Trust me; choose a career as a journalist. You get to see a whole lot of stuff that’s off limits to most. Like a shoal of fish that has never had it so good.
相信我；选择记者职业。你会看到很多大多数人无法看到的东西。就像一群鱼从未享受过如此美好的生活。
When I woke up yesterday, little did I know I had a date. With some pecans. But not the kind for lunch. A quick dash by high-speed train to Suzhou later, and with each of these fish worth in the vicinity of ¥700,000, below is what about ¥25 million worth of Koi carp look like.
当我昨天醒来时，我几乎不知道我有一个约会。配一些山核桃。但不是午餐的那种。随后乘高铁快速赶往苏州，每条鱼的价值都在70万元左右，下面是价值约2500万元的锦鲤的样子。
For rural Wuzhong District in Suzhou is home to the Su Xin Koi Farm that is the largest Koi carp breeding base in the world. And most of the time, it’s open only to those with very deep and somewhat fishy smelling, pockets.
苏州吴中区农村地区拥有全球最大的锦鲤养殖基地——苏鑫锦鲤养殖场。大多数时候，它只对那些口袋很深、有点腥味的人开放。
Selectively bred for their resale value, those pecans worth north of half a million typically weigh two kilograms, with their value increasing until the fish reaches its optimum age; in the Koi’s case, around 7 years old. And just as with humans, it’s all downhill from there…
这些山核桃是根据转售价值进行选择性培育的，价值超过 50 万的山核桃通常重 2 公斤，随着鱼达到最佳年龄，它们的价值会不断增加；以锦鲤为例，它大约7岁。就像人类一样，从那里开始一切都是走下坡路的……
Their value, of course, stems from their symbolism in Japanese culture with perseverance, strength and good fortune. With the Chinese more than happy to jump on that particular Sino-Japanese band wagon, such lucky associations in Suzhou topped out with a fish selling for over ¥2 million.
当然，它们的价值源于它们在日本文化中象征着毅力、力量和好运。由于中国人非常乐意搭上中日两国的潮流，苏州的这些幸运协会最终以超过 200 万日元的价格出售了一条鱼。
Pampered pecans they be too. Especially the young. Given that the big bucks these little ones shall represent in the future, the babies are given their own temperature-controlled greenhouse, in waters kept at a constant 22 degrees all year round.
他们也是被宠坏的山核桃。尤其是年轻人。考虑到这些小家伙未来将代表大笔收入，这些小宝宝们拥有自己的温控温室，水温全年保持在 22 度恒定。
So, needless to say, they also have a solar-powered feeder providing their lunch, which I didn’t have. Perhaps journalists are not such a lucky bunch after all, unlike the owners of those Koi in Suzhou…
所以，不用说，他们还有一个太阳能喂食器提供午餐，而我没有。也许记者毕竟不是那么幸运的一群人，不像苏州那些锦鲤的主人……
