New mothers in today’s China are very likely to be seen pushing a pram while looking at their iPhone.
在当今中国的新妈妈们很可能会看到她们一边推着手机一边看着她们的iPhone。
Nothing strange about that, you might think. But let’s back up a little.
你可能会想，这没什么奇怪的。 但让我们退后一点。
When I moved from Shanghai to Nanjing in 2003, I brought my Apple computer with me. It was a big, bulky-silvery-grey desktop of a thing called a G4.
当我在2003年从上海搬到南京时，我带来了我的苹果电脑。 这是一个大而笨重的银灰色桌面，叫做G4。
I’d bought it in Hong Kong a year or so prior on account Apple had yet to open stores in China.
大約一年前，我在香港買了它，蘋果還沒有在中國開店。
The M.O. was not particularly sophisticated. Buy computer (cash), place in suitcase, surround with clothes, return to airport, check in.
M.O.并不是特别复杂。 购买电脑（现金），放在手提箱里，用衣服包围，返回机场，办理登机手续。
Except all did not go entirely to plan.
除了所有没有完全计划。
Under the weight of the G4, the suitcase kind of imploded. In the middle of Nathan Road. In rush hour.
在G4的重量下，手提箱有点内爆了。 在内森路的中间。 在高峰时段。
Cue bigger, better, stronger suitcase (more cash).
提示更大、更好、更坚固的手提箱（更多现金）。
It survived its brush with death under the feet of commuting Hong Kongers, the Dragonair flight (miss them already) back to Shanghai, hardly a glimpse from customs (asleep) and, a couple of years later, a ride in the back of a (very local) removal company’s truck, all the way to Nanjing, to live out its days in my office on the 11th floor of Golden Eagle in Xinjiekou.
它在通勤的香港人的脚下幸存下来，龙航的航班（已经想念他们了）返回上海，几乎没有从海关瞥见（沉睡），几年后，乘坐一家（非常本地的）搬家公司的卡车后面，一直到南京，在我位于新界口金鹰11楼的办公室度过它的日子。
Which is where something curious happened.
这是发生奇怪事情的地方。
My local colleagues eyed the G4 with suspicion; its proportional width fonts a complete mystery, given the box-like regime of Chinese characters. And they simply said, “Chinese People will never EVER use Apple”.
我当地的同事怀疑地盯着G4；鉴于汉字的盒子状制度，其比例宽度字体是一个完全的谜。 他们只是说，「中国人永远不会使用苹果”。
Well… Now let’s talk prams, or even worse, strollers.
嗯……现在我们来谈谈婴儿车，或者更糟的是，婴儿车。
When the light of my life was born, we figured (being the internationally-minded parents that we are) that we would haul her around in a pram.
当我生命中的光芒诞生时，我们想（作为具有国际意识的父母）我们会用一辆手帕拖着她到处走。
But we were frowned upon, and once again, “Chinese People will never EVER do that”.
但我们被皱起了眉头，再一次，“中国人民永远不会那样做”。
Today, those prams are often repurposed as shopping trolleys, presumably when the bairn is sleeping or sick.
如今，这些推车经常被重新用作购物车，大概是在睡觉或生病的时候。
They are also handy for taking the dog around so that it doesn’t muddy the floor and the bed upon the return home; god forbid it might want some exercise.
它们也方便带狗到处走，这样它回家后就不会把地板和床弄脏了；上帝保佑，它可能需要一些锻炼。
This is how ubiquitous prams have become in the nation that vowed never to use them.
这就是在发誓永不使用嬰兒車的国家中普遍存在的。
The best thing about perceptions, like opinions, is that we can change them. Just as well, for without that, China would now be a very different place indeed. Otherwise, same as it ever was. Bad news.
观念，就像意见一样，最好的一点是我们可以改变它们。 很好，如果没有它，中国现在确实会是一个完全不同的地方。 否则，和以前一样。 坏消息。
