老外看中國(guó)：共享單車(chē)
老外在中國(guó)，對(duì)中國(guó)的人和事有什么看法？《中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)》Second Thought欄目系列文章帶你走近老外的真實(shí)內(nèi)心世界。
Everywhere you look in Beijing these days, bicycles stand propped against walls and lined in rows stretched across sidewalks. Pedestrians have taken the development in their stride, dodging only a bit more often or widely to the right or left to skirt the obstructions.
最近在北京的大街小巷都可以看到，自行車(chē)?？吭趬?，排列延伸到人行道上。而對(duì)此現(xiàn)象行人也不覺(jué)異樣，走在人行道上總能靈活繞開(kāi)這些占地兒的自行車(chē)。
Lines of blue, of yellow, of silver and orange bikes cut off their access from the no man's land of the car-filled streets to the relative safety of the curb. Piles of bikes amass in seemingly random patterns across the city.
這些藍(lán)色、黃色、銀色和橙色的自行車(chē)切斷了從來(lái)往車(chē)輛川流不息的大街上到相對(duì)安全的路邊的通道。城市到處可見(jiàn)橫七豎八停放的自行車(chē)。
Isn't it wonderful!
是不是很驚訝！
I've loved bicycles ever since I was 6 years old. My big sister let me try hers. We lived on a short dead-end street that sloped gently downhill toward a chain-link fence. I climbed on the peddles－the seat was too high－and stood stiffly while momentum carried me toward the fence.
我從6歲開(kāi)始就愛(ài)上了騎自行車(chē)。那時(shí)我大姐允許我騎她的自行車(chē)，我們住的那條小街沒(méi)有出口，向下曲折蜿蜒，盡頭是鐵絲網(wǎng)柵欄。因?yàn)檐?chē)座太高上不去，我就直挺挺地站在腳蹬上面，利用一股沖勁兒從高處向柵欄溜下去。
Realizing just before I would hit it that I didn't know how to brake, I turned sharply and traced a tight circle until the bike finally slowed and fell over.
就在撞到柵欄千鈞一發(fā)之際，我突然意識(shí)到我還不會(huì)剎車(chē)，于是就一個(gè)急轉(zhuǎn)彎扭轉(zhuǎn)車(chē)頭，在地上蹭出一個(gè)圓圈，讓自行車(chē)慢慢停下來(lái)，最后倒在地上。
I was hooked.
從這件事以后我就迷戀上了騎自行車(chē)。
Bikes have always been part of my life, until now, when I find myself without a bike of my own.
自行車(chē)一直是我生命中的一部分，直到現(xiàn)在，我發(fā)現(xiàn)我竟然沒(méi)有一輛屬于自己的自行車(chē)。
Welcome the age of bike-sharing.
歡迎進(jìn)入共享單車(chē)時(shí)代。
The idea is not new. It has existed in some form or another in Europe for years.
共享經(jīng)濟(jì)并不是一件新事物，早在多年前，歐洲就興起了這樣或那樣的共享經(jīng)濟(jì)模式。
I recall a common joke in Amsterdam in the early 1980s was that if you needed a bike you could always take one from the hundreds left abandoned at the Dutch Railways' Central Station. But this was something different.
我想起了上世紀(jì)80年代流行在阿姆斯特丹的一個(gè)小笑話(huà)，假如需要一輛自行車(chē)，你總是可以在中央火車(chē)站幾百輛遺棄的自行車(chē)堆里滿(mǎn)意而歸。不過(guò)，這與共享單車(chē)并不同。
In the 1960s, a Dutch counterculture movement called the Provo launched its White Bike Plan. The "asphalt terrorism" of motorists had lasted long enough, they proclaimed.
上世紀(jì)60年代，荷蘭的反主流文化運(yùn)動(dòng)團(tuán)體Provo發(fā)起了“白色單車(chē)計(jì)劃”，他們聲稱(chēng)汽車(chē)司機(jī)的“馬路恐怖主義”已經(jīng)讓人受夠了。
Activists painted 50 bicycles white and left them unlocked on the street, after an opening ceremony alongside a well-known statue in a square near the Royal Palace of Amsterdam.
在阿姆斯特丹王宮附近一個(gè)廣場(chǎng)上的某著名的雕像旁邊舉行了啟動(dòng)儀式之后，Provo積極分子便將50輛自行車(chē)噴刷成白色，不上鎖放在街道上供人免費(fèi)騎乘。
The group offered "emancipation" through "the first free, collective means of transportation", but their plan failed. Who would have guessed it was illegal to leave a bicycle unlocked in a public place? No sooner had the ceremony finished than the police impounded the white bikes.
該團(tuán)體第一次提出了“免費(fèi)、共享交通工具”的解放理念，然而這一計(jì)劃最終失敗。誰(shuí)會(huì)想到不上鎖的單車(chē)放在公共場(chǎng)所是違法的呢？啟動(dòng)儀式剛結(jié)束，警察就扣押了這批白色自行車(chē)。
In 1974, a successful bike-sharing program began in La Rochelle, France, and it continues to this day.
1974年，一個(gè)成熟的共享單車(chē)計(jì)劃在法國(guó)拉羅謝爾誕生，并一直延續(xù)到今天。
Similar programs have since proliferated throughout Europe－perhaps President Xi Jinping witnessed during his recent state visit to Finland the workings of Helsinki's city bike system, which reserves a role for the bicycle in the capital's public transportation system.
自那以后，類(lèi)似的共享經(jīng)濟(jì)開(kāi)始在歐洲范圍擴(kuò)散。習(xí)近平主席在最近對(duì)芬蘭進(jìn)行國(guó)事訪問(wèn)期間或許也親眼目睹了赫爾辛基城市單車(chē)系統(tǒng)的高效運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)，單車(chē)在芬蘭首都的公共交通系統(tǒng)中始終占有著一席之地。
China has more than kept apace of the global trend of bike-sharing. I started noticing bikes for rent in Beijing maybe a year or two ago. First, they were grouped in racks, but later companies emerged whose bikes could be found wherever the last users left them.
中國(guó)早就緊跟全球單車(chē)共享這一趨勢(shì)。我在一到兩年前開(kāi)始關(guān)注單車(chē)租賃情況。起先，這些自行車(chē)分門(mén)別類(lèi)整齊排放在一起，但不久后，共享單車(chē)公司開(kāi)始出現(xiàn)，無(wú)論上一位使用者把單車(chē)停放在哪，都能找到蹤跡。
The first bikes looked flimsier, too, but most now they look indestructible.
第一批單車(chē)看起來(lái)非常容易遭到破壞，不過(guò)，現(xiàn)在的大部分單車(chē)都變得比較堅(jiān)固。
It all happened so fast, what will next year bring?
一切都發(fā)展得如此迅猛，明年又將會(huì)有哪些新變化呢？
You have to wonder if car owners in Beijing won't tire of sitting in traffic jams and join the trend.
假如北京的車(chē)主對(duì)交通擁堵并不感到疲倦，而是依舊成為浩浩蕩蕩堵車(chē)大軍中的一員，這時(shí)你就一定會(huì)想這個(gè)問(wèn)題。
作者：John Lydon
老外在中國(guó)，對(duì)中國(guó)的人和事有什么看法？《中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)》Second Thought欄目系列文章帶你走近老外的真實(shí)內(nèi)心世界。
Everywhere you look in Beijing these days, bicycles stand propped against walls and lined in rows stretched across sidewalks. Pedestrians have taken the development in their stride, dodging only a bit more often or widely to the right or left to skirt the obstructions.
最近在北京的大街小巷都可以看到，自行車(chē)?？吭趬?，排列延伸到人行道上。而對(duì)此現(xiàn)象行人也不覺(jué)異樣，走在人行道上總能靈活繞開(kāi)這些占地兒的自行車(chē)。
Lines of blue, of yellow, of silver and orange bikes cut off their access from the no man's land of the car-filled streets to the relative safety of the curb. Piles of bikes amass in seemingly random patterns across the city.
這些藍(lán)色、黃色、銀色和橙色的自行車(chē)切斷了從來(lái)往車(chē)輛川流不息的大街上到相對(duì)安全的路邊的通道。城市到處可見(jiàn)橫七豎八停放的自行車(chē)。
Isn't it wonderful!
是不是很驚訝！
I've loved bicycles ever since I was 6 years old. My big sister let me try hers. We lived on a short dead-end street that sloped gently downhill toward a chain-link fence. I climbed on the peddles－the seat was too high－and stood stiffly while momentum carried me toward the fence.
我從6歲開(kāi)始就愛(ài)上了騎自行車(chē)。那時(shí)我大姐允許我騎她的自行車(chē)，我們住的那條小街沒(méi)有出口，向下曲折蜿蜒，盡頭是鐵絲網(wǎng)柵欄。因?yàn)檐?chē)座太高上不去，我就直挺挺地站在腳蹬上面，利用一股沖勁兒從高處向柵欄溜下去。
Realizing just before I would hit it that I didn't know how to brake, I turned sharply and traced a tight circle until the bike finally slowed and fell over.
就在撞到柵欄千鈞一發(fā)之際，我突然意識(shí)到我還不會(huì)剎車(chē)，于是就一個(gè)急轉(zhuǎn)彎扭轉(zhuǎn)車(chē)頭，在地上蹭出一個(gè)圓圈，讓自行車(chē)慢慢停下來(lái)，最后倒在地上。
I was hooked.
從這件事以后我就迷戀上了騎自行車(chē)。
Bikes have always been part of my life, until now, when I find myself without a bike of my own.
自行車(chē)一直是我生命中的一部分，直到現(xiàn)在，我發(fā)現(xiàn)我竟然沒(méi)有一輛屬于自己的自行車(chē)。
Welcome the age of bike-sharing.
歡迎進(jìn)入共享單車(chē)時(shí)代。
The idea is not new. It has existed in some form or another in Europe for years.
共享經(jīng)濟(jì)并不是一件新事物，早在多年前，歐洲就興起了這樣或那樣的共享經(jīng)濟(jì)模式。
I recall a common joke in Amsterdam in the early 1980s was that if you needed a bike you could always take one from the hundreds left abandoned at the Dutch Railways' Central Station. But this was something different.
我想起了上世紀(jì)80年代流行在阿姆斯特丹的一個(gè)小笑話(huà)，假如需要一輛自行車(chē)，你總是可以在中央火車(chē)站幾百輛遺棄的自行車(chē)堆里滿(mǎn)意而歸。不過(guò)，這與共享單車(chē)并不同。
In the 1960s, a Dutch counterculture movement called the Provo launched its White Bike Plan. The "asphalt terrorism" of motorists had lasted long enough, they proclaimed.
上世紀(jì)60年代，荷蘭的反主流文化運(yùn)動(dòng)團(tuán)體Provo發(fā)起了“白色單車(chē)計(jì)劃”，他們聲稱(chēng)汽車(chē)司機(jī)的“馬路恐怖主義”已經(jīng)讓人受夠了。
Activists painted 50 bicycles white and left them unlocked on the street, after an opening ceremony alongside a well-known statue in a square near the Royal Palace of Amsterdam.
在阿姆斯特丹王宮附近一個(gè)廣場(chǎng)上的某著名的雕像旁邊舉行了啟動(dòng)儀式之后，Provo積極分子便將50輛自行車(chē)噴刷成白色，不上鎖放在街道上供人免費(fèi)騎乘。
The group offered "emancipation" through "the first free, collective means of transportation", but their plan failed. Who would have guessed it was illegal to leave a bicycle unlocked in a public place? No sooner had the ceremony finished than the police impounded the white bikes.
該團(tuán)體第一次提出了“免費(fèi)、共享交通工具”的解放理念，然而這一計(jì)劃最終失敗。誰(shuí)會(huì)想到不上鎖的單車(chē)放在公共場(chǎng)所是違法的呢？啟動(dòng)儀式剛結(jié)束，警察就扣押了這批白色自行車(chē)。
In 1974, a successful bike-sharing program began in La Rochelle, France, and it continues to this day.
1974年，一個(gè)成熟的共享單車(chē)計(jì)劃在法國(guó)拉羅謝爾誕生，并一直延續(xù)到今天。
Similar programs have since proliferated throughout Europe－perhaps President Xi Jinping witnessed during his recent state visit to Finland the workings of Helsinki's city bike system, which reserves a role for the bicycle in the capital's public transportation system.
自那以后，類(lèi)似的共享經(jīng)濟(jì)開(kāi)始在歐洲范圍擴(kuò)散。習(xí)近平主席在最近對(duì)芬蘭進(jìn)行國(guó)事訪問(wèn)期間或許也親眼目睹了赫爾辛基城市單車(chē)系統(tǒng)的高效運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)，單車(chē)在芬蘭首都的公共交通系統(tǒng)中始終占有著一席之地。
China has more than kept apace of the global trend of bike-sharing. I started noticing bikes for rent in Beijing maybe a year or two ago. First, they were grouped in racks, but later companies emerged whose bikes could be found wherever the last users left them.
中國(guó)早就緊跟全球單車(chē)共享這一趨勢(shì)。我在一到兩年前開(kāi)始關(guān)注單車(chē)租賃情況。起先，這些自行車(chē)分門(mén)別類(lèi)整齊排放在一起，但不久后，共享單車(chē)公司開(kāi)始出現(xiàn)，無(wú)論上一位使用者把單車(chē)停放在哪，都能找到蹤跡。
The first bikes looked flimsier, too, but most now they look indestructible.
第一批單車(chē)看起來(lái)非常容易遭到破壞，不過(guò)，現(xiàn)在的大部分單車(chē)都變得比較堅(jiān)固。
It all happened so fast, what will next year bring?
一切都發(fā)展得如此迅猛，明年又將會(huì)有哪些新變化呢？
You have to wonder if car owners in Beijing won't tire of sitting in traffic jams and join the trend.
假如北京的車(chē)主對(duì)交通擁堵并不感到疲倦，而是依舊成為浩浩蕩蕩堵車(chē)大軍中的一員，這時(shí)你就一定會(huì)想這個(gè)問(wèn)題。
作者：John Lydon
