When Nanjing’s newest metro line commenced operations last month, little did most know that similar openings were occurring at the exact same moment all over China. But how can so many such large undertakings be synchronised across the country?
当南京最新的地铁线路上个月开始运营时，大多数人都不知道中国各地也在同一时间开通了类似的地铁线路。但这么多如此大的事业如何在全国范围内同步进行？
It was on 28 December that Nanjing’s newest mass transit route, Metro Line S6, began running for the general public with paying passengers. It was joined by an extension to Line 2, adding four new stations to the route. The two had started services at midday.
12月28日，南京最新的轨道交通线路——地铁S6号线开始面向公众付费乘客运营。此外，2 号线还进行了延伸，增加了 4 个新车站。两人中午开始做礼拜。
Elsewhere, another seven lines were opened in six other cities across China. Specifically, these were the cities of Dalian, Foshan, Ningbo, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Wuhu. When it was all over, another 211 kilometres of track had been added to China’s mass urban transit systems, revealed Metro Report International. And it had all happened on the same day.
在其他地方，中国其他六个城市又开通了 7 条线路。具体来说，这些城市是大连、佛山、宁波、深圳、天津和芜湖。据 Metro Report International 透露，当这一切结束后，中国的公共城市交通系统又增加了 211 公里的轨道。而且这一切都发生在同一天。
So the question now becomes twofold. How is it possible, and why?
所以现在的问题变成了双重的。这怎么可能，为什么？
In most western countries, a large public works engineering project projected to be completed in 4 or 5 years shall run over by 1 or 2 years (at least). They are the poster children for the inefficiencies of democracies.
在大多数西方国家，预计4年或5年完成的大型公共工程项目将延长1年或2年（至少）。他们是民主国家效率低下的典型代表。
China, on the other hand, not only knows 5 years out when a project will be completed, it can give you an opening date as well.
另一方面，中国不仅知道项目将在 5 年后完成，而且还可以给你一个开业日期。
But coordinating such efforts in seven different cities to all culminate on a single day requires bringing to the table superlative excellence in organisation and manpower, together with engineering prowess.
但是，协调七个不同城市的此类努力并在一天内全部完成需要在组织和人力以及工程实力方面发挥最卓越的作用。
As regards the former two, China is famed for its almost infinite supply of labour and an ability to bring everything together bang on time, sometimes to the millisecond. Just look at the Beijing Olympics of 2008 or our very own Youth Olympics in Nanjing in 2014, the organisation of which was referred to by IOC President, Thomas Bach, as “flawless”.
就前两者而言，中国以其几乎无限的劳动力供应和及时（有时达到毫秒）将所有东西整合在一起的能力而闻名。看看2008年的北京奥运会或2014年我们自己的南京青奥会，国际奥委会主席托马斯·巴赫称其组织“完美”。
Looking to the latter, the western world now needs to get used to the increasingly real fact that Chinese universities are the best in the world in some fields. One of those is engineering.
展望后者，西方世界现在需要习惯一个日益现实的事实：中国大学在某些领域是世界上最好的。其中之一是工程。
But what of the second question? To sum up, China opened nine metro lines in seven cities in unison because of superstition.
但第二个问题呢？综上所述，中国7个城市统一开通9条地铁线路，就是因为迷信。
In China, all kinds of important things happen when it is a lucky day. That’s when businesses will officially begin trading, while there shall also be weddings galore and firecrackers exploding outside new restaurants.
在中国，每逢幸运日就会发生各种重要的事情。届时，商家将正式开始营业，新餐厅外也会举行盛大的婚礼和鞭炮声。
And as it turned out, 28 December, 2021, was the mother of lucky days. According to ChineseCalendarOnline.com, the date has more positive associations than just about any other. And top of the list of things to do this day was grand openings.
事实证明，2021 年 12 月 28 日是幸运日之母。据 ChineseCalendarOnline.com 报道，这个日子比其他任何日子都具有更多的积极联想。这一天最重要的事情就是盛大的开幕式。
Delving deeper, that our metro systems started their new services at 12:00 is also no coincidence. For Chinese astrology points to the hours between 11:00 and 13:00 on 28 December as the best time for any kind of consecration ceremony.
更深入地研究，我们的地铁系统在 12:00 开始提供新服务也并非巧合。中国占星学指出，12 月 28 日 11:00 至 13:00 之间的时间是举行任何开光仪式的最佳时间。
In fact, the day itself was a good one for anything sacrificial, together with adopting children, signing contracts, breaking ground and seeing the doctor.
事实上，这一天本身就适合做任何牺牲，包括收养孩子、签订合同、破土动工和看医生。
To be sure, if it was, like, really important, 28 December last year was the day to do it.
可以肯定的是，如果它真的很重要，那么去年 12 月 28 日就是这样做的日子。
