Mayor of London

Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who is on a high-profile visit in Beijing this week, took a ride on the capital’s notoriously crowded subway on Tuesday and said he found it even more “crowded” than the Tube in London.伦敦市长鲍里斯·约翰逊本周访问北京备受关注,周二他体验了以拥挤著称的北京地铁。他称北京地铁甚至比伦敦的地铁更加“拥挤”。
“It was not the peak hour, yet the traffic was comparable to the rush hour in London,” he said.他说:“现在并不是交通高峰时段。但地铁上的乘客人数堪比伦敦高峰时段的乘客人数。”
Johnson and his crew travelled on Beijing’s No 1 line from Xidan to Gongzhufen in the afternoon, a total of five stops, according to Chinese media reports. He was lucky enough to have secured a seat, after being hailed by curious travellers.据中国媒体报道,约翰逊及其随同人员于周二下午乘坐了北京地铁1号线,从西单站到公主坟站共乘坐了五站。在好奇的乘客们欢呼致敬之下,他很幸运地占到了一个座位。
Yet Johnson admitted that he was impressed by the “orderliness” and “cheap cost” of the subway, where riders are charged a flat fare of 2 yuan.尽管拥挤,约翰逊还是称他深感北京地铁“秩序井然”、“价格便宜”,乘客们只需支付统一的两元钱票价。
“I’ve long heard that you take public transportation to work, and you get my full respect,” wrote a blogger.一位网友在博客上说,“久闻伦敦市长总是乘坐公共交通工具上下班,我对他充满敬意。”
A keen cyclist himself, Johnson pointed out in a speech he gave earlier this week in Beijing that Chinese visitors were attracted to London because of multiculturalism, fine universities and “beautiful communist bicycles”.作为一个自行车爱好者,约翰逊曾在本周日前一次演讲中指出,中国游客被伦敦吸引,正是因为伦敦的文化多元性、知名学府和“漂亮的社区自行车”。

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Four Chinese students were drowned in Egypt

Four Chinese students were drowned on Friday when they were swimming in the sea of Marsa Matrouh, an Egypt's northwestern coastal city, Chinese Embassy confirmed to Xinhua on Sunday.中国驻埃及大使馆周日向新华社证实,有四名中国留学生于上周五在地中海西北部城市马特鲁附近海滩游泳时溺亡。
The four were drawn into the sea because of strong winds and high waves there, a Chinese counsellor quoted local security sources as saying.一位中国官员称,根据当地安全部门的说法,四名学生溺水的原因是强风和海浪等恶劣的气候情况。
Xu Zhitian, a member of the panel dealing with the issue from the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, told Xinhua that the students are of two newly-married couples. One of them studies at Cairo University, other two in Al-Azhar University and the fourth is from Al-Azhar senior high school.中国驻埃及大使馆成立了专家组专门处理此次事件,该专家组成员许志田称,溺亡的四名中国学生是两对新婚夫妻,其中一人是开罗大学的学生,2人就读于爱资哈尔大学,另1人来自爱资哈尔中学。
Marsa Matrouh, the capital city of Matrouh governerate, is a famous tourism resort in Egypt. The students visited the place during the holiday of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice.马特鲁城是马特鲁省的首都,埃及有名的旅游胜地。事件涉及的4名留学生是利用宰牲节假期前往马特鲁省游玩的。
Chinese Consulate General in Alexandria has asked local Chinese students not to swim in the Mediterranean Sea as winds and waves became strong recently in the area, Yang Yunsheng, consular agent of the consulate told Xinhua.中国驻亚历山大总领事馆代办杨云声告诉新华社记者,由于近日地中海区域风浪较大,该领事馆已经要求当地中国留学生尽可能不要在地中海游泳。
There were two other Egyptian couples drowned on Friday in Marsa Matrouh due to bad weather in the sea area, state-run Ahram website reported on Saturday.据埃及《金字塔报》网站周六报道,由于马特鲁港近日天气状况恶劣,海上风浪较大,除上述4名中国人外,还有两对埃及夫妇于本周五在马特鲁其他海滩溺亡。
Egypt's tourism is well-known across the world due to some of the programs related to the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea and the Nile. However, accidents such as shipwrecks and drownings occurred frequently under the lack of supervision and incomplete facilities.埃及的旅游业以涉及地中海、红海、尼罗河等水域的旅游项目著称,但由于监管防护措施不完善、景区配套设施不健全等原因,游客溺亡、船艇失事等事故时有发生。

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Beverly Hillbillies in China

They have been mentioned more than 56 million times on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter. Everyone wants to be their friend, but no one likes them. They seem to be everywhere, throwing around their newly minted renminbi and well-used UnionPay debit cards; yet they are elusive and shun the media. Their love for bling has become the backbone of the global luxury goods industry, yet they are also the subject of disdain, the butt of jokes, the punching bag for that which is offensive to good taste.
他们在新浪微博上被提及超过5600万次;人人都想和他们成为朋友,却没人真的喜欢他们;他们无处不在,挥霍崭新的人民币、刷爆银联的借记卡;同时他们又行踪诡秘、躲躲闪闪。他们喜欢亮闪闪华丽丽的东西,这种嗜好已经成为全球奢侈品行业的支柱;同时他们又品味极差,并且因此遭到鄙视、嘲笑和抨击。
They are the tuhao — tu means dirt or uncouth; hao means splendor — and they are the Beverly Hillbillies of China.
他们是“土豪”——“土”意味着土气和粗野,豪意味着奢华、霸气——他们是中国的“贝弗利山人”。
Tuhao once meant rich landowner — the villainous landed gentry and class enemy of communist China's proletariat — but the term's modern revival began with a popular joke that made its rounds on Chinese social media in early September. A young man asks a Zen master, "I'm wealthy but unhappy. What should I do?" The Zen master responds, "Define 'wealthy.'" The young man answers, "I have millions in the bank and three apartments in central Beijing. Is that wealthy?" The Zen master silently holds out a hand, inspiring the young man to a realization: "Master, are you telling me that I should be thankful and give back?" The Zen master says, "No … Tuhao, can I become your friend?"
土豪旧指富有的地主——恶毒的有产乡绅,中国无产阶级同志的阶级敌人——这个概念重新走红,是由于9月初中国社交媒体上一个广为流传的笑话。一个青年人问禅师,“我很富有,却不开心。我该怎么办呢?”阐师答曰:“何谓‘富有’?”年轻人回答说,“我有千百万的银行存款,在北京中心城区有三套房子。这可以称为富有了吧?”禅师默然、握住青年人的手。青年醍醐灌顶似的顿悟道:“大师,您是想告诉我,我应该心存感恩,回报他人吗?” 禅师说,“不是……我是想说,土豪,我们可以做朋友吗?”
This rather lame joke struck a chord with China's middle class, a rapidly expanding group that now numbers over 300 million. As a middle-class lifestyle grows increasingly normal, so has disdain for flaunted wealth. Many Chinese would now say they consider themselves the antithesis of tuhao — educated, fashionable, and disdainful of conspicuous consumption.
这个并不那么好笑的笑话,却触动了中国中产阶级的心弦。这是一个在中国迅速壮大的群体,目前人数已经超过了3亿以上。随着中产阶级式的生活方式越来越普遍,对炫富习气的鄙夷也越来越普遍。许多中国人现在会说自己是土豪的反面:有文化、很时尚,鄙视挥霍消费。
At the same time, Chinese live in a society where understanding tuhao is valuable, catering to tuhao taste is lucrative, and making tuhao friends is sensible. Multinational corporations understand this.
但与此同时,在当下的中国社会中,理解土豪是很有必要的,迎合土豪趣味是有利可图的,和土豪交往是很有道理的。跨国公司懂得这一点。
Tuhao had their breakout moment on Sept. 20, when Apple introduced a gold version of the new iPhone 5s smartphone. Despite initial disbelief that Apple would indulge such tackiness, the gilded phone has become insanely popular in China, where it is known — even in state media headlines –as the "tuhao gold."
9月20日,土豪们终于扬眉吐气了。这一天苹果公司推出了金色的新型号苹果5s智能手机。人们起初不敢相信苹果会如此张扬俗气,然而这款镀金手机很快在中国受到疯抢。在中国媒体的头版头条新闻上,这款手机被称为“土豪金”。
The tuhao concept extends beyond gilded gadgets. On Sept. 22, members of Hollywood royalty flocked to the seaside Chinese city of Qingdao for the opening of a cinema complex owned by developer Wang Jianlin, whom Bloomberg calls China's richest man. China's Internet users labeled the event an "Extravaganza of Tuhao" and a celebration of "Haollywood". A-listers rubbed shoulders with security guards in uniforms; elderly locals performed Chinese opera. The country's middle class, it seems, is conflicted: The nouveau is surely gauche, but the old is still uncouth.
土豪的概念不只体现在手机等小玩意的品味上。9月22日,好莱坞御用班底齐聚青岛,参加彭博社所称的中国首富王健林旗下一个电影城的揭幕式。中国网民们将这个揭幕式成为“土豪的盛宴”,“豪莱坞”。上层名流和穿着制服的安保摩肩接踵;老一辈们表演着山东戏曲。这个国家的中产阶级似乎有些矛盾:新生的爆发户们显然十分粗野,老一辈的中产阶级还固守土气。
Among stiff competition, the most famous tuhao on the Chinese Internet in early October was a nameless woman in backwater Anhui province. Chinese media reported that she gave a Bentley worth approximately RMB 4 million (about $650,000) to her son-in-law as a wedding gift. Some allege the reporter fabricated the story, but it has already caused uproar online, where responses range from derision to expressions of real or exaggerated jealousy of the young man's good luck.
土豪之间也有名气的激烈角逐。10月初以来网上最有名气的中国土豪是一位匿名的中国女士。根据媒体报道,这位家住安徽省的女士给女婿的新婚礼物是一部价值400万人民币的宾利轿车。有些人指出这则消息是媒体造价,但无论如何这则消息已经在网上造成一片哗然,有人嘲笑,有人假装嫉妒,也有人真的嫉妒。

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