我在中国的12年

伊丽莎白Elizabeth(美国)

 

我在中国农历猴年的2004年初春来到北京。 12年后的2016年也就是中国人常说的一轮过后， 人们常问我这12年中国有哪些变化。

I arrived in Beijing in the spring of the Monkey Year 2004. Twelve years later, we greet 2016 another Year of the Monkey. I have completed the entire cycle of the Chinese zodiac. People often ask me to reflect back on how things have changed over that period.

首先声明，我既非政客，也非经济方面的专家。我在美国中西部密苏里州的一个农业小镇长大，那里的大多数居民从未申请过护照。我的母亲是镇上的图书管理员，所以放学后我花了很多时间在等她完成工作的时候读一些关于遥远地方的书。我最终通过密苏里国际市场营销中国办公室和密苏里-哥伦比亚大学的关系来到中国。我被派到唐山的河北大学任教，因为密苏里和河北有姐妹关系。2004年，我的回顾就是从这里开始的。

I begin by stating I am neither a political pundit nor economic guru. I grew up in a small Mid Western American farming town in Missouri where most residents have never applied for a passport. My mother was the town librarian and so I spent many after school hours reading about far away places as I waited for her to finish work. I ultimately came to China through the Missouri Office of International Marketing to China and the University of Missouri-Columbia. I was sent to teach at the University of Hebei in Tangshan because Missouri and Hebei have a sister relationship. This is where, in 2004, my retrospective begins.

Hebei University Tangshan bicycles 2004,   2004年唐山河北大学的自行车

Tangshan friends 2004, 2004年和唐山朋友

 

在2006年底搬到海南岛之前，我在唐山住了近三年。在河北寒冷的冬天，空气一直是干燥且灰蒙蒙的。燃煤增加了冬季几个月的污染水平，但那时路上车辆很少，自行车倒是成千上万。后来人们欣喜地宣布，北京赢得了2008年夏季奥运会的主办权。伟大的北京人民集体发起了对奥运场馆周边基础设施的大规模升级。许多古老的胡同和古老的北京丝绸市场一起被清走了。现在，许多人再回头看，质疑这些个不可替代的文物是否值得牺牲。

I lived in Tangshan nearly three years before relocating to Hainan Island at the end of 2006. The air had always been dry and hazy in the frigid Hebei winters. Coal burning increased the level of pollution during the winter months but there were very few cars on the roads back then and tens of thousands of bicycles. Then it was joyfully announced that Beijing had won its bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics. The Great Collective launched into a massive upgrade of the infrastructure surrounding the Olympic venues. Many ancient hutongs were cleared away along with the old Beijing Silk Market. Now, many people look back and wonder if these irreplaceable cultural relics were worth sacrificing.

我2006年搬到了海南。与河北相比，生活总体上更加遥远。我在美国的农田里长大，故而我可以开着车穿过穷乡僻壤那里纵横交错的小路，跑到花园里做些简单的饭菜。最重要的是，尽管有方言的挑战，但我很快就了解到农民的吃苦耐劳精神全世界都是一样的，我已经有了可以交往一辈子的海南当地朋友。我很满足于成为方圆数百公里内唯一的外国人。

I moved to Hainan in 2006. Compared to Hebei, life in general was even more remote. My years growing up in the farmland of America prepared me for driving rutted backwoods roads and cooking simple meals from the garden. Best of all, in spite of the challenge of speaking the local dialect, I quickly learned that the spirit of farmers is universal and I have made lifelong friends. I was quite content to be the only foreigner for hundreds of kilometers in any direction.

Boao Beach 2007，2007年博鳌海滩

2009年，海南宣布成立国际旅游岛。似乎一夜之间，通往五星级度假胜地的高速公路拔地而起。离岛的海南人和对岸的大陆人纷纷涌向这座曾经沉睡的岛屿，宣示自己的主权，然后建、建、建。在我东海岸博鳌镇的家后面，一座20层楼高的酒店闪着微光伫立在那，那里曾是一片花海，可以一览南海的风光。房地产价格飙升到令人目眩的高度。我在海南省会海口买的那套公寓的价值已经涨了三倍。外国人开始来了。大润发(RT Mart)等中国超市迅速崛起，法国家乐福(Carrefour)紧随其后。现在，我不用去批发餐厅就能买到奶酪、黄油和百威啤酒(由密苏里州的安海斯-布希啤酒公司酿造)。汽车拥有量激增，随之而来的是公共交通的改善。海南现在拥有世界上第一个环形高速铁路系统，海口的公交车也有wifi。

In 2009, Hainan was declared an International Tourism Zone. Seemingly overnight, highways leading to 5 star resorts sprung up. Overseas Hainanese as well as mainlanders flocked to the once sleepy island to stake their claims and build, build, build. Behind my home in Boao town on the east coast, a 20 story hotel gleamed where once had been a field of flowers and an unobstructed view of the South China Sea. Real estate prices soared to dizzying heights. The value of the apartment I purchased in Hainan’s capital city of Haikou has tripled in value. Foreigners started to arrive. Chinese supermarkets such as RT Mart sprang up followed by the French Carrefour. I could now buy cheese and butter and Budweiser (brewed by Missouri brewer Anheiser-Busch) without having to go to a wholesale restaurant supplier. Car ownership exploded followed by improvements in public transport. Hainan now boasts the worlds first circular high speed rail system and busses in Haikou city have wifi.

这一切让我想到了我认为的最重要的变化: 微信和中国的社交媒体。很难想象，在中国，我们每天依赖的应用程序在5年前是不存在的。智能手机技术和内置摄像头的出现，让信息和想法得以传播，即使是最不识字的农村居民也能看到，而国际版的手机则把我与世界各地的家人和朋友联系在了一起。每月有超过6亿的活跃用户，比以往任何时候都更容易了解中国国内和全球发生的最新事件。

This brings me to what I believe is the most significant change of all: WeChat and social media in China. It’s hard to imagine that the app we all depend on everyday in China did not exist 5 years ago. The advent of smart phone technology combined with built in cameras has allowed the spread of information and ideas to even the most illiterate of rural citizens while the international version now connects me to family and friends all around the world. With more than 600 million monthly active users, it is easier than ever to stay abreast of currents events happening inside China and globally.

这种连接方式，加上微博、支付宝和我个人最喜欢的微信红包，到目前为止确实是本世纪的“文化大革命”。随着中国公民赴海外旅游、工作和学习的激增，中国创造了“和平崛起”。

This type of connectivity along with WeiBo, AliPay and my personal favorite, Lucky Red Envelopes has truly been the “Cultural Revolution” of the century so far. That along with the surge of Chinese citizens travelling abroad for pleasure, work and study has helped create what has been called “China’s Peaceful Rise”.

最后，我认为最最重要的是在我身上发生的变化。每天面对巨大的文化差异及生活中的各种矛盾, 我学会了遵从道教的“上善若水”和“无为而治”去看待和处理所发生的一切。最初这一切似乎与我西方人的思维方式背道而驰。在一个有着5000多年历史的国家生活了12年，使我对挑战和冲突带来的尊重、宽容、耐心达到了一种很深刻的认识高度，这在我生活过的那个舒心的小小农场社区是永远不可得到的。

Finally, I come to what I believe is the most significant change of all. That is, the changes that have taken place in me. Confronted by vast cultural differences on a daily basis, I soon learned that applying the principles of Taoism such as “Be like Water” and “WuWei (do nothing)” were the best ways of weathering the storms of life even though they initially seemed counterintuitive to my Western way of thinking. Twelve years living in a country whose history dates back more than 5,000 years has helped me reach a profound level of respect, tolerance and patience with challenges and conflict that I never would have attained had I stayed in my cozy little farming community.

Miao friends 2015， 2015年和海南苗族朋友

 

伊丽莎白可以带领游客参观偏远的苗族村落和海口老街步行道。请通过elizabeth_kiderlen@yahoo.com联系她。
Elizabeth conducts tours to remote Miao Villages and Historic walks in Haikou’s old districts. She can be reached at elizabeth_kiderlen@yahoo.com.

来源：GuideinChina 2016-02-05