文、譯/蘇莉（Anastasia Sukhoretskaya）

我看中國(guó)的變化

Seeing China changing

文、譯/蘇莉（Anastasia Sukhoretskaya）

如今，人們?cè)谥袊?guó)超市能買到來(lái)自世界各地的食品

美國(guó)普利策獎(jiǎng)得主喬恩·米查姆在他的作品中寫道: “很多人，包括很多商界領(lǐng)袖，都認(rèn)為未來(lái)屬于中國(guó)?！眴潭髡J(rèn)為，中國(guó)充滿希望的未來(lái)歸功于中國(guó)正在經(jīng)歷的變化。

改革開放30年來(lái)，中國(guó)變化巨大。生活在中國(guó)的外國(guó)人就好像是坐上了長(zhǎng)途火車的游客，將要經(jīng)歷一段充滿光明的旅程。我們其中一些人早就踏上了這列火車，而有的人則是剛剛加入?！袄铣丝汀?比 “新來(lái)的” 有優(yōu)勢(shì)，因?yàn)樗麄冇H眼見(jiàn)證了中國(guó)的主要變化。不過(guò)轉(zhuǎn)型仍在進(jìn)行，要踏上體驗(yàn)變化中的中國(guó)的美妙旅程永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)太晚。

Once American Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham, said in one of his works∶ “A lot of people, including business-leaders, think the future belongs to China.” The future of China, Jon was talking about, owes the changes that the Middle Kingdom is experiencing now.

It has been more than thirty years now, since China started opening up to the world, embracing the changes the transition period has brought. All foreigners, currently living in this new China, are passengers on a long-distance train having embarked on a journey to a hopefully bright future. Some of us hopped on this train earlier, some of us have just joined. The oldest “passengers” on the “train” have an advantage over the “newcomers”, as they have seen the major changes in China with their own

eyes. But transition is still in process, and it is never too late to start this wonderful trip around changing China.

2009年我第一次來(lái)中國(guó)，至今已經(jīng)6年多了。在那段時(shí)間里，我掌握了中文，走過(guò)了中國(guó)的很多地方，跟當(dāng)?shù)厝撕烷L(zhǎng)年居住在中國(guó)的外國(guó)人聊過(guò)天。結(jié)合我的所見(jiàn)所聞，以及相關(guān)的資料報(bào)道，我總結(jié)了這些年我眼中中國(guó)的變化。

“中國(guó)進(jìn)步和變化的速度比上海的磁懸浮列車還要快!”一位記者在他的文章中指出。關(guān)于鐵路系統(tǒng)，特別是高速列車，這位記者的比喻是對(duì)的。目前中國(guó)有世界上最長(zhǎng)的高速鐵路網(wǎng)，長(zhǎng)度超過(guò)一萬(wàn)公里，其中包括世界上最長(zhǎng)的高鐵線路，從北京到廣州長(zhǎng)達(dá)2298公里的高速鐵路。在中國(guó)出行，高鐵可以替代飛機(jī)。不是說(shuō)高鐵便宜，但是毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)比飛機(jī)安全和方便多了，至少不會(huì)因?yàn)樘鞖獾脑蚨诱`。更重要的是，中國(guó)把自己的高鐵 “出口”到了其他國(guó)家，比如俄羅斯。中俄兩國(guó)簽訂了重大協(xié)議：中國(guó)允諾投資建筑喀山-莫斯科-北京的高鐵項(xiàng)目。這條鐵路建完后，從俄羅斯到中國(guó)只需要兩三天，比西伯利亞大鐵路時(shí)間短多了。

其次，對(duì)外國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，生活在中國(guó)一年比一年方便了。最明顯的是現(xiàn)在你可以在幾乎所有的大型超市購(gòu)買到進(jìn)口商品。隨著越來(lái)越多的外國(guó)人涌向上海、北京這樣的一線城市，越來(lái)越多的進(jìn)口商品開始出現(xiàn)在中國(guó)超市的貨架上。四五年前，北京很難找到進(jìn)口商品，現(xiàn)在，喜歡吃意大利面或比利時(shí)巧克力的人都能在超市找到他們的最愛(ài)。我現(xiàn)在可以買到荷蘭奶酪、德國(guó)香腸、俄羅斯巧克力、魚子醬、各種各樣的酸奶、不甜的面包、西式糕點(diǎn)……而且這些只是我冰箱里的存貨!

第三，我承認(rèn)生活在首都有其優(yōu)點(diǎn)。之前，人們總抱怨空氣質(zhì)量不好（現(xiàn)在北京人也會(huì)抱怨，但比以前少一些了），于是中國(guó)政府積極采取措施來(lái)解決首都污染的問(wèn)題。多虧北京召開的大型國(guó)際會(huì)議，生活在首都的人可以享受比較清潔的空氣。去年亞太經(jīng)合組織峰會(huì)（APEC）召開之前，沒(méi)人相信北京的藍(lán)天能在會(huì)議結(jié)束之后還保持一段時(shí)間，人們還創(chuàng)造了一個(gè)新詞 “APEC 藍(lán)”來(lái)表示一些持續(xù)時(shí)間很短的事物。然而，從那時(shí)起，我們呼吸的空氣比以前更清潔。據(jù)報(bào)道，空氣污染減少了約13%。盡管北京空氣污染好轉(zhuǎn)了，但仍然需要進(jìn)一步改善。

I frst came to China in 2009, and it has been almost six years now. During that time, I have mastered Chinese to the level that allows me to write and speak in this language. I travelled a lot around China, talked to the local people and those foreign “dinosaurs” who has been living in the Middle Kingdom for more than 20 years. Having summed up my own experience and the trustful stories from those people, as well as some literature on the corresponding topic, I have come up with my own list of what was changed in China.

“The speed of progress and change in China is faster than a Shanghai‘maglev’– a super bullet train that reaches a top speed of 260 mph”, states Jeff Walsh in one of his articles on China. And yes, it was a perfect comparison when it comes to railway system, especially high-speed trains, in China. Now China has the world’s longest HSR network with over 10,000km of routes in service including the world’s longest line, the 2,298 km Beijing-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway. Taking a bullet train to your destination in China is now a great alternative to planes. Not that it is cheaper but certainly, much safer and more convenient as you won’t expect delays due to bad weather conditions. What is more, China is “importing” its HSR network to other countries. Like Russia. A huge deal between two countries was sealed with a contract∶ China promised to invest in building of a high-speed railroad that would connect Kazan, Moscow and Beijing and would take you from Russia to China within a couple of days, which is a way shorter time comparing to Trans-Siberian train rout.

Secondly, year by year, China is becoming more foreigner-friendly and the biggest indicator of that change is that now you can buy imported goods in almost all big supermarkets. As more and more foreigners food to the frst-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, it is inevitable that more imported goods begin to fll shelves in the Chinese supermarkets. Some four or fve years ago, the choice was rather limited. Those who cannot live without their favorite spaghetti or Belgium chocolate, now have options. Dutch cheese, German sausages, Russian chocolate, caviar and cottage cheese, sour cream, a wide choice of yogurts, bread which is not sweet, and Western-style cakes, are all available now, and that’s just in my fridge!

Thirdly, I must admit here that living in a capital has its advantages. Before, the beijingers lamented a lot over the air quality (and still do, however, but a little less), so now the government takes real measures to tackle the pollution problem in the capital. Thanks to Beijing being a host to offcial visits and summits of international importance, now we can enjoy a cleaner air in the capital. A new term “APEC blue”, coined just last year, is still used to indicate something short-living. No one actually believed that the amazingly clear blue sky over Beijing last autumn would last longer than the APEC summit. However, since then, we breathe much cleaner air. Reportedly, the air pollution has been reduced by around 13%. In spite of Beijing air pollution getting less deadly, further improvement in the air quality is still required.

然而，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)政策并沒(méi)有多大變化。一些外國(guó)網(wǎng)站如 Facebook、Google 和 Instagram在中國(guó)仍然無(wú)法連接。盡管如此，對(duì)于中國(guó)來(lái)說(shuō)這不是一個(gè)大問(wèn)題。本地巨頭如騰訊微信、新浪微博、中國(guó)搜索引擎百度可以完全替代 Twitter, Facebook 和 Google。

最后，中國(guó)在國(guó)際舞臺(tái)上展現(xiàn)著越來(lái)越強(qiáng)的實(shí)力。AIIB (亞洲基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施投資銀行)和 “一帶一路”戰(zhàn)略的出臺(tái)標(biāo)志著中國(guó)正在領(lǐng)導(dǎo)建立新的規(guī)則。許多國(guó)家都希望與中國(guó)成為朋友，國(guó)家“軟實(shí)力”正在變得更強(qiáng)。外國(guó)企業(yè)現(xiàn)在有新的商業(yè)機(jī)會(huì)，外國(guó)人也有更多新的工作機(jī)會(huì)。對(duì)于中國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，現(xiàn)在申請(qǐng)外國(guó)簽證變得更容易了。越來(lái)越多的國(guó)家為中國(guó)游客簡(jiǎn)化了簽證手續(xù)。2014年，新出臺(tái)的美國(guó)簽證政策讓中國(guó)人赴美簽證的期限由一年延長(zhǎng)為10年。

下一個(gè)重大轉(zhuǎn)變是獨(dú)生子女政策的改變。現(xiàn)在中國(guó)家庭可以有兩個(gè)孩子。即使生育高峰可能不會(huì)發(fā)生，但那些想有第二個(gè)小孩的家長(zhǎng)可以松一口氣了。

在即將到來(lái)的幾年里，我們還能看到什么變化？我無(wú)法回答這個(gè)問(wèn)題。但肯定的是，我們生活在大變化中的中國(guó)，全世界都在密切關(guān)注著她的未來(lái)。我們很難準(zhǔn)確預(yù)測(cè)未來(lái)到底會(huì)發(fā)生什么，但有一點(diǎn)可以肯定，那就是中國(guó)將永遠(yuǎn)處在變化之中。

中國(guó)家庭現(xiàn)在可以有兩個(gè)孩子，這將是一個(gè)顛覆性的變化

There is not much change in the Internet policy, however. Those foreign websites like Facebook, Google and Instagram still cannot be accessed in China. Nevertheless, for the Chinese it is not a big deal. Local giants like Tencent WeChat, Weibo, Chinese search engine Baidu can perfectly substitute Tweeter, Facebook and Google.

The last but not the least, China is gaining power on the international arena. Creation of AIIB (Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank) in 2014 and introducing “One Belt, One Road” in 2013, are all signs of China is able to dictate its own rules to the world. Everyone wants to be friends with China. “Soft power” is getting frmer. There are new possibilities for foreign businesses and more new job opportunities for foreigners. To apply for a foreign visa for a Chinese citizen is now getting easier. More and more countries are simplifying visa procedures for the Chinese citizens. Two years ago, it became possible for the Chinese to apply for a ten – year visa to the United States.

Another big shift that was expected by many a parent in China is changing the one-child policy. Now the Chinese citizens can have two children without being afraid of paying big fnes to the government. And even though the “baby boom” is not likely to happen, those who cherished a dream of having a second baby now can sigh with relief.

What other changes are we to see in the forthcoming years? I cannot give an answer to this question. But defnitely, we are living in the epoch of big changes in China that the whole world is now closely watching. It is hard to predict exactly what the future holds in store for China and its citizens. Nevertheless, one thing is for sure – China will never be the same again.