bleh
Posted by wangbo in tilting at windmills on April 1, 2008
Some thoughts that have been ruminating on the remnants of my brain since that torch lighting ceremony in Greece not long ago….
I think it was the (well warranted) cynicism of this post that finally spurred me into writing these thoughts down… No, I don’t think; I know.
Anyway, I saw the coverage of the rehearsals and dress rehearsals of the ceremony and the ceremony itself on various Chinese TV stations- mostly by default because it’s usually my wife who watches TV and not myself. My biggest impression of the whole thing was:
WHAT POMPOUS GITS!!!!!
Really, I just could not get past the ridiculous pomposity of the whole torch-lighting ceremony in “Olympia”.
Yeah, incredibly and unjustifiably pompous, and amazingly poorly acted. Had I been the casting director of a B- grade Hollywood made for TV film, I would not have hired the actors involved in that torch-lighting pomposity.
And the none-too-subtle neo-paganism of the whole thing, as if sport in general, or more specifically, the “Olympic movement” were in any way an adequate substitute for more established religions, now that did nothing to add to my respect for the Olympics.
Now, don’t get me wrong: If you want to see the Olympics as pure sporting spectacle, then you have my full support, because that is all the Olympics should be. If you want to take the Olympics as they actually have been since at least 1984 (and probably since 1936), as the world’s greatest marketing festival, with sports as a mere medium for said marketing, then you have my grudging acceptance of reality. If you see the Olympics as some kind of “coming out party” for China, in which China demonstrates her greatness, then please, I do not disagree with you, I just wish you’d take a good, hard look at the trouble that plans on making an appearance in Beijing in August this year.
I don’t know how to express my opinions on the Olympics clearly, because my opinions are too tied up with the Olympics as the currently are, and I can only see trouble coming from outside to piss on China’s parade, and I don’t like that, I don’t see any justification for it, and I wish the world would just grow up, but still, all I can see is trouble. I can’t see the Olympics as a “movement” in any sense because they aren’t. They just plain aren’t. They have no ideals, no doctrines, no beliefs, no nothing, just a whole lot of fatuous 臭狗屁 (stinky dog farts) designed to keep us watching this big sports event every four years so the advertisers will be happy. Yeah, apparently there were other ideals back before the Olympics were politicised/marketingicised (is there a difference any more?), but that brings me back to the absurd and thoroughly ridiculous (and incredibly poorly acted) neo-paganism of the [cough; splutter] “movement”.
Put it this way: Every country that has ever hosted the Olympics has a shite hugh man writes record. I don’t know how you compare those countries, because I don’t know how you compare different kinds of evil: example: Which was worse, the Holocaust or the Rape of Nanking? Right, both were equally evil, but for different reasons. So what gives Seoul or LA or Atlanta or London or Sydney any greater right to host the Olympics than Beijing?
Exactly. They’re all bad, and they’re all good, and it doesn’t fucking matter because that’s how it is in this world. As Jesus himself said: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” (Gospel According to John, Chapter 8 Verse 7- but there is apparently some discussion as to the place and position of this story in scripture).
But I’ve lost track of what I was actually trying to say.
Yeah, there’s many things about the Olympics that worry me, and many, many reasons why I plan to spend August on a mountainside in Yanqing.
But what really disturbed me about the torch lighting ceremony and the subsequent following of the torch was not just the incredible pomposity of the whole thing, but the ridiculous neo-paganism.
I mean, it looked and sounded like a really childish attempt at recreating a religious ceremony by people who have never either seen or heard of gods or the spiritual or religions ever in their lives. As if they’d dredged the ancient worship of Zeus or whoever out of a books about the ancient Olympics and tried to recreate that without any particular spiritual or religious feeling themselves…. oh, wait…..
And I always detected that subtly neo-pagan undercurrent in the Olympics, or at least, I think I always did. It’s become ever more apparent this time ’round, though I don’t know whether that’s due to any particular aspect of the Beijing Olympics, my slowly advancing age, living in an “Olympic city”, or what.
Whatever, two things struck me about that torch-lighting ceremony: The pomposity; and the neo-paganism.
The pomposity is, well, irritating, but deal-able-with. The neo-paganism really disturbs me. I mean, seeing the Olympics as a sporting even supported by advertising is fine; seeing it as a marketing fest run through the medium of sport is perhaps more accurate, and still fine from a purely pragmatic point of view; seeing this particular Olympics as China’s “coming out party” is perfectly understandable and totally ok; using this Olympics as an excuse to bash Beijing is incredibly stupid and childish; using the “Olympic movement” to establish some kind of new pagan religion based on the physical potential of the human body, with the slogan citius, altius, fortius (or whatever it’s supposed to be) as it’s excuse for doctrine is beyond absurd, and yet, that seems to be the aim of the IOC.
And “Olympic movement” appears in scare quotes because a four-yearly festival of marketing through the medium of sports with a large but undeveloped neo-pagan undercurrent does not a movement make.
Yeah, I hope the Beijing Olympics go off with a huge bang and no hitches; I hope it turns out to be an incredibly brilliant celebration of human potential. Trouble is, I’ve seen too much of this world, and I can see too much of what plans to come Beijing’s way this August. I still plan to spend August this year on a mountainside in Yanqing, far, far away from the trouble I foresee.
drivers’ licences
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study, news on April 1, 2008
It’s going to get harder to learn to drive in Beijing– as I’m sure you’re all happy to know.
新京报/The Beijing News’ Wang Shu reports (I seem to be translating a lot of her stories):
北京考驾照难度加大
Obtaining a drivers’ licence in Beijing will become more difficult
在京考驾照拿车本，交规考试题库将新增300多道考题；实际路考行驶距离将适当延长，考官将重点考核考生是否能与前车保持安全距离等安全驾驶意识。北京市交管局昨日消息，根据公安部要求，近期，北京驾驶员考试难度将再次加大。
300 new questions will be added to the question pool for the road rules test for obtaining a drivers’ licence in Beijing; the safe distance between vehicles on the practical driving test will be extended, examiners will emphasise the ability to maintain a safe distance from preceeding vehicles and other driving safety awareness of examinees. The Beijing municipal traffic department reported yesterday that, in accordance with the requirements of the Ministry of Public Security, the difficulty of the drivers’ examination in Beijing will once again be made more difficult.
I’m sorry, but I’m too tired to translate all of this right now. I’m butting my head up against too many sentences that seem to be missing a main verb and similar such problems. You can blame the HSK practice test I did last night for my current state. The rest of the week should be a bit easier, though, as the next two days will be all tests- oh, wait, that means I’ll have 150-odd essays to mark…. Anyway, suffice it to say that the drivers’ licence exam will be made more difficult in line with last year’s Decree 91 from the Ministry of Public Security, and the authorities are trying to deepen students’ understanding of the road code and their practical driving abilities before they get on the road for real and start causing trouble. They’re trying to improve traffic safety by improving the quality and abilities of drivers, in other words. You can follow the link above and check out the details yourselves.
a few random thots
Posted by wangbo in life in Beijing, random on March 31, 2008
Just a few random thots from this morning’s trip out to ErWai:
- You know the courtroom scene near the beginning of Police Story where the defence lawyer is picking holes in Jackie Chan’s testimony by pointing out how many buses were scheduled to pass the dye factory/slum they smashed up, and Jackie Chan retorts “Haven’t you ever waited half an hour for a bus?” Yeah, that was the start of my morning. Waiting half an hour for a bus, I mean, not a heated, sarcastic back-and-forth between a defence lawyer and a prosecution witness. Well, it seemed like it took half an hour for the bloody 649 to show up. Then, of course, we got stuck in traffic jams at the Baiziwan bottle-neck, then again at Sihui… Managed to get there just after ten, though, so not too bad. But the wait… I remember back when the 649 was the 928支1, and there were so many of them that was the bus I usually took up to Soho. Then they seemed to start “losing” buses somehow, then it became the 649, then…. Argh, well, got there soon enough, anyway.
- I never managed to find a reason to respect ErWai as a university. Seeing the teaching materials the English Department handed out to lzh’s class took care of that. But ErWai really does have a very nice campus. It’s so quiet and peaceful and clean. Clean, but you’re advised to wear a hat you don’t mind getting dirty, those trees are full of birds, and the state of the footpaths shows just how productive those birds can be. But yeah, it’s a really nice campus, small, but very well appointed.
- I was weirdly nervous when I found the office to register for the HSK, I don’t know why. But it was really easy. Still, it’s not a good idea to forget how to write your Chinese name when you’re registering for a Chinese proficiency test…. I moved on to other parts of the form and went back to the name thing when my brain started cooperating again. Kinda strange, considering the only part of the form you fill out in any language other than Chinese is the English name field, and no other part of the form gave me any trouble. Doesn’t matter, I managed to get 王博 written there well enough for the people in the office to recognise what it’s supposed to be.
- Dammit! They didn’t let me choose between the old and new versions of the HSK! I have no idea which one it’ll be! Oh well, I’ll just have to prepare as best I can. Also, I don’t recall ever being asked which level I was registering for…. I hope I’m down for the intermediate level…. I will not be happy if I get the Advanced test.
- Hehe, they thought I was a student! I guess I dress like a student most of the time, and I’m still not old enough to really stand out from the others. Still, I did feel a little awkward filling in one form and writing ’31’ in the age field when everybody on the form above me was in their early 20s. When I first arrived in China, those kids were just starting high school at most, and now I’m sitting an exam with them….. I’m getting old…..
- I can’t sprint fast enough. Coming out of ErWai I saw a bus at the bus stop. I thought, yeah, knowing my luck that’ll be the 649. No, it was a 728, so that’s ok. Then the 728 pulled away, and what was behind it? A 649. Shit! Sprint! The bus pulled away just before I got to the bus stop, but the driver was oh so conveniently looking the other way and didn’t see me try to flag him down. Wound up getting the next 728 into Bawangfen then catching the next bus heading south from there. We caught up with that 649 at Pingleyuan, only two stops out from home, so I guess it wouldn’t’ve made any difference if I’d sprinted faster or managed to flag the bus down.
- On the bus south from Bawangfen, I was in the back row of seats. A guy at the other end of the row got a phone call. His part of the conversation went “我在外面玩… 马上就到家了。” Except the 马上 sounded more like mǎhàr than mǎshàng. One for Beijing Sounds? Yeah, ‘cept I didn’t get a recording, sorry.
- The Broadcasting Institute has changed its name from 广播学院 to 转媒学院.
- Yesterday and today I saw new trains on the subway line 1. They look pretty awesome, all futuristicky and sci-fi-ish. Well, like cool new subway trains, at least.
- I was a bit reluctant to register for the HSK. Registration is like finally facing up to an impending problem that you’ve been doing your best to ignore in the hope that it’ll miraculously go away even though you know you have no choice but to face it, like you’ve been sticking your fingers in your ears and closing your eyes and chanting “Nananana!” as a tsunami roars up onto the beach. But it felt good walking out with my registration certificate and the guy’s clear directions about what to bring and where to go on the day fresh in my mind, almost like a relief, like opening your eyes to see that the tsunami was just a big wave which broke on the breakwater and did no more damage than getting you a little wet. I know, way overly melodramatic for simple registration for an exam, I’m sorry.
Well, that’s about all.
Go Gansu!
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study, life in Beijing on March 30, 2008
新京报/The Beijing News carries a Xinhua report on a new development in Gansu’s wind power industry:
甘肃有望成为最大风能产业带
Gansu hopes to become because wind power production belt
酒泉1000万千瓦级风电项目获批，“风电走廊”设想渐成现实
Jiuquan’s 10 million kilowatt wind power project approved, “Wind Power Corridor” dream gradually becomes reality
据新华社电 日前，随着甘肃省酒泉市1000万千瓦级风电基地建设项目获国家发改委批准及立项建设，甘肃河西走廊构建“风电走廊”的设想正在一步步变成现实。专家分析，甘肃省有望在今后10年内成为全国最大的风能产业带。
Xinhua reports: A few days ago, following the approval by the National Development and Reform Commission and commencement of construction of Jiuquan City, Gansu Province’s 10 million kilowatt wind power base construction project, the dream of establishing a “Wind Power Corridor” in Gansu’s Hexi Corridor is step by step becoming reality. According to expert analysis, Gansu Province will hopefully become China’s largest wind power production belt within ten years.
甘肃省风能资源丰富。据甘肃省气象局最新一次风能评估结果表明，全省风能资源总储量为2．37亿千瓦，占全国总储量的7．3％，技术可开发量2700万千瓦，占全国的10．6％。可利用区域面积5万平方公里，占全省面积的10．6％。
Gansu Province has abundant wind power resources. According to the Gansu Provincial Meteorology Bureau the results of the latest wind power evaluation make clear that the province has 237 million kilowatts of reserve wind power resources, makingup 7.3% of the country’s total reserves, and technology can exploit 27 million kilowatts, or 10.6% of the national total. Exploitable regions cover an area of 50 thousand square kilometres, or 10.6% of the total area of the province.
据了解，甘肃省的风能资源主要分布在河西走廊。在这一绵延1000多公里的狭长走廊内，不但有“世界风库”瓜州、“风口”玉门，其他地区也分布丰富的风能资源，具备建设大中型风力发电站的良好条件。
It is said that Gansu Province’s wind power resources are mainly distributed along the Hexi Corridor. This long, thin corridor stretching over 1000 kilometres doesn’t only have the “World’s Wind Warehouse” Zhuazhou and “Mouth of the Wind” Yumen, but abundant wind resources are also distributed over other areas, possessing good conditions for the establishment of medium- and large-scale wind power stations.
为了把风力资源优势转化为清洁能源优势，近年甘肃省提出建设河西“风电走廊”、建造西部“陆上三峡”的战略目标。截至2007年底，甘肃省风电装机容量已达到50万千瓦。目前，在酒泉地区，年风力发电量已达到8亿千瓦时，风电装机容量占到了全国的1/5。
To transform this superiority of wind power resources into a superiority of clean energy, in recent years Gansu Province has put forward the strategic targets of building the Hexi “wind power corridor” and building a western “Three Gorges on land”. By the end of 2007, Gansu Province’s installed wind generation capacity had already reached 500 thousand kilowatts. At present in the Jiuquan region, annual wind electricity production has already reached 800 million kilowatt hours and installed wind power capacity is one fifth of the national total.
Which is not just good news, but really impressive, too.
I dunno, there’s not a lot of news coming out of Gansu, but what little makes it onto the national stage leaves me with the impression that, at least in the environmental area, the Gansu provincial government has some pretty progressive policies. Go Gansu!
book shopping
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study, life in Beijing on March 30, 2008
We had to go to the Foreign Languages Bookstore on Wangfujing today, and, well, never take me to a bookstore- I’ll happily wander around the store sifting through all the books for hours on end, closely examining anything of even the slightest interest.
Anyway, we hadn’t been to the Foreign Languages Bookstore for ages, and it has changed, drastically. Changed for the better, I might add, it no longer feels like the last hold-out from 1976 and actually looks and feels like a real bookstore. The changes were a bit disorienting at first, but we quickly got our bearings and found the books we needed within a few minutes. Then I set about sifting.
The new English translation of Jiang Rong’s Wolf Totem was on prominent display at the end of the first row of shelves, facing the door so that it was the first thing I saw when we stepped inside. I noticed the price, though, and thought, nah.
Actually, prices were something I noticed: They’re getting noticeably higher. Also, the staff still haven’t noticed that many Chinese publishers are no longer printing the price of their books on the back cover or with the copyright information. They long ago noticed that foreign publishers don’t do that and so they’re well used to putting price stickers on books, but somehow… Oh well.
And then I found a book to buy. Funny, I used to always leave that store with a huge stack of books, but today I bought only one, but it looks really interesting. It’s Filming as War Clouds Loom in 1937- 6000km with a Cinecam by Sun Mingjing, translated by Sun Jianqiu, published in 2006 by the Foreign Languages Press. Sun Mingjing was a professor of cinematography at the University of Nanking and in 1937 he was sent up to Suiyuan to make a documentary. He shot 2000 feet of film and 813 photographs, and wrote 25 letters to his fiancee back in Nanjing. When he got back he put the letters and photos together with 10 drawings of the war situation into a book, but because of the war it wasn’t published and the drawings were lost. Then the photos burnt during the Cultural Revolution- although fortunately the negatives survived- and his book was not finally published until 2004, eight years after his death.
The idea of a journey from Nanjing northwards to Suiyuan in 1937, just as the war was about to break out seems absolutely fascinating, and the little I’ve seen of the book so far has me intrigued. And the photos, wow. I just saw some of the Juyongguan and Badaling sections of the Great Wall lying in disrepair and overgrown- ever so slightly different from today’s shiny, new, rebuilt tourist circuses with a major expressway running through them. And there’s plenty more- 187 photos in all.
Yep, I’m looking forward to reading this book.
hmmm….
Apparently security in Tiananmen Square is going to be tightened in the run-up to the Olympics. Hardly surprising, really.
天安门地区将实施随时安检
Random security checks to be carried out in the Tiananmen area
Random? Not quite right, is it. At any time, anyway.
天安门地区管理规定修订，预计奥运会前实施，将长期执行
Management regulations for the Tiananmen area have been revised, predicted to be carried out before the Olympics, implemented over the long term
I’m not going to translate the whole thing, firstly because that links to what looks like a page of articles, secondly because my brain still hurts from Thursday’s effort, and most importantly because it’s nearly lunchtime and we’re planning on heading out into the fog to a local restaurant we like. But what’s all this about?
新京报/The Beijing News’ Wu Di reports:
今后，公安人员将对天安门广场的游客进行不定期的安全检查，这一规定已经被写进修订后的天安门地区管理规定，预计奥运之前将开始实施。这是昨天北京市政府法制办新闻发布会上透露的消息。
From today on, Public Security personnel will carry out security checks on tourists in Tiananmen Square over an indefinite period. This regulation has already been written into the revised Management Regulations for the Tiananmen Area, and is expected to be implemented before the Olympics. This was reported at yesterday’s Beijing Municipal Government Legal Office news conference.
You know, I guess I just always assumed that the police and other security officials around the Square could- and did- carry out random checks on characters they deemed suspicious. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I mean, the Square has always been a trouble magnet.
But there’s more. The next section is entitled:
天安门服务设施将统一
Tiananmen service facilities to be unified
Unfortunately the first paragraph is a list- and a rather vague list, at that- of a whole lot of legislative projects for this year, among which are public security projects. The second paragraph is more specific, and tells us that among the revisions to the Management Regulations for the Tiananmen Area are additions that:
天安门地区的商业、文化等服设施将统一化
Unify the commercial, cultural and other service facilities of the Tiananmen Area
and:
公安部门将有权对天安门地区进行安检
Public Security officials will have the right to carry out security checks in the Tiananmen are
Oh? So they didn’t have that right before? Guess I assumed wrong.
“事实上现在公安部门已经在对天安门地区进行不定期安检了。”
“In fact Public Security officials now have already been carrying out security checks over an indefinite period.”
Ah, right, confusion not cleared up…
张培莉透露，安检内容将涉及危险化学品以及其他危害公共安全和秩序的违禁品等。
Zhang Peili divulged that the details of the security checks will involve such things as checks for dangerous chemicals and other contraband threatening public security and order.
Goes without saying, really.
The next section merely points out that many incidents have happened in the Square in recent years, and Zhang Peili tells us that this is not just about building a harmonious social environment for the Olympics, it will also be carried out over the long term.
Ah, and those other articles that follow on this page? Not immediately relevant. However, the last one is:
机关办公场所纳入禁烟区
Organs will introduce smoke-free areas
吸烟室标准出台，室内公共场所将逐步全面禁烟
Smokers’ room standards have appeared, public indoor areas will progressively comprehensively ban smoking
Yeah, really fudged that one, didn’t I? Ah well, doesn’t matter. Apparently from May a lot more smoke-free areas will be added.
But you know what? I’m getting hungry, so I think I’ll leave the translation to somebody else.
returning home, remembering
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study on March 27, 2008
Xiao Han has returned home, and one of the resulting essays, on meeting old friends and classmates from times long past, is worth a read. This is his introduction:
雲邊居士按：
The scholar residing by the clouds says:
回家已快十天了，短短的这些天里，我见到无数的美景，见到一些事，一些人，尤其是二十多位二十年未见的高中同学，还有小时候的邻家发小，所以忍不住要下笔记几个人，一点事。
It’s nearly ten days since I arrived home, and in these few short days I’ve seen a lot of beautiful scenery, a few things, a few people, especially twenty-odd high school classmates I haven’t seen for twenty years, and my friends from neighbouring families, so I couldn’t help noting down a little about a few people.
我将陆陆续续写一些，有些是我个人的一点情绪，在往事与现实中穿梭，有些则是正在发生的社会故事，总之，没有安排，没有计划，有的只是随便说说。
I’ll just write a few things one after the other, some things are my own feelings, shuttling between reality and past events, some things, on the other hand, are stories happening in society right now. In a word, nothing is arranged, nothing is planned, some things are just whatever comes out my mouth.
The essay is dated 26 March, 2008, the title 乡行散笔之一/The First Note From the Trip Home:
廿二年后的重逢
Meeting Again Twenty Years On
如果不是赵琳提起，我已经差不多完全忘了蒋雯，我想至少20年没见过她，没有过关于她的任何消息，是的，我差不多完全忘掉她了。
If Zhao Lin hadn’t reminded me, I’d have already almost forgotten Jiang Wen [note: not the famous actor/director], I think I haven’t seen her for at least 20 years, haven’t heard any news of her, yeah, almost completely forgot her.
赵琳的提醒，又让我的思绪回到少年时 代。记忆中的蒋雯是个一天到晚笑盈盈的美丽姑娘。在我脑海中，她有一个定格的形象，穿着一件鹅黄色的衣服，瓜子脸上，两颗大眼睛，古人所谓睛如点漆的便 是，总是散发着柔和与善意的笑媕，说她樱桃小口并不过分夸张。她在北边的旧楼房与南边的新楼房之间的水泥路上，款款地走着，不急不慢，或许手里拿着什么， 我记不起了。路的两旁，一边是校园里杂色的草地，一边是小水塘边的春柳，在明媚的阳光下，她款款地走着……
Zhao Lin’s reminder sent my thoughts back to when we were little. Jiang Wen was a pretty girl who had a big smile right through the day. I had an image of her fixed in my mind, wearing light yellow clothes, two big eyes in her melon seed face, eyes like spots of paint, as the ancients said, always with a gentle and benevolent smile. To say she had a mouth like a cherry was no exaggeration. She would stroll along the concrete road between the old houses to the north and the new houses to the south, neither in a hurry, nor slowly, maybe carrying something in her hand, I don’t remember. On one side of the road was the motley lawn of the schoolyard, on the other side were the willows by the pond, in the radiant sunlight she strolled…
这几乎是我对她的全部印象。
This is about all the impression I have of her.
赵琳说她在临海，可能在台师。说她妈妈 ——我记忆中一位能干贤惠的阿姨——多年前劳累过度病逝。听说这些，我很感慨，甚至伤感，记得她妈妈一直是一见我就夸我的和蔼长辈，虽然我记忆中她因为劳 碌而体瘦，脸上的风霜并没有夺去她年轻时候的所有美丽，可是时光如电，这位阿姨竟然已不在了。那么多年没见过蒋雯了，确实挺想知道她过得怎么样了，不仅仅 是好奇，更是因为她留在我心中那份美好的回忆。
Zhao Lin said she’s in Linhai, maybe in Taishi. Said her mum- in my memory a capable, virtuous aunty- died from overwork. Hearing this, I was very emotional, even a little sentimental, remembering her mum would praise the kindliness of my family elders as soon as she saw me. In my memory, although her body was lean through hard toil, the winds and frosts had not taken any of her youth’s beauty from her face. But time is like lightening, and this aunty has already passed on. Having not seen Jiang Wen for so many years, indeed I really wanted to know how she’d been, not just out of curiosity, but also because she’d left such a happy memory in my heart.
我跟赵琳说，如果找到蒋雯的联系方式，一定要告诉我。但就在这次我自己去椒江的路上，我突发奇想，请临海的朋友帮忙，打听一下，结果真是天助我，不到半个小时，临海的朋友就发来了她的电话号码。我一时不及多想，只有一个动作，拨通电话——
I told Zhao Lin, if you find out how to contact Jiang Wen, you must tell me. But it was on this trip of mine to Jiaojiang, I suddenly got this itch, and asked a friend in Linhai to inquire for me, in the end it really was Heaven helping me, in less than half an hour, my friend in Linhai had found her phone number. It was already too late to think further, there was only one thing to do, phone-
我：“我是XX，请问你是蒋雯吗？”
Me: “I’m XX, is this Jiang Wen?”
蒋：“不好意思，你是…？你是…你能说得详细点吗？”
Jiang: “I’m sorry, you are… ? You’re… Can you tell me a little more?”
我：“在天台的时候，咱们是邻居，你住楼上，我住楼下，那时候经常在一起玩的，你一天到晚都是笑的，我爸爸是XXX，你想起来了吗？”
Me: “We were neighbours in Tiantai, you lived upstairs, I lived downstairs. Back then we’d often play together, you smiled all through the day. My dad is XXX, do you remember?”
蒋：“是，是，我是愛笑，现在也这样。哎呀，真是不好意思，我现在真是记性很差，以前的好多事都是一点都记不起，你是XX…呃…XX，有点点想起来了……”
Jiang: “Yes, yes, I was always smiling, still the same now. Aiya, I’m really sorry, my memory is really bad these days, there’s a lot of things from before I can’t remember, you’re XX… ah…. XX, I think I remember…”
我：“你现在都好吧？！说你在台师。”
Me: “How are you these days?! I’ve heard you’re in Taishi.”
蒋：“啊，是的，我在台师。”
Jiang: “Ah, yes, I’m in Taishi.”
我：“我今天去椒江看一个多年老朋友，每年回来我都要去看他的，明天来临海，想看看你，方便吗？”
Me: “I’m going to Jiaojiang to see an old friend today, every year when I go back I visit him, tomorrow I’m coming to Linhai, I would like to see you if that’s ok?”
蒋：“好啊，明天我等你电话。”
Jiang: “Alright, I’ll be waiting for your call tomorrow.”
我：“好的，那明天见。”
Me: “Good, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
蒋：“明天见。”
Jiang: “See you tomorrow.”
电话挂断。我接着给赵琳电话，告诉她已经找到蒋雯的联系方式了，不消说，赵琳和我一样激动。大约半小时后，我的手机响了，蒋雯的电话。
I hung up. I immediately called Zhao Lin to tell her I’d already found how to contact Jiang Wen. Needless to say, we were both equally excited. About half an hour later, my cellphone rang, it was Jiang Wen.
蒋：“你是某某，我都想起来了，刚才赵琳跟我说起一些事，就都想起来了。”
Jiang: “I’ve figured out who you are. Just now Zhao Lin talked to me about a few things, I remembered them all,”
我：“是啊，是啊…”
Me: “Yes, yes…”
蒋：“想起来了，你那时候蛮会干活的，挺像个大人样的，不太说话，……”
Jiang: “I remembered, you could really work back then, really like an adult, but didn’t speak too much… “
我：“呵呵，是这样的。”
Me: “Ahh, that’s right.”
蒋：“好多事都想起来了，明天见了面好好聊。”
Jiang: “I remembered a whole lot of things, when we meet tomorrow we’ll talk about it.”
我：“那么多年你的天台话还那么遛不容易啊。”
Me: “It can’t be easy to keep your Tiantai dialect after such a long time.”
蒋：“嗨，前段时间一些小学时候老同学来联系，就都说回来了。”
Jiang: “Ha, recently a few primary school classmates have been calling me, so my dialect has come back to me.”
我：“敢情你也当我是小学同学了，呵呵。”
Me: “It seems you see me as a primary school classmate, hehe.”
蒋：“刚开始就是嘛。”
Jiang: “Well, you are.”
我：“好吧，明天我去看你。”
Me: “Alright, tomorrow I’ll come to visit you.”
蒋：“嗯，明天见。”
Jiang: “Right, see you tomorrow.”
我：“明天见。”
Me: “See you tomorrow.”
电话挂断。我坐在车上，想起小时候的许多事，在二中时候，教师家属一大群孩子一起看电视、丢沙包、捉迷藏、跳橡皮筋……女孩子们玩的游戏，我参加得并不多，可我们男孩子们玩的游戏，她们女孩子倒参加得不少。
We hung up. I sat in the car thinking of many things from when I was young, when I was in No.2 Middle School, a big group of kids from teachers’ families watching TV together, playing sandbags, hide-and-seek, playing elastics…. I didn’t join in too many of the girls’ games, but quite a few girls joined in us boys’ games.
……
临海的朋友很好客，三位朋友整整陪了我 一整天，中间还惊动了仙居的两位朋友。由于其他事，我直到下午5：30才见到蒋雯。在一个加油站附近，我们远远地通着电话，我见她一袭白格子黑底的衣服， 向我走过来，我也向她走过去。走到近边不到两米远的时候，我笑问道：“还能认出我吗？”
My friend in Linhai is very hospitable, three friends accompanied me the whole day, and in the middle we disturbed two friends from Xianju. For other reasons, I didn’t see Jiang Wen until 5:30 in the afternoon. Near a petrol station, we phoned from far away, I saw her black suit with white spots coming towards me, I also walked towards her. When we were a couple of metres about, I smiled and asked, “Do you still recognise me?”
蒋雯笑说道：“认得，认得，怎么认不得，你变化不大。”
Jiang Wen smiled and said, “I know, I know, how could I not recognise you? You haven’t changed.”
接着我们找了一个茶馆，相对坐下，她要 了一个菊花茶，我要了个立顿红茶。她倚在沙发的右侧靠手上，黑色的手提包放在左边的沙发上，她一边吸着茶，一边平缓地说起小时候那些事，说起她是1986 年全家迁来临海的，也说起她妈妈——那位善良能干的阿姨得病去世的经过，每年清明节左右，她都会梦见她妈妈；又说到小时候捉迷藏、玩各种游戏…说到当时那 些一起玩的发小们现在都在哪里，过得如何；说起她爸爸、她的两个弟弟的生活……
We found a tea house and sat opposite each other. She ordered a chrysanthemum tea, I got a Lipton black tea. She leaned on her arm on the right side of the sofa and placed her black handbag on the left of the sofa. She sipped her tea as she gently talked about things when we were little, said that her family moved to Linhai in 1986, and also talked about her mum- that kind-hearted, capable aunty who died of illness, every year around Qingming she dreams about her mum, also talked about playing hide-and-seek and all the games… talked about all those childhood friends and where they are now and how they’ve been; talked about her father and her two younger brothers’ lives….
“那时候，大家都玩得很好，只有跟XXX不能一起玩，她有一次还把阿平（她小弟）推倒在地上，就是，你也觉得她没法一起玩，你说得没错，她就是跟谁都没法玩到一块儿的；”
“Back then, everybody played so well, it was only with XXX we couldn’t play, one time she pushed A Ping (her younger brother) on the ground, that’s it, you also thought there was no way to play with her, what you said was right, there was just no way she could play with anyone;”
“我出来以后就跟大家失去联系了；”
“After I left I lost touch with everyone;”
“你很懂事的，好像比我们都成熟；啊，就是，捉迷藏的时候，也就钻到床下、床后，XXX这人很好的，哈，你还喜欢过她呀，她是挺不错的，挺漂亮挺稳重的；”
“You’re really smart, you really seemed to be more mature than us; Ah, that’s it, playing hide-and-seek, you’d go straight under the bed, behind the bed. That person XXX was really good, ha, you also liked her, she was really not bad, really pretty, really steady;”
看得出来，蒋雯回忆这些事的时候，挺开 心的，她还是那样，没有什么手势语言，静静地坐着，永远微笑。她的声音，她的笑容都没变，眼神或许不再有少女时候那么无忧无虑，但分明依然快乐、善良，眼 神里也都还是笑，还跟小时候那样无邪清澈，虽然可能已经混杂了二十二年的沧桑，掺杂着一个10岁孩子母亲的辛苦和幸福，交融着一个事业发达男人的妻子的贤 惠。
I could tell, when Jiang Wen was remembering these things, she was really happy, she was still the same, with no body language, quietly sitting, forever smiling. Her voice, her smile, neither had changed, maybe her expression was perhaps wasn’t as carefree as when she was young, but clearly still happy and kind-hearted. There was still a big smile in her expression, still as innocent and clear as when she was young, although perhaps the great changes of 22 years mixed in, with the toil and happiness of the mother of a 10-year-old child mixed in, blended with the virtue of the wife of a man with a developed career.
其他朋友在等我们一起吃饭，我们聊了不 到一个小时。其间，我们甚至没时间感慨时光的转瞬流逝，也没时间细细地蓖捋小时候一起开心过的林林总总。在那群孩子里，我们都不是中心人物，只是和大家玩 在一起，大家开心，我们也一样开心；她是个隐忍的孩子，记得她大弟那时候总欺负她，她至多也就是躲开，从不还手，而她现在都忘了；她也是个懂事的孩子，她 妈妈在的时候，家里都是她妈妈操心，她妈妈走了，我想也就她操心了，虽然没问她，但我想这猜测不会错的。
Other friends were waiting to eat with us, we chatted for less than an hour. We didn’t even have time to lament the passing of time in the mere blink of an eye or to finely dissect the many happy times we spent together as children. Neither of us were central figures in that group of children, we just played with everybody, as everybody was happy, so were we happy; she was a very patient child, I remember the elder of her younger brothers used to bully her, at most she’d just get out of his way, she’d never hit back, and yet she’s completely forgotten now; she was also a clever child, when her mum was alive, her mum took care of everything at home, after her mum died, I believe it was her who took care of all that, although I never asked her, but I’m sure I’m right.
没想到现在，我们都快40了。世界仿佛瞬间变幻，临海也不是我15年前在这里工作的临海了——而她说，那时候她和她妈妈都在我工作单位的附近上班，我每天都经过那里，有时候也进去过她上班的地方，而我们竟然一直没有互相认出来。
I didn’t realise we’re all pushing 40. The world seems to change instantaneously, Linhai also isn’t the Linhai I worked in 15 years ago- and she said, back then she and her mum worked near my work unit, every day I went past there, sometimes even went into their workplace, but for whatever reason we didn’t recognise each other.
吃饭的二个小时里，蒋雯基本上没怎么说 话，只是听我们聊天，她还是跟小时候差不多，除了应酬必须的敬酒，在人多的地方她只是微笑而沉默地应和着，听别人说话。吃完饭，她要回去了，我送她，我们 一起走下楼梯，走出酒店。我叫来出租车，为她打开车门，在一旁看着她上车，她依然微笑着，摇下车窗，与我挥手作别……
Over the two hours we were eating, Jiang Wen basically didn’t speak, just listened to us chatting, she was stil the same as when we were little, apart from the toasts, she just smiled and followed along, listening to people talk. When we’d finished eating, she wanted to go home, I took her back, we took the stairs down together, and left the restaurant. I called a cab and opened the door for her, and from one side watched her get in, she was still smiling, wound down the window, and waved goodbye to me…
在这江南城市华灯错杂的夜晚，出租车缓缓启动，载着我二十二年前的小伙伴，载着我的惆怅，绝尘于我眼前消失了她身影的茫茫车流中……
On this night lit by many lamps and lights in a Jiangnan city, the taxi slowly set off, taking my friend of 22 years ago, taking my melancholy, taking her away just as when she left when we were little, taking her into the vast flow of cars….
（我不知道当事人是否愿意现名于网际，本文中的人名均为化名）
(I’ve changed the names of the people in this story as I don’t know if they want their real names published online)
2008年3月26日於天台家中
From home, 26 March 2008
Wow, my brain is fried after that one. Note to self: Pick articles of a more appropriate length. Really, by the time I’d got half way through this, it had lost all learning value through sheer weight of new words, idioms and constructions.
Also, it’s perhaps a bit too sentimental for my tastes, but there you go, that’s the way it was written and sentimental or not, it was written well. Evocative, I would say, Xiao Han had images, clear images, of old friends meeting in towns that had changed as drastically as they do in China, a sunlight day, parting one damp night lit by street lights and restaurant neon. And the melancholy, well, that’s always going to grab me.
qingming parking
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study, news on March 27, 2008
So Qingming (清明节/Tomb Sweeping Day) is coming up next Friday, and this year, for the first time in the history of the PRC, it will be a public holiday. This means that people will have time to visit their ancestors’ tombs and pay their respects, and it seems the Beijing city government, at least, is preparing for an onslaught of respect-payers. The Beijing News/新京报’s Wang Shu reports that parking could be tight at Babaoshan:
清明八宝山停车位紧张
Babaoshan parking under strain at Qingming
车位仅3000；警方公布4个公墓安保方案
Only 3000 places; police announce four cemetery security plans
清明节期间，八宝山地区因一原有停车场封闭，交管部门临时开辟路侧停车位，停车泊位将较往年略有减少，总量仅达3000个。昨日，北京市交管局相关负责人透露了这一消息。
Over the Qingming holiday period, because a carpark has been closed in the Babaoshan area, the transport management department will open temporary roadside car parking spaces, but the parking spaces will be fewer than in previous years, with the total number reaching only 3000, the relevant authority in the Beijing Municipal Traffic Management Bureau revealed yesterday.
市交管局相关负责人介绍，扫墓必经路段上庄东街北段至梁公庵路口，今年拟临时改为单行路，只允许车辆由南向北单向 行驶。此外，上庄大街仅半幅封路，开辟清明临时停车场，约可停放300辆机动车。因停车资源有限，建议有车族放弃自驾车，选乘公共交通工具。据往年惯例， 清明期间每天9时至11时、14时至15时为两个高峰时段，自驾车最好避开高峰期。
The relevant authority in the municipality Traffic Management Bureau said, to sweep tombs one must pass the section of road from the northern section of Shangzhuang East Road to the entrance of Lianggongan Road. This year it is planned to make that a temporary one-way street, and vehicles will only be allowed to drive from south to north. Also, half of Shangzhuang Dajie will be closed, opening a temporary Qingming carpark capable of holding 300 vehicles. Because of the limitations on car parking space, it is recommended that motorists give up driving themselves and take public transport. Based on previous years’ experience, peak hours over the Qingming period will be from 9 to 11 in the morning and 2 to 3 in the afternoon, and drivers had best avoid these peak periods.
据其介绍，与往年相比，因八宝山地铁站北出站口封闭施工，乘坐地铁须选走南出站口，穿过长安街。届时，长安街南出 口附近的人行过街通道，将有指定交警把守，确保群众安全通过；因火化场清明期间照常施工，革命公墓通往火化场的通道暂无法满足大型车辆通行需求，仅允许小 轿车通过。
According to this, compared with previous years, because the north exit of Babaoshan subway station is closed due to construction work, subway passengers must leave from the south exit and cross Changan Jie. At the time, the pedestrian crossing near the south exit on Changan Jie will have traffic police guards assigned to ensure the safety of the public; because the crematorium will be under construction as per normal, the route from the Revolutionary Cemetery to the crematorium will temporarily not be able to handle large volumes of traffic, and only cars will be allowed to pass.
该负责人说，清明放假三日内，市区至八宝山公墓各主要路口，均将设置临时卡点，以及时疏导拥堵、处理交通事故。
This source said, during the three-day Qingming holiday, all the major intersections leading from the city area to Babaoshan will have temporary blocks in order to promptly clear up congestion and deal with traffic accidents.
Alright, so I’ve taken some pretty big liberties with part of that, and seriously fudged others, because I couldn’t quite get my head around some of those sentences. Corrections are most welcome.
Anyway, I think “因停车资源有限，建议有车族放弃自驾车，选乘公共交通工具。” is my all time favouritest sentence I’ve read in Chinese so far. Firstly, because of the 族 at the end of 有车族, almost as if car owners where a separate ethnicity. Alright, that’s me drawing unnecessary connections between different meanings and usages of one character, and it’s no different from the English word “motorists”, really, but I liked it. But mostly I liked its “Get out of your cars and take the bus!” attitude.
being mean
I know, I know, I’m being mean, but I just can’t help myself:
Here’s a sentence lifted out of this article:
The information required includes name, nationality, gender, date of birth, passport number, expiration date, and status.
Um, well, I don’t think any of us gets to know our expiration date until we actually expire….
I know, swapping the comma between ‘passport number’ and ‘expiration date’ so that it read “passport number and expiration date” would fix it up just perfectly, and anybody with a minimal competence in English can see that, but still, I need a little light relief after a long day.
Maori-Chinese
Now this seems like an intriguing topic. Manying Ip has decided to investigate the Maori-Chinese, a little-known group that resulted from relationships between Chinese market-gardeners in New Zealand, far from their wives and children and regular families in China, and Maori women who did not necessarily expect much out of the relationships.
To be honest, I’d never heard of such a group before, but apparently there’s more of them than one might expect, and Prof Ip gives us a very short explanation in this article:
Today, the younger Maori-Chinese may be confident with their multiple roots and the cultural advantages they possess, but it was a very different story in the past, she said.
“Trying to establish a positive Maori-Chinese identity when both Maori and Chinese were considered undesirable was an ongoing struggle for each one of them,” said Professor Ip, who described Maori and Chinese as marginalised communities in New Zealand.
That, and there, erm, irregular family backgrounds… Understood.
This could be an interesting book to look out for.