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MSNBC电视主播克里斯•马修斯(Chris Matthews)和夫人在五一节前专门跑来中国游历。作为第一次来中国的人,他看到的是满满的“正能量”,没有说雾霾,没有说不文明行为,而是保持一种尊敬的态度在看这个国家。
克里斯•马修斯和妻子凯瑟琳在杭州
网易教育讯 MSNBC电视主播克里斯•马修斯(Chris Matthews)和夫人在五一节前专门跑来中国游历。作为第一次来中国的人,他看到的是满满的“正能量”,并专门在自己的节目"Hardball"里细细地说了一番。
在这十天里,马修斯没有提到雾霾,没有提到不文明行为,而是保持一种尊敬的态度在看这个国家。以下是文章摘选:
You’ve heard of “the 10 days that shook the world” about the Russian Revolution of 1917. Well, the 10 days I spent in today’s China certainly shook me.
你可能听过人们关于俄罗斯1917年革命的《震撼世界的十天》。好吧,在中国度过的十天,同样也震撼了我。
Here in New York, what we proudly call the “Big Apple,” there are eight million people. In China there are eight cities as big as New York: Guangzhou, a city I had never heard of, has 13 million; Beijing, the capital: 18 million; Shanghai: 23 million.
我们自豪地称纽约为“大苹果”,这里有800万人口。而在中国,有八个像纽约一样大的城市:广州,一个我从没听说过的城市,有1300万人;首都北京:1800万人,上海:2300万人。
The country has 20 cities as big as Los Angeles, nearly 50 as large as my hometown of Philadelphia! Kathleen and I spent time in the resort town of Hangzhou, China’s version of Lake George up in New York. Even it had six and a half million people.
中国有20个跟洛杉矶一样大的城市,相当于我的故乡费城的50倍大。凯瑟琳和我在度假城市杭州呆了几天,这地方就像是中国版的纽约州乔治湖(美国著名度假胜地),而即便是这里也有650万人。
These cities are not what you’d think. Yes, there’s lots of drab buildings and entangled, congested freeways. But even Beijing has its old lakeside neighborhoods. Shanghai is like a grander Chicago, an architect’s delight. (I say that as one who loves Chicago.) It’s got a skyline that’s gone up in four years, and five miles of the old French part of town, block after block, where you think you’re somewhere in France itself.
这些城市并不是你们想的那样。是的,这里有很多乏味的建筑,纠结拥堵的车道。但是即使是北京也有滨临湖畔的居民区。上海则像是一个更宏大的芝加哥,是建筑师的乐园(我是做为一个热爱芝加哥的人这样说的)。在四年里上海的建筑轮廓线在不断上升,这些新建筑在旧法国街道的5英里处,在这些一个街区连着一个街区的旧城里,你就感觉深处法国一样。
And guess what? The Chinese love it. In all the big cities, you see giant billboards for designer products from Europe, their look as elegantly continental as the showpiece ads here in mid-town New York.
而且猜不到的是,中国人喜欢这样。在所有大城市,你都能看到大型的广告牌,展示来自欧洲的设计产品,他们看起来都是典雅的欧洲大陆风格——就像纽约城里的广告一样。
I get the idea that the Chinese consumer likes getting their hamburgers from McDonald’s, their chicken and French fries from KFC, their java from Starbucks. But their notions of style are European and continental, just like us.
我的印象是中国人在麦当劳买汉堡、在肯德基买炸鸡和薯条、在星巴克买咖啡,但是他们对于时尚品味的追求,依然偏好欧洲大陆——跟我们一样。
There’s a lot of confidence in their booming country. I can see why. The construction doesn’t stop on weekends. If you figure we humans reach full-size at age 18, I’d say China is about five and growing fast. It’s nowhere near where it’s going to be–and not that many years off.
对于这个国家的繁荣很多人都充满信息,我总算知道为什么了。建筑工地在周末并不会停工,如果你认为18岁是一个人成熟的年龄,我想中国目前是5岁,但成长非常迅速。它距离成年还有很远距离——但不会看起来那么长。
A couple things surprised me. It’s called a Communist country, but there is nothing like the universal safety net we have for seniors here in America. No Social Security, no Medicare, just whatever a person’s home village provides. It’s very catch as catch can.
还有一些事情让我感到吃惊。这里被称为共产主义国家。但是没有任何类似美国老年人享有的普遍社会保障的东西。没有社会保险、没有“医疗照顾计划”,只有一个人家乡的村子所能提供的东西(这里纯属作者个人感受)。
There was a sunny serenity in the parts of the country I visited, nothing like the grimness I saw behind the old Iron Curtain in Europe in those months when the Berlin Wall finally came down.
在我游览的那些中国地区,到处充满朝气。一点也不像柏林墙倒塌后几个月,我在铁幕另一侧看到的死气沉沉。
But it’s not a free country obviously. There are no civil rights. The government does what it wishes. People put up with it. But one thing we have to know is that the government and the people agree on one issue: China itself. They want China to have all of China, all of what they see as historically China’s.
(网易小编:涉人权部分为作者个人表述,很有美国民主党人的口吻。)有一件事我们必须明白,(中国)政府和人民在一件事上有共识:中国。他们要中国是一个完全的中国,包括所有那些他们认为历史上属于中国的东西。
This is something we will have to deal with, and deal smartly when we do. It’s not just the government of the People’s Republic who are sensitive on this issue of national territory. It’s the people themselves.
我们必须应对这事,而且要聪明地处理。不只是这个人民共和国的政府对领土问题敏感,它的人民也同样敏感。
The one reaction I experienced in my 10 days in today’s China: respect. Profound respect for what this country has done with itself in such an incredibly short time–and it’s only just begun.
对于我十天里在当代中国的经历,最主要的反应就是尊敬,对于这个国家在这么短的时间内取得的成就发自内心的尊敬——而且这一切才刚刚开始。
个人简介:马修斯现年69岁(1945年生),民主党员,天主教徒。他的节目”Hardball with Chris Mathews”在美国东部时间每晚7点播出。
(David)
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