老外在中国旅游一个月，感叹“在中国很少看到流浪汉”！

　　当下，越来越多的外国游客来到中国，感慨中国的真实面貌与西方舆论的刻画完全不一样，“没想到”“路转粉”等评价在网络上引起越来越多的关注。

　　6月22日，一位叫斯坦斯菲尔德·史密斯的美国媒体编辑在异见之声网络媒体(Dissident Voice)上发布了一篇名为《在中国旅游一月(A Month Traveling in China)》的文章。

　　斯坦斯菲尔德·史密斯和会说中文的妻子最近在中国旅行了一个月，去了9个不同的城市。中国给他们留下了深刻的印象。

　　My Chinese-speaking wife and I recently traveled to nine different cities and towns in China over the course of a month, leaving us a deep impression.

　　其中第一点便是，亲眼所见的中国，与他们在美国国内媒体上看到的关于中国的报道相去甚远。

　　Of our most significant impressions of China, the first is the contrast between the stories the corporate media tell us about China, what they don’t want us to know, and the reality we see.

　　第二，斯坦斯菲尔德·史密斯称中国的基础设施建设超过了美国。美国前总统吉米·卡特曾说：“我们国家有多少英里的高速铁路?(零)。中国有大约1.8万英里(约合2.9万公里)的高速铁路。”——这是2019年的数据，如今，这一数字已经增加到2.8万英里(约合4.5万公里)，列车时速可达220英里(约合354公里)。

　　Two, China’s infrastructure surpasses anything in the US. Jimmy Carter said “How many miles of high-speed railroad do we have in this country? [zero] China has around 18,000 miles (29,000 km) of high-speed rail lines.” That was in 2019. Now it is 28,000 miles and trains can travel 220 miles per hour.

　　第三，在体验了中国令人惊叹的基础设施后，斯坦斯菲尔德·史密斯意识到，美国在无尽的战争中花费了数万亿美元，让民众陷入贫困。卡特曾说：“中国没有在战争上浪费一分钱，这就是他们领先于我们的原因。”

　　Three, after experiencing China’s incredible infrastructure, you realize how the trillions of dollars spent on endless war have impoverished us. Carter said China has not wasted a single penny on war, and that’s why they’re ahead of us.

　　第四，干净安全的城市。斯坦斯菲尔德·史密斯称在中国，你不会看到无处不在的垃圾。每天都有大批环卫工人清扫街道、公园和其他公共场所。而在美国，这样的服务一般只有在私有建筑物、大学、医院或者高级酒店里才会有，在公共空间很少见。

　　Four, clean and safe cities. We don’t see the omnipresent litter we do here. Every day a veritable army of public workers clean the streets, sidewalks, subways, parks, and other public places. These are not simply litter free, but clean. Workers making sure of it. In the US we would expect this in private buildings, universities, hospitals, fancy hotels, but not in public spaces.

　　omnipresent/ˌɒmnɪˈpreznt/ : 无所不在

　　veritable/ˈvərədəb(ə)l/: 货真价实的

　　第五，提供给大众一系列社会福利。斯坦斯菲尔德·史密斯在文中感叹，生活在中国的老年人，甚至包括外国人，通常在博物馆、国家公园、地铁和火车上都是享受半价。公共服务工作者更是无处不在，随时可以回答居民和游客的任何问题。

　　Five, an array of social services and benefits for the people. Seniors, even me, generally get half-price, such as at museums, national parks, on subways and trains. Public service workers are everywhere, available to answer any questions you have.

　　第六，很少看到流浪汉。斯坦斯菲尔德·史密斯称，自己在中国9个不同的城市中只见到一名流浪者。相比之下，看似富裕的美国，却有数以千计的无家可归者，包括儿童、孕妇和老人。

　　Six, the complete absence of homeless people. We were in nine different cities and saw just one down-and-out person on the street asking for money. The US, in the midst of wealth, has hundreds of thousands of homeless, including children, pregnant women, and the elderly.

　　down-and-out/ˈdoun ən ˌout/: 一无所有的人

　　第七，警察与民众的关系性质不同。斯坦斯菲尔德·史密斯在文中描述美国警察时常全副武装，像要投入战斗，而中国警察则更像提供服务的公职人员。史密斯还提到，有一次他们去参观乐山大佛，在买票时发现外套丢了，里面有钱包和护照。惊慌之下，他们去当地警察局报案。仅仅3小时后，警察就找回了他的外套和所有物品，并送到他们所在的地方。但在美国，几乎不可能指望警察帮他找丢失的东西。

　　Seven, the qualitatively different nature of police relations with the people than here. The police don’t even look like US ones, armored as if for battle. The police, like the other public workers, are there to assist you. One day we took a train and then a bus to visit the Leshan Giant Buddha statue. When we were buying our entrance tickets, I found I had lost a little jacket from my backpack containing my wallet and our passports. Alarmed, we went to the local police station to report this. In just three hours since we reported it missing, the police had my jacket with everything and had driven to where we were to give it to us. In US, there is zero chance police would search them to locate my jacket.

　　斯坦斯菲尔德·史密斯总结说，中国城市中垃圾很少，干净又安全，与美国形成了鲜明对比。中国政府创造了一个关心普通民众的社会，而在美国，你会感觉政府对你的人生漠不关心，除非你有钱。

　　The overall feeling created in litter-free, clean, safe cities, is that in contrast to here, the Chinese government has created a society that cares about you. In the US, you feel government is indifferent to your concerns – unless you have money.

　　他还强调，仅仅75年前，中国的文盲率高达80%，而如今，中国是地球上技术最先进的国家之一。同样具有世界历史意义的是，在短短一代人的时间里，中国数以亿计的妇女取得了几乎男女平等的地位，这是巨大的人权成就。此外，仅仅40多年间，中国让超过7亿多人摆脱了贫困。

　　Remember, at the start of the revolution just 75 years ago, China’s illiteracy rate was 80%. Now it is the most technologically advanced country on the planet. Equally world historic are the revolutionary gains in human rights for the hundreds of millions of women, all in the space of one lifetime. Moreover, in a mere forty years, China raised 750 million out of poverty.

　　在文章的最后，斯坦斯菲尔德·史密斯直言，中国如今是唯一在发展上可能超过美国的国家，美国政客将此视作一种威胁。但是，美国针对中国的各种战略一次又一次地失败了。

　　最终结果是，相比美国的霸权，今天的中国代表着进步和增长的力量。

　　China stands out today as the only country to ever surpass the US in development. The US rulers do not take this as an example to learn from, but as a mortal threat. But the various US strategies to disable China have failed one after another. As a result, today China presents a progressive and growing alternative force to the world power of the US empire.

　　越来越多像斯坦斯菲尔德·史密斯一样的人，依据自己的体验，发出真切的声音，他们通过最直接的方式了解真实的中国，用亲身体验冲破西方舆论的屏障和意识形态的隔阂。