【quora】中国是如何被外界误解的呢？（更新） [美国媒体]

How misunderstood is China by the outside world?

中国是如何被外界误解的呢？



Politically, the society in general, the people, the economy, the environment, everything.

政治、社会、人民、经济、环境，等等。


Kris Lim, Overseas Chinese
Kris Lim，华侨
Written Jan 3, 2016
写于2016年1月3日
I feel that the most significant disconnect between foreign perception of China vs. reality is the over-generalisation of China based on media reports and the false assumption that somehow the Chinese hold a greater monopoly on negative things in the world.

我觉得在外界的中国观念对现实之间最重要的分歧是源自媒体报道和错误地认为中国以某种方式对世界上的负面事物有一个大的垄断的刻板化印象。

China is a big, populous country and the Chinese are a 4,000 plus year old civilisation with numerous different dialects spoken today, even though most are able to speak Mandarin. There are a lot of news about China that gets reported in the foreign press that over time paints a specific picture about the country depending on how one subconsciously wishes (or as influenced by one's family, friends or colleagues) to see them as:

中国是一个巨大的、人口最多的国家，中国有着4000多年的文明，有许多不同的方言今天仍在被使用，虽然大多数人都会说普通话。随着时间的推移，外国媒体根据一个人潜意识里希望（或者被这个人的家庭、朋友或同事影响）如何看待中国来报道大量的有关中国的新闻：

Chinese products are inferior and unsafe. While there are more than enough real incidents backing up this view, many don't realise that the inferior goods are produced precisely because foreigners are willing to buy them at inferior good prices. The Chinese manufacturers are asked to produce low cost goods and so they produce low cost goods! If you pay them to produce iPhones, they will produce iPhones for you. You get what you pay for. Most laptop chargers are made in China and they don't break down or fry your laptop much. China runs half of the world's high speed rail network and they experienced the Wenzhou accident where 40 people died. There were 3 other high speed rail accidents involving fatalities, in Germany, Spain and France. This suggests that given their share of the world's high speed network, their track record seems to be on the positive side.

中国产品低劣和不安全。虽然有足够多的真实事件支持这一观点，但许多人没有意识到劣质商品的产生正是因为外国人愿意以低劣的价格购买它们。中国制造商被要求生产低成本的商品，因此他们才生产低成本的商品！如果你为他们生产的iPhone付钱，他们会为你生产iPhone。一分钱一分货。大多数笔记本都在中国制造，他们并没有过分压低或炒高你的笔记本电脑的价格。中国运行着世界一半的高速铁路网络，他们经历了40人死亡的温州动车事故。有3个其他高速铁路事故涉及死亡在德国，西班牙和法国。这表明，鉴于他们在世界高速网络中的份额，他们的跟踪记录似乎表现积极。

The Chinese are stealing our manufacturing jobs. The Chinese are currently willing to work for longer hours at lower salaries than people in developed countries. You can choose to see it as they are job stealers or that they are hungrier than you and you have to think of how to be more productive via automation etc. Or you can see it as the Bangladeshis and Vietnamese work for even lesser manufacturing salaries so they are worse job stealers.

中国人在偷我们的制造业工作。中国人目前愿意比发达国家的人低工资地工作更长的时间。你可以选择把他们看作窃取工作的人或者他们比你更加饥渴，并且你不得不思考一下如何通过自动化等变得更有效率。或者你可以想一下孟加拉人和越南人甚至为了更少的工资而工作所以他们是更糟糕的工作窃取者。

The Chinese eat dogs and other disgusting things. Yes some Chinese eat dogs but the vast majority just don't eat it. Also the Vietnamese, Koreans and even some farmers in rural parts of Switzerland also eat dogs. And what about food eaten outside China like Casu marzu (rotten cheese), Rakfisk(fish fermented for up to a year), Smalahove (boiled lambs head) for Christmas etc. that are stomach churning for most of us.

中国人吃狗和其他恶心的东西。是的有些中国人吃狗肉但绝大多数中国人不吃。并且越南人，朝鲜人以及瑞士一些农村地区的农民也吃狗肉。那么那些在中国以外被食用的食物比如Casu marzu（腐烂的奶酪）、Rakfisk（发酵长达一年的鱼），圣诞节吃的Smalahove（煮羊羔头）等怎么样呢。那令我们之中的绝大多数人反胃。

So it's not so much misunderstanding as the reports in the foreign press are for the most part true but rather, the taking of some negative reports or incidents and assuming that most of the Chinese are guilty of them or have the same negative traits.

因此，并没有太多的误解，因为外国媒体的报道在很大程度上是真实的，但他们采用了一些负面的报告或事件，并假设大多数中国人有罪或有相同的负面特征。



Guillermo Cedeno, Sociologist & film addict, lives in Panama and is resident of the world...
Guillermo Cedeno，社会学家&电影迷，住在巴拿马且是世界居民…
Updated Feb 13, 2016
更新于2016年2月13日
I agree with Ian and Vorn. I have a Chinese grandfather and live in a community where there is a large Chinese component. My two sons went to elementary and high school at a Chinese-Panamanian school here. They graduated from the university in China and both read, write and speak fluent Mandarin. They now work and live just outside Shanghai. I have visited and stayed with them for extended periods of time and have been able to see and experience different regions of China. I still feel there is A LOT I don’t know about China.

我同意Ian和Vorn。我有个中国人爷爷生活在一个社区，那里有一个巨大的中国区。我的两个儿子在这里的中-巴双语学校念小学和中学。他们毕业于中国的大学却都能流利地阅读，书写和说普通话。他们现在就在上海外围生活和工作。我曾造访过中国且和他们呆了一段时间，并且能够见识和游历中国不同的地区。我至今仍感觉对中国有很多不了解的地方。

Needless to say, I have a few opinions about China I would like to share in Quora. First of all, China is growing economically and more importantly developing at an incredible speed. In many places social development is falling behind economic development. But in many large and medium size cities you feel already more comfortable and sense a quality of life above that of many western cities. One of the biggest barriers between China and the west is language. For a westerner, the task of learning another European language beyond his own represents an insignificant challenge compared to learning Chinese, whatever the dialect. And yet, the task of gaining an insight into Chinese culture itself, represents an even greater challenge. As much as we would like to think we are all creatures that resemble each other more than we are different from each other, we are invariably products of our own culture. And make no mistake; I shouldn’t have to remind you NOT to think of ourselves as more civilized than the Chinese. Chinese civilization is almost twice as old as western civilization and many of “our innovations” of past centuries were perfected earlier in China.

毋庸赘言，我有一些对中国的看法想要在Quora上分享。首先，中国的经济正在崛起且更重要的是在以一种惊人的速度发展。在许多地方社会发展落后于经济发展。但在许多大中型城市你已经感觉到更加舒适并且感觉到生活质量远在许多西部城市之上。横在中国与西方之间的一个重大障碍是语言。对一个西方人来说，学习另一门欧洲语言的任务对他自身不过是一个微不足道的挑战，相比学习中文，无论是什么方言。然而，钻研中国文化本身则是一个更大的挑战。正如我们所想的，我们是彼此相似的生物而不是彼此不同，我们都是自己文化的产物。还有别搞错，我本不必提醒你不要认为我们比中国人更文明。中国文明几乎是西方文明的两倍之久，而且过去几个世纪里的许多“我们的发明”更早在中国就已经被完善了。

There is more. To learn about China you have to learn about diversity first. There are many ethnic subcultures within China, with different dialects and languages of their own and the history is such that they’ve had to learn to become a unified nation early on. For the west, national unification is a process usually associated with the past two, at the most, three previous centuries. The unification of China’s different nations, cultures and languages is a matter of the history two millennia ago. The sense of being Chinese itself is almost ungraspable for most westerners. In my view it’s wrong to talk about Mao unifying China, it’s more that if Mao hadn’t talked about a unified China, he would't have been able to hold on to power at all. In order to grasp what the word China means we would do well to heed British scholar Martin Jacques’ words: China is not a country it’s a civilization.

另外，了解中国你得首先了解多样性。在中国有许多民族文化有着他们自身不同的方言和语言，他们的历史便是如此，他们不得不在早期学习成为一个统一的国家。对于西方，民族统一是过去两，最多三个世纪的事情。中国的多民族、文化和语言的统一是两千年前的事情。作为一个中国人的感觉对大多数西方人是不可理解的。在我看来，讨论毛泽东统一中国是错误的，更重要的是如果毛泽东没有谈及统一中国，他就根本不能维持权力。为了把握中国这个词意味着什么我们要好好地留意英国学者马丁·雅克的话：中国不是一个国家，它是一个文明。

Beyond these very general thoughts I am amazed at the friendliness I have experienced in China. I think to myself, I don’t look at all like them or speak their language, but I feel well liked most of the time and people seem to want to talk to me in spite they know I can’t understand what they are saying. Once I had the chance to travel with my mother-in-law who was 80ish and she got much more attention than I, simply for being old. I remember many smiles in people’s faces. I think I understood why my boys would remark that when they spoke to any Chinese in their own language they instantly felt the Chinese would automatically think of them as another Chinese.

除了这些很一般的想法，我还惊讶于我在中国遇到的友好对待。我偷偷想，我看上去根本不像他们，也不说他们的语言，但我大多数时间感到被喜欢着，并且人们似乎想要与我说话即使他们知道我不懂他们在说些什么。曾经我有机会和我80岁的岳母一起旅游，她比我获得了更多的关心，仅仅是因为她是一个老人。我还记得许多人们脸上的笑容。我想我理解为什么我的儿子们会说当他们和任何一个中国人用他们自己的语言说话时他们立刻感觉这个中国人会自动地认为他们是其他的中国人。

I still don’t understand a lot about China, but I can’t wait to find out more. And, even at my age, I’ve got to work on my Mandarin.

我仍然对中国不甚了解，但我迫不及待想要去发现更多。并且甚至到了我这个年纪，我也得努力学习普通话。



Becky Zhang, Teaching Mandarin Chinese to Foreigners for 8 Years
Becky Zhang，为外国人教中文8年
Written Dec 15
写于12月15日
A lot has been said here, but I’ll chime in.

有很多已经在这里说过了，但我还是要插个嘴。

I’m a Mandarin Chinese teacher of 8 years and sometimes I feel that half my job is to help foreigners to acclimate to China and Chinese culture. It’s been fun, but often challenging!

我当中文普通话教师八年了，有时我感觉我一半的工作是在帮助外国人适应中国和中国文化。这很有意思，但经常有挑战性！

Here are some misconceptions I commonly encounter:

以下是一些我经常遇到的误解：

Myth: Chinese cities are filled with skyscrapers, wide streets have no charm:

传言：中国城市充满摩天大楼，宽阔的街道没有魅力。

Truth:

真相：

This is Zhongshan Square in Dalian. Most Chinese cities contain these kinds of excellent public spaces.
Chinese cities are very well designed, contain numerous green parks and are laid out in a series of blocks not unlike European and North American cities.
If you come here expecting futuristic cities with no character, you will be pleasantly surprised! Chinese cities offer excellent design and public spaces.

这是大连中山广场。许多中国城市有这种极佳的公共场所。
中国城市设计得很好，包含了众多的绿色公园，并且布局于一系列分块中，不同于欧洲和北美城市。
如果你来这里期待没有个性的未来城市，你会惊喜的！中国城市提供优秀的设计和公共空间。

Myth: Traveling in China is dangerous

传言：在中国旅游很危险

Truth:

真相：

China is too busy to be dangerous! There are always “eyes on the street” to keep you safe. Also, the police in China are trusted to defuse situations and respect for others and authority abound. Of course, there is crime in China. However, you are much safer in a Chinese city than you are in New York, London, Paris, etc.

中国太拥挤以至于危险不起来！街道上总是有“无数双眼睛”确保着你的安全。并且中国警察在缓和局势，尊重他人方面是值得信任的而且权力很大。当然，中国有犯罪。但是，你在中国城市更加安全，相比你在纽约，伦敦，巴黎等城市。

Myth: Everyone speaks “Chinese” (i.e. Mandarin)

传言：每个人都说“中文”（即普通话）

Truth:

真相：

There are over 200 dialects of “Chinese” in China. They all have the same writing system, but may be unintelligible from city to city. Of course, Mandarin is by far the language most spoken, but don’t assume that those over 50 or 60 will understand Mandarin Chinese as you travel about.

中国有超过200种“中文”方言。他们都有同样的书写系统，但可能城市和城市之间难以理解。当然，普通话是迄今最常用的语言，但当你旅行的时候不要以为那些那些50或60岁以上的人会听懂普通话。

Myth: The Chinese don’t care about the natural environment

传言：中国人不关心自然环境

Truth:

真相：

China is now the world’s #1 investor in green innovation and technology. Are there polluted regions and cities? Yes. China is an industrial nation now. Just as the US cities such as Pittsburgh had to turn streetlights on mid-day decades ago, there are some Chinese cities with a certain “haze” year round.
However, as a matter of public health, the government and investors are now scrambling to be more environmentally friendly. China now has 20,000km of high-speed rail, which keeps cars off the road and creates dense, walkable, transit-oriented cities for the future.
Of course, there is always more we can do to mitigate our environmental footprint, but China is taking steps in the right direction.
Anyway, China is possibly the fastest-changing country that the world has ever seen, similar to South Korea in the 1980s and 1990s, China changes greatly from year-to-year. What we think we know now will be different in five years. It’s both an ancient culture and a young country at the same time.
I’d recommend coming over yourself if you’re curious. You’ll find that the locals are hospitable and eager to share their culture with you!

现在中国的绿色创新技术投资排世界第一。有污染的地区和城市吗？是的。中国现在是工业国家。就像美国城市比如匹兹堡在几十年前不得不在中午开路灯，一些中国城市也是一年到头雾霾笼罩。
但是，作为公共健康的问题，政府和投资人现在争先恐后地变得更环保。中国目前有20,000km的高铁线路，这使得汽车离开了道路并为未来创造了密集、适于步行、公交导向的城市。
当然，我们可以做更多的事情来缓和我们对环境的影响，但中国正走在正确的道路上。
无论如何，中国可能是世界上曾见过的变化最快的国家，类似于上世纪八九十年代的韩国，中国年复一年地发生巨大的改变。我们现在所想的所知道的五年后又会有不同。它既是一个古老的文化，同时也是一个年轻的国家。
如果你好奇的话，我建议你亲自来一趟。你会发现当地人热情好客，渴望与你分享他们的文化！



Ray Comeau, A decade in China, interest in geopolitics
Ray Comeau,在中国十年，对地缘政治该兴趣
Updated Aug 14, 2016
更新于2016年8月14日
A2A
答案的答案
China is so misunderstood there should be a television program on understanding China.

中国是如此遭人误解以至于应该有一个以了解中国的电视节目。

IMO most of the misunderstanding is plain ignorance versus willful mischief. Ignorance is not a put down; it only describes a lack of knowledge. We are all ignorant about certain subjects. As one of many writers on China; it is evident worldwide there is a large ignorance about China.

在我看来，大部分的误解显然是无知和任性胡闹的。无知不是贬低，它仅仅是形容知识的匮乏。我们都在某些学科上愚昧无知。作为众多针对中国的作者的其中之一，很明显全世界都对中国十分无知。

Most interesting is that several billion people who have never been to mainland China and never researched the country; consider themselves knowledgeable about China. How does that happen? What people have is a (plus or minus) bias about everything; and they choose to hear or read is anything that supports their bias.

最有趣的是，有几亿人从未去过中国大陆，也从未研究过这个国家，却认为他们自己对这个国家非常了解。这是怎么回事儿？人们所有的是一种对一切事物的（正的或负的）偏见，并且他们选择去听从或读到任何支持他们偏见的事情。

My role is to try to inform the misinformed, based on my experience of living in China. As one of a number of writers on China; we all respond to a flood of questions demonstrating a general cluelessness about what China is TODAY. So this time to be brief here is a condensed version of what China is like today:

我的角色就是尝试去引导那些被误导的人，根据我在中国生活的经验。作为许多撰述中国的作家之一，今天我们都要应对大量的，显示出对中国为何物的普遍的无知的问题。所以这次简略的谈一下，以下是关于中国今天是什么样的浓缩观点：

1- Chinese government propaganda and media manipulation is similar to Western government propaganda with its media all politicized. Remove the names and you can’t tell the difference.

1-中国政府宣传和媒体操作和西方的政府宣传类似，媒体都是政治化的。除去他们的名字不同你找不到区别。

2- #1 Chinese people want a stable society, a safe environment and a good economy.

2-#1中国人想要一个稳定的社会，一个安全的环境和良好的经济。

3- Voting for the Chinese is a low priority, at this time; even though they vote at the village level.

3-普选现在对中国人来说不是首要的，即使他们在村一级进行投票选举。

4- Chinese want a better future for their family, education for children, a positive future and make a decent living; followed by a relatively uncorrupt government.

4-中国人想要为他们的家庭，孩子的教育，寻求一个更好的未来，一个乐观的未来和一份体面的工作，其次是相对廉洁的政府。

5- 80% of citizens thinks the government is steering the country in the right direction.

5-80%的公民认为政府正引导国家走在正确的方向上。

6- Nearly 30% of the National People's Congress (their parliament) are not members of the CPC.

6-接近30%的人大（他们的议会）代表不是共产党员。

7- The government is NOT run by politicians; it is run by technocrats. People with experience and education in fields like economics, engineering, agriculture, finance, etc.

7-政府不是由政客运作的，它由技术官僚，在经济、工程、农业、金融等领域有经验和良好教育的人运作。

8- Government corruption does not touch most citizens. Bribes, etc. do not happen in the lower ranks of government. The police are trusted by the citizens and do not carry guns or batons.

8-政府腐败不触及大多数公民。贿赂等不发生在下级政府。警察被公民信任且不带枪和警棍。

9- Crime is very low. Women can walk outside at night without fear. Culturally China is not a violent society.

9-犯罪率很低。女人可以在夜晚外出而不担惊受怕。文化意义上的中国不是一个暴力的社会。

10- China has Sedition Laws and implements them. Everyone in China knows this. Only the reckless and those who think they are self-important will challenge China on this.

10-中国有煽动叛乱法并落实了它们。中国的每一个人都知道这个。只有莽夫和那些妄自尊大的人会在这上面挑战中国。

11- Religious practice in China is allowed as long as the “organization" follows the laws. I have been to churches, mosques, and temples all over China. They are all open to the public. For some reason certain Christian churches seem to go out of their way to challenge local government and get themselves in trouble, then whine like babies. The church led foreigner leaves; but maybe the congregation is painted as trouble-makers. Christians are a very small minority and locals tend not to pay them any attention.

11-宗教活动在中国是被允许的，只要这个“组织”遵循法律。我曾经去过中国各地的教堂，清真寺和寺庙。它们都向公众开放。出于某些原因一些基督教堂似乎会走出去挑战当地政府，自找麻烦，然后像婴儿一样发牢骚。教堂领导外国人离开，但也许会众被描述为麻烦制造者。基督徒是十分小众的群体，当地人倾向于对他们不闻不问。

12- Chinese follow lifestyle philosophies - Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and folk religions. It could be appropriate to refer to them as spiritual, rather than religious. Christianity and Islam is very small, maybe 3% of population each.

12-中国遵循生活哲学-儒家，佛家，道家以及民间宗教。也许把这些视作一种精神行为而不是宗教更适当。基督教和伊斯兰教非常少，也许每个分别只占人口的3%。

13- Most Chinese are very proud of China.

13-大部分中国人为中国感到自豪。

14- The Chinese are not suppressed by the government, and it is not a police state. The majority of people are not interested in leaving China. Yes, some criminals want to, to avoid punishment and others for job opportunities.

14-中国人不受政府压制，也不是一个警察国家。大多数人对离开中国不感兴趣。是的，一些罪犯想要，为了躲避惩罚，还有其他人是为了工作机会。

15- Chinese people are very practical and do not follow any ideology or dogma. Culturally, family and friends are very important.

15-中国人非常务实，不遵从任何意识形态或教条。文化上，家庭和朋友非常重要。

This is China today:

这就是今天的中国：



Vorn Little, Lived in China on and off for 15 years
Vorn Little，生活在中国断断续续15年
Written Dec 30, 2015
写于2015年12月30日
Quite a bit. You need a background in the history of the place, and if you dive down that rabbit hole don't expect to ever ever surface ever again. It never ends. But you do feel like you're getting somewhere, so keep digging little mole. Or rabbit. Where were we?

相当多。你需要一个这个地方的历史背景，如果你窜入兔子洞，不要再想回表面了。它永远不会结束。但是你的确感觉你到什么地方了，那么继续挖吧小鼹鼠，或者小兔子。我们说到哪了？

China is better understood from outside than inside in some respects. Chinese are very exceptionalist, which means that understanding their country in a comparative sense with other countries and other times is not their natural game. A bit of mysticism creeps in whereby their nation is extra special and extra cool because somehow categorically APART when it's really just a cool place like any number of other cool places. It's still a place on this earth. Also, of course, the commies. They suppress a bunch of stuff - Chinese will tell you that China is One nation with Fifty Six different ethnicities and Five Thousand years of history and all these numbers keep rolling and are core to Chinese national self understanding, but of course they're all newish concepts. Westerners are taught to be critical of things like that, but Chinese generally accept them as part of their mystical special sauce that sets them somehow apart. All very sad.

在某些方面外界比其内部更好地理解中国。中国人是非常例外的，这是说拿别的国家和别的时代和他们比较对他们天生就不适合。讲点玄学的东西，他们的国家是格外的特别，格外的酷炫因为不知怎么的他们就是明显的和别的地方区分开来，尽管它真的只是个和其他一些酷炫的地方一样的酷炫的地方。但它仍然是这个地球上的一块地方。还有，当然，那些共产分子。他们镇压了一堆七里八里的东西-中国人会告诉你中国有五十六个不同的民族，有五千年的历史，所有这些数字都持续波动着，是中华民族自我理解的核心所在。但是当然他们都是新概念。西方人被教导对这种事情保持批判的态度，但中国人普遍接受它们作为他们神秘的特别的调料的一部分来让他们使人难以理解地与众不同。多么难过呀。

Outsiders and insiders tend to be hamstrung by geography. China is big. A 19 year old  Chinese student once told me that she understood China because she'd learned about it in school. But you really have to travel if you want something approaching a basic understanding of the framework of the place. Travel travel. Hang out with different social classes... China's not really a country in the sense that even the similarly huge USA is a country. It's just too diffuse.

外面的人和内部的人往往受制于地理因素。中国很大。一个19岁的中国学生告诉我她了解中国因为她在学校学习过有关知识。但你真的不得不去旅行如果你想要对这个地方有一个基本框架的理解。旅行旅行。与不同社会阶层打交道…中国不是一个真正意义上的国家，即便和它差不多大的美国是一个国家。说的有点啰嗦了。

Foreigners tend to see China as this big strong and often surly thing. Chinese have very fresh in their memories stuff like the British opium wars and the Japanese invasion, where pregnant women were sliced open and an endless list of stupid cruelties were carried out on dirt-poor farmers. I had a student whose grandmother fled into a pond to escape from Japanese bombing. She survived the bombing but died of a water borne infection very soon after. The sense of moral outrage is partly propaganda based bullshit to distract the populace from the depredations of the party people, but partly very genuine. Foreigners tend not to get how vulnerable Chinese feel among the nations of the world. Perhaps if the Germans had invaded the USA and incinerated the cities along their eastern coast, raping the women, tossing babies out windows, forcing them to buy heroin, that may help Americans get a better grasp on China.
If you as a foreigner want to learn more about China, I'd say follow these three names; they're all extremely strong in their own ways:
Bill Bishop at The Sinocism China Newsletter, Geremie Barme formerly at China Heritage Quarterly, and Isabel Hilton.

外国人往往把中国看做一个脾气坏的庞然大物。中国人对一些事情还记忆犹新，比如和英国的鸦片战争，日本的侵略，许多孕妇被剖腹以及对贫苦的农民犯下的愚蠢暴行的无穷无尽的清单。我有一个学生，他的祖母躲进池塘里以躲避日本人的轰炸。她在轰炸中幸存了但随后死于水中携带的传染物。道德愤怒感在一定程度上是源自胡说八道的宣传，为了把民众的视线从共产党人的掠夺上转移，但一部分是真正的。外国人往往感受不到脆弱的中国人处于世界各国之间的所思所想。如果德国人侵略美国并焚烧东部沿海城市，强奸妇女，把婴儿扔出窗户，强迫他们买海洛因，那也许会帮助美国人更好地把握中国的心理。
如果你作为一个想要了解中国更多的外国，我想说学习一下这三个人，他们都是自学成才的大牛：
The Sinocism China Newsletter的比尔·毕晓普，原来在China Heritage Quarterly的吉尔米·巴托洛梅，以及伊莎贝尔·希尔顿。



Alasdair McAndrew, Mathematics educator, time waster...
Alasdair McAndrew，数学教育家，浪费时间…
Written Jan 4, 2016
写于2016年1月4日
I'm going to give a foreign view, based on some reading, and a recent visit.  I went with an open mind, and spent my time only in cities (Shanghai, Chengdu, Leshan).  The first surprise was how little "culture shock" I felt.  China is supposed to be very "different" and "foreign", but in fact in wandering the streets, eating at restaurants, it felt like being in a Chinatown of any major western city.  Except that the food is better - I didn't have a bad meal once.  There's less English spoken than I expected, but as I pointed out out to some Australians who I met at an airport - why should the locals speak English?  This is China!  As I am a monoglot, I found this tricky, but I managed with an app which is supposed to read and translate signs (and mostly, did a good enough job), as well as a Chinese/English dictionary on my smartphone.

根据一些阅读和最近的访问，我将给出一个外国人的观点。我以开放的心态前往，且只在城市（上海，成都，乐山）度过了我的时间。第一个惊喜是我觉得“文化冲击”很少。中国应该是和“外国”非常“不同”的，但事实上在街上闲逛，在餐馆吃饭，感觉就像是在任何西方主要城市的一个唐人街。除了食物更好之外，我没吃过一顿糟糕的饭。说英语比我想象的少，但正如我指出的，我在机场遇到的一些澳大利亚人-为什么当地人说英语？这是中国！我只会一种语言，我发现这很棘手，但我还是有一个app用来阅读和翻译标识（大部分都不够好），就像我智能手机的中文/英文字典。

People I spoke to seemed mostly happy with the government - this is supposed to be a surprise to us Westerners, who have been conditioned to believe that the only possible good government is a democratic one.  However - and I moved mostly in academic circles - people believe that the government is doing a good job.

我与之交谈的人似乎对政府很满意，这对我们西方人来说是一个惊讶，我们习惯于认为唯一可能的好政府是民主的政府。然而-我主要是在学术界活动，人们认为政府做得很好。

Certainly in the cities, there was a greater level of affluence than I expected: shiny new cars, including many luxury ones, excellent quality goods for sale.

当然在城市，比我预期更加富裕：闪亮的新车，包括许多豪华的，优质的商品待售。

And back to food - I was also surprised at the amazing excellent fruit and vegetables.  Many many greengrocers, with their wares enticingly displayed.  (And also delicious to eat).  Compared to what's available at my local supermarket, I'd say that China - at least the bit that I saw - does better.

回到食物-我也惊讶于惊人的优质水果和蔬菜。许多菜贩诱人地展示着兜售着他们的商品。（还有好吃的）。相比我家乡的超市，我想说中国，至少我看见的这一点，做的更好。

Superb mass transport.  Compared to Australia, where we can't even seem to get a bus system working, in China there was the marvel of the Shanghai metro, as well as the bullet train between Chengdu and Leshan.  Even a slightly rattle-trap bus I took in Leshan (on a route which was not yet upgraded) was perfectly quick, and on time.

高质量的运输。与澳大利亚相比，我们甚至似乎不能找到巴士系统的运作，在中国有奇迹般的上海地铁，以及成都和乐山之间的动车。即使是我在乐山坐过的一辆老旧车（路线尚未升级）也是完美地快速、按时。

I must say the only problem with my trip to China was its brevity.  I'd love to go back (with an interpreter in tow) and explore more.  I think that China is a country worth being interested in, even if (like me) your knowledge is superficial.  And there's far far more to applaud and like than otherwise.

我必须说我的中国之旅的唯一问题是短暂。我想回去（和一名翻译一起）探索更多。我认为中国是一个值得关注的国家，即使（像我）你的知识还很肤浅。并且远远不止掌声和喜欢。



Gwydion Madawc Williams, Read a lot about this
Gwydion Madawc Williams，读了很多关于这个的东西
Written Sep 21
写于9月21日
Visions of China are hampered by the New Right vision that has flourished since the 1980s, and which dominates the media thanks to it being owned by a small number of very rich and right-wing men. (All men, as far as I know, though some highly malignant women have high positions.)

中国的愿景被上世纪八十年代活跃的新右派运动所阻碍，多亏了它占主导地位的媒体被一小撮极为富有的男人和右翼的男人所拥有。（全是男人，就是我所知，虽然一些十分恶毒的女人身居高位。）

From the New Right view, the successful state-dominated economy of China should not exist. So they waltz between saying that China is succeeding because it is capitalist, or that it is about to suffer disaster because it is not capitalist.

从新右派的观点看，成功的国有经济占主导地位的中国不应该存在。所以他们一边说中国是成功的，因为它是资本主义的，一边又说中国将要遭受灾难因为它不是资本主义的。

It is hard to see how an honest person could truly believe both of these things. 
But it is an observable fact that almost all of the Western China experts manage it.

很难看出一个诚实的人怎么能真正相信这两件事。
但这是几乎所有西方的中国专家应对的可观察的事实。

In addition, the ideology obliges them to deny that China could have achieved anything at all under Mao’s highly collectivist system. The reality is that China had been stagnating before Mao and matched the world average for economic growth under Mao - meaning also that China was doing better than a majority of countries in the world, including Britain and the USA. They never dare tackle the matter as a whole, but instead talk about the errors. Errors were real enough, but were greatly outweighed by successes. And a reasonable belief is that only an authoritarian and experimental government could have had that degree of overall success.

此外，意识形态迫使他们否认中国在毛泽东的高度集体主义制度下取得任何成就。现实情况是，在毛泽东之前中国一直处于停滞，而在毛泽东的带领下经济增长追上了世界平均水平，这也意味着中国比世界上大多数国家都做的出色，包括英国和美国。他们从不敢把这件事作为一个整体来解决，而是谈论错误。错误是足够真实的，但大大地被成功超过了。一个合理的信念是，只有一个专制的和实验性的政府可以有这样程度的整体成功。

The Republic of India, taking a more cautious line, achievedfar less.

印度共和国采取更加谨慎的态度，成就远远不及。

(I’ve dealt in detail with the Mao era in How Mao Greatly Strengthened China. With the previous failures in Traditional China Resisted Modernisation and Why China’s ‘Blue Republic’ Achieved Nothing.)

（我详细研究过毛泽东时代关于毛泽东是如何使中国强大的。以及之前的失败，关于传统中国拒绝现代化和为什么中国的‘蓝色共和国’一无所获。）

The odd thing is, had they retained faith in the Mixed-Economy or Keynesian system, they could have celebrated Deng's China as a successful copying of their methods. And seen Mao's China as perhaps a necessary stage to modernize a backward and broken-down society, as indeed many Western writers did at the time.

奇怪的是，他们保留了对混合经济或凯恩斯系统的信任，他们本能够为邓小平的中国成功地复制他们的方法而庆祝。并且看到毛的中国也许作为对一个落后和破败的社会进行现代化的一个必要的阶段，实际上许多西方作者当时这么做过了。