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年奥运会的举办城市，拥有至少一对大熊猫，以及2000万人口。这几乎就像是将整个加拿大的人口全部塞进同温哥华一般大小的空间里。我，我很肯定与我同行的其他9人也跟我一样，已经准备好迎接即将到来的巨大文化冲击。

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?
无可否认，我的第一印象是在夜里，所以我实在无法描述出具体细节，但从机场开往酒店的大巴上向外望去，它看起来只像一个中等规模的城市。沿着宽敞的林荫大道向前行驶，两旁的景色漂亮却乏味。值得奇怪的是几乎所有建筑都没有超过20层，不像香港那样全部挤压在一起。嗯哼，莫非我打开的方式不对？北京不应该是超级拥挤的吗？但它现在看起来就像温哥华，就像在市中心外面？我到底在哪儿？更重要的是，传说中的人山人海在哪儿？

Still puzzling over this, we were delivered to the Crown Plaza Beijing Wangfujing, a really nice, modern hotel.
当我还在纠结这个的时候，我们已经被送到北京王府井的皇冠假日酒店，一个非常漂亮、现代化的酒店。

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.
几分钟的梳洗之后，我们又碰面了，雄赳赳气昂昂，一起去逛街。我们酒店所在的王府井大街，是北京的主要商业街之一，放眼望去，许多大型广告牌霓虹闪烁，使整个地区呈现欢迎、喜庆的气氛。根据耸立在这里的那座8层大商场判断，他们干得相当不赖！

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.
走了半个街区远，我们停下来给一座教堂拍摄照片，周围开始播放中国流行音乐，音量很大（虽然不是通常听到的天主教弥撒，但也算不错的福利），有人站在前面的台阶上现场演唱，一大群人突然出现在广场上，并开始排队跳舞。这难道就是中国的快闪活动！或者只是北京一个普通的星期二夜晚，因为参与者各个年龄段都有，每个人都知道固定舞步。不管它是什么，总而言之，它非常棒，2个小时后，当我们步行回酒店的时候，他们还在那里跳舞。

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.
接下来是东华门夜市，往下一个街区便是。除此之外，作为一条闻名的小吃街，这也是城里吃烤串最好的地方，从经典的鸡肉串、猪肉串、豆腐串到千奇百怪的蚕蛹、鱿鱼、蝎子还有蛇，应有尽有。嗯～～～真好吃。这里有上百个摊位沿街道一侧一字排开，一线红灯笼高高挂起，光线明亮。优点是：贩售车都很干净，食物的品质也很好。缺点是：每个摊位卖的东西几乎一模一样，所以朝前走完十英尺之后，你真的真的不需要再继续美食探险，如你所见，所有的东西你刚才都看到过了。

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.
和大多数游客一样，我们纯粹只是走马观花地拍些照片，兴奋地看着眼前景象，一会高声尖叫，一会“咯咯”地笑，什么也没有买，伴随人潮继续前进。他们应该要做大量生意才足以支撑那么多摊位，但是在气温为零下的11月夜晚，似乎没有那么多人想要吃穿在小木棍上的蛇肉。此外，即便入乡，我也随不了这样的俗呀……

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.
该死的，北京真是太冷了。多年来，我一直信誓旦旦地告诉客户，北京的天气和温哥华差不多，但是阳光更多些。作为一种近似值，它也无错可挑（不准确），不过当我们真正身处北京时，这里显然更冷啊！而且不是冷一星半点。零下5度的气温，还有劲吹的刺骨寒风，冻得你想哭，让你拿出百米冲刺的劲头直奔酒店，并且向天气之神哀嚎，乞求它怜悯我们这些可怜的加拿大时差党。

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.
老实说，也许正是这样的温度让我在将近36个小时未合眼的情况下，撑到了北京时间晚上9点30分。它帮我适应了当地节奏，但那并没有使它变得可爱讨喜。洗了一个热水澡之后，我瘫倒在床上，柔软温暖的被窝将我包裹起来，真舒服，很快我就进入了甜美的梦乡。