译者 hzwz2115
Hong Kong (CNN) - I roll my eyes when people here in Hong Kong complain this city’s air quality is bad. My reply? Try living in Beijing.
香港（CNN）：当香港的人们抱怨城市糟糕的空气质量时我揉着眼睛。我的回答？尝试在北京居住。
This past week we saw some of the worst smog to smother China’s capital this year. More than 360 flights were cancelled in and out of Beijing on Tuesday alone. Thousands of passengers around the country were stranded. And both infants and the elderly across the region were rushed to hospitals for breathing problems – their mouths and noses covered by oxygen masks.
It seems things haven’t changed. From 2000 to 2006 I lived in China; four of those years were in Beijing. And I remember very similar scenes. Looking back on my time then – and reporting on China’s air pollution problems today – it’s as if history continues to repeat itself.
上周我经历了今年以来笼盖中国首都最为严重的大雾。光周二就有360架次进出北京的航班被取消。全国各地有数千人的行程被耽搁。横穿整个地区，老人和婴儿因为呼吸问题被紧急送入医院——他们的嘴和鼻子带着氧气面罩。
事态看起来并没有改变。我于2000年至2006年曾经居住在中国，这四年都是在北京度过。但是类似的情景我依然记忆深刻。回首我在北京的时光，再来报道当今中国的空气污染问题，看起来历史依然在重复。
To be sure, I have fond memories of Beijing – of my friends, of great food and of helpful people. Of its air quality, I do not
很肯定，在北京我拥有美好的回忆——我的朋友，美味食品和热情的人们。但是对于糟糕的空气质量，我并没有好印象。
Memory 1: A dusting of grey, a shooting of black and the taste of metal
记忆1：粉尘的灰色，黑色的刺激和金属的气息。
By the look of my hair, I had aged a few decades by the time I came back home one particularly polluted evening in Beijing. I hadn’t realized that fact until my then-roommate asked what had happened. Some of the city’s haze had found a final resting spot on my do, giving me a salt-and pepper-spray.
在北京一个污染严重的夜晚，当我回家的时候透过头发的颜色我仿佛已经几十岁了，直到我当时的室友询问我发生了什么我意识到这一切。城市的迷雾最终在我身上找到的歇脚地。
Memory 2: When I lived in Beijing I thought no air could be worse than that city’s air
记忆2：生活在北京的时候，我曾经没有哪个城市的空气质量比这里更糟糕了。
And I’m even more convinced of it today.
Beijing’s municipal health bureau says lung cancer rates have risen 60% over the past ten years. The disease is now the number one killer for the capital’s residents. To be sure, China’s cultural affinity with cigarettes is in large part to blame. But China’s air quality really does add insult to injury.
如今，我对此更加坚信。
北京市卫生局宣称在过去的十年里肺癌发病率提高了60%。这种疾病如今是首都居民的首要杀手。很明显，中国文化中对烟草的崇尚需要承担很大的指责。但是中国的空气质量的确加剧了疾病的感染。
And as the country’s air quality becomes a topic of conversation so does the U.S. embassy’s air monitoring station in Beijing. You might remember it jumped to online fame last year for its air quality reading of “crazy bad”. It measures particulates as small as 2.5 microns across. (For comparison, a strand of hair can be as ‘wide’ as 100 microns across.)
The U.S. embassy spokesperson, Richard Buangan, told me that the station maxed out on its measuring ability this past Sunday. The limit is 500. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limit is 35. Crazy bad, indeed. Mr. Buangan said it passed 500 on Sunday at 5:22pm Beijing time. From then through early Wednesday, its reading reported these two words: “very unhealthy”.
中国的空气质量和位于北京的美国大使馆内的空气监测站已经成为交流的一个话题。你也许记得去年其“非常糟糕”的空气检测结果在网络上得到热议。它测量空气微粒的直径为2.5微米（比较而言，头发的丝的直径达到100微米）
美国大使馆的发言人，Richar Buangan告诉我上周上个星期它的测量能力达到了极限。极限是500.美国环境保护机构的极限是35.相当糟糕，真的。Buangan在北京时间下午5:22分突破了500.从周三到那时，测量设备报告这么两个词：“非常不健康”。
China air pollution: 'Slightly polluted' or 'hazardous'?
中国空气污染：“轻微污染”抑或“有害”？
I challenge you to find someplace else that has consistently worse air quality.
Memory 3: People just seemed to bear the smog and dust…and move on
我建议你去其他一些有着糟糕空气质量的地方去挑战一下。
记忆3：人们看起来只能忍受大雾和灰尘……和搬走。
But now, China’s citizens are losing their patience and they have a public platform to voice their anger. With the rise of Sina Weibo in China – the country’s version of Twitter– so have risen the voices of discontent.
Our team in Beijing spotlighted a few of these for this article. They show that fallout from this latest smog event doesn’t just involve particulate matter – it includes suspicion, caution and frustration.
到目前为止，中国的人们已经失去了耐心，而且他们有了表达自己愤怒的公共平台。伴随着新浪微博——中国版的推特在中国的发展，不满的声音在加剧。
因为这篇文章我们在北京的团队关注了其中的部分，它们所透露出来的不仅仅是事件的本身，还包括怀疑、小心和挫折。
JOSEPH-SHEN：In 2006, Beijing shut down two monitoring sites which showed the worst air pollution. In 2008, monitoring stations were moved outside of the 6th ring road. That’s why the data showed that Beijing’s air quality got improved.
小萝莉不是solinda：Beijing has severe air pollution, and one will be poisoned as long as he breathes. Don’t forget to wear mask if you go out.
JOSEP-SHEN:2006年，北京关闭了两处现实最严重空气污染的监测点。2008年，监测站被搬迁到六环以外。这就是为什么数据现实北京空气质量得到提升的原因所在。
小萝莉不是solinda：北京存在严重的空气污染，污染对空气有害。出门的时候别忘了带口罩。
yico黄：Beijing’s air quality is crazy bad. The air smelled strange yesterday morning, and I had the symptoms similar to catching a cold last night, such as sneezing. My colleagues told me that they coughed a lot. However, relevant departments still said that the air quality was good. As a pregnant woman, I am extremely angry.
yico黄：北京的空气质量相当糟糕。昨天早晨的空气闻起来非常奇怪，昨天晚上就有了感冒的症状，比如打喷嚏。我的同事告诉它们经常咳嗽。但是，相关部门仍然宣称空气质量很好。作为一名孕妇，我极其愤怒。
On top of all this, of 1000 people polled by Sina Weibo, 52% said they wanted to leave Beijing because of the latest smog.
For those who can’t, they are the people who have pushed sales of masks and air filters into the proverbial stratosphere.
在新浪微博发起的一场有1000人参加的投票中，52%的人称它们因为最近的大雾希望离开北京。
至于那些不能离开的人，他们把口罩和空气净化器的销售额推向了云霄。
Ah Beijing. You make me thankful for that which I have: cleaner air. Relative to you, we all can definitely breathe a (cleaner) sigh of relief.
北京，使我对我拥有的洁净空气而感激。相比较你而言，我都能呼吸一份轻松。
The China Daily, the country’s English language paper, reported Wednesday that air cleaning products were the most searched objects on Taobao.com – a site similar to Amazon.com in the United States. Another online vendor, 360buy.com, says it saw a 50% jump in sales of air cleaning products between October and November.
这个国家的一份英文报纸《中国日报》报道称空气净化产品是周三淘宝网（类似于美国的亚马逊）上搜索次数最多的物品。另外一个在线购物网站，京东商城，宣称10和11月其空气净化产品的销售量提升了50%。
CNN's Helena Hong contributed to this article from Beijing.
CNN的Helena Hong对这篇文章负有贡献。
from 译言-每日精品译文推荐 http://article.yeeyan.org/view/242348/238548
