可愛的加拿大姑娘超激動中國遊：第一天：北京的夜晚！
After what felt like the slowest movie marathon in history, I finally touched down in Beijing, China.
在飛機上經歷了漫長的電影馬拉松後，我終於一腳踏上了中國首都北京的土地。
Home of the 2008 Olympic Games, at least a couple of pandas, and 20 million people. That’s almost the entire population of Canada squeezed into a space the size of greater Vancouver. I was, as I’m sure the 9 other people travelling with me were as well, braced for a culture shock.
北京，2008年奧運會的舉辦城市，擁有至少一對大熊貓，以及2000萬人口。這幾乎就像是將整個加拿大的人口全部塞進同溫哥華一般大小的空間裏。我，我很肯定與我同行的其他9人也跟我一樣，已經準備好迎接即將到來的巨大文化衝擊。
Admittedly my first impression was at night, so I couldn’t really make out the details, but on the drive from the airport to the hotel, it just looked like a medium sized city. Pretty and pedestrian, with wide tree-lined boulevards. All the buildings were no more than 20 storys and not all squished together like they are in Hong Kong. Huh? Beijing is supposed to be super crowded, but yet it looks like Vancouver, just outside the downtown core? Where am I? And more importantly, where are all the people?
無可否認，我的第一印象是在夜裏，所以我實在無法描述出具體細節，但從機場開往酒店的大巴上向外望去，它看起來只像一箇中等規模的城市。沿着寬敞的林蔭大道向前行駛，兩旁的景色漂亮卻乏味。值得奇怪的是幾乎所有建築都沒有超過20層，不像香港那樣全部擠壓在一起。嗯哼，莫非我打開的方式不對？北京不應該是超級擁擠的嗎？但它現在看起來就像溫哥華，就像在市中心外面？我到底在哪兒？更重要的是，傳說中的人山人海在哪兒？
Still puzzling over this, we were delivered to the Crown Plaza Beijing Wangfujing, a really nice, modern hotel.
當我還在糾結這個的時候，我們已經被送到北京王府井的皇冠假日酒店，一個非常漂亮、現代化的酒店。
After a few minutes to freshen up, we met up and hit the streets. Wangfujing, the street our hotel fronted onto, is one of the main shopping streets in the city, and was lit up with giant jumbotron billboards, giving the whole area a welcoming, festive vibe. And judging by the giant 8 level mega malls there, they do pretty well.
幾分鐘的梳洗之後，我們又碰面了，雄赳赳氣昂昂，一起去逛街。我們酒店所在的王府井大街，是北京的主要商業街之一，放眼望去，許多大型廣告牌霓虹閃爍，使整個地區呈現歡迎、喜慶的氣氛。根據聳立在這裏的那座8層大商場判斷，他們幹得相當不賴！Half a block away, just as we stopped to take pictures of a cathedral, loud Chinese pop music started playing (not what one would normally expect at Catholic Mass, but a definate bonus), complete with live singing on the front steps, and a big crowd of people materialized in the plaza and all started line dancing. It was a Chinese flash mob! Or maybe it was a normal Tuesday night in Beijing, because the participants spanned all ages, and everyone knew the routine. Whatever it was, it was awesome, and two hours later when we were walking back to the hotel, they were still dancing.
走了半個街區遠，我們停下來給一座教堂拍攝照片，周圍開始播放中國流行音樂，音量很大（雖然不是通常聽到的天主教彌撒，但也算不錯的福利），有人站在前面的臺階上現場演唱，一大羣人突然出現在廣場上，並開始排隊跳舞。這難道就是中國的快閃活動！或者只是北京一個普通的星期二夜晚，因爲參與者各個年齡段都有，每個人都知道固定舞步。不管它是什麼，總而言之，它非常棒，2個小時後，當我們步行回酒店的時候，他們還在那裏跳舞。
Then to the Donghuamen Night Market, just one block farther down. Otherwise known as snack street, this the best place in town to get something roasted on a stick, from the classic chicken, pork, tofu, to the exotic beetle larvae, squid, scorpion and snake. Yum. There are hundreds of stalls lining one side of the street, brightly lit with a line of red lanterns. On the upside, for vending carts, they are clean and the food was good quality. On the downside, every stall sells exactly the same stuff, so after the first ten feet you really don’t need to continue exploring, as you’ve seen it all by now.
接下來是東華門夜市，往下一個街區便是。除此之外，作爲一條聞名的小吃街，這也是城裏吃烤串最好的地方，從經典的雞肉串、豬肉串、豆腐串到千奇百怪的蠶蛹、魷魚、蠍子還有蛇，應有盡有。嗯～～～真好吃。這裏有上百個攤位沿街道一側一字排開，一線紅燈籠高高掛起，光線明亮。優點是：販售車都很乾淨，食物的品質也很好。缺點是：每個攤位賣的東西幾乎一模一樣，所以朝前走完十英尺之後，你真的真的不需要再繼續美食探險，如你所見，所有的東西你剛纔都看到過了。
Like most tourists, we took photos of the sheer grossness and spectacle of it all, squealed, giggled, bought nothing and moved on. They must do a ton of business to be able to support that many stalls, but on a sub-zero November night, there wasn’t a big demand for snake on a stick. Plus, I can’t get that home though customs.
和大多數遊客一樣，我們純粹只是走馬觀花地拍些照片，興奮地看着眼前景象，一會高聲尖叫，一會“咯咯”地笑，什麼也沒有買，伴隨人潮繼續前進。他們應該要做大量生意才足以支撐那麼多攤位，但是在氣溫爲零下的11月夜晚，似乎沒有那麼多人想要吃穿在小木棍上的蛇肉。此外，即便入鄉，我也隨不了這樣的俗呀……
Damn it was cold here. For years I’ve been telling clients that Beijing’s weather is about the same as Vancouver’s but with more sun. As an approximation, it works, but when we were there, it was colder. By quite a bit. Minus 5 with a really strong wind chill that made your eyes water and you sprint for the hotel screaming for the weather Gods to take pity on us jet-lagged Canadians.
該死的，北京真是太冷了。多年來，我一直信誓旦旦地告訴客戶，北京的天氣和溫哥華差不多，但是陽光更多些。作爲一種近似值，它也無錯可挑（不準確），不過當我們真正身處北京時，這裏顯然更冷啊！而且不是冷一星半點。零下5度的氣溫，還有勁吹的刺骨寒風，凍得你想哭，讓你拿出百米衝刺的勁頭直奔酒店，並且向天氣之神哀嚎，乞求它憐憫我們這些可憐的加拿大時差黨。
Honestly, that temperature is probobly what kept me up until 9:30 pm, China time, after having been up for nearly 36 hours straight. It helped me get into the local rhythm, but that didn’t make it any more enjoyable, and after a hot bath I collapsed into bed, cocooned up into my comforter and fell into a deep sleep.
老實說，也許正是這樣的溫度讓我在將近36個小時未閤眼的情況下，撐到了北京時間晚上9點30分。它幫我適應了當地節奏，但那並沒有使它變得可愛討喜。洗了一個熱水澡之後，我癱倒在牀上，柔軟溫暖的被窩將我包裹起來，真舒服，很快我就進入了甜美的夢鄉。
