I1/2: 西郏河 → 后沙峪（双语）

September 17, 2024

I don't want to be one of those Foreigners who is gushing about how amazing China is, cause I know a lot about all the ways that China frequently isn't amazing, but oh my holy God is Daxing Airport a mind trip.

In the last year I've been through Haikou, Shanghai Pudong, Hangzhou, Changsha, Beijing Capital, Frankfurt, Dublin, Beihai, Fuzhou, Chengdu, Sanya, Lanzhou, Cheng, and Beijing Daxing airports.

因为我深知中国我不想成为那种一个劲儿夸赞中国有多了不起的外国人。好该说好。坏该说坏。事实来说中国在很多方面常常并没有那么完美。我虽然不想无趣夸赞，还要说大兴机场可真是太让人震撼了。

过去这一年，我去过海口、上海浦东、杭州、长沙、北京首都、法兰克福、都柏林、北海、福州、成都、三亚、兰州、成县以及北京大兴等机场。

I had glowing things to say about some of these airports¹ and decidedly not so glowing things to say about others². It so happens that my deepest ire is reserved for the very poor quality from the places where I had a much higher baseline expectation, but if Daxing is the new standard for what China is doing these days, although I normally find the foreigners who won't shut up about how modern and how amazing this country is to be pandering for views and attention, I can definitely see where they are coming from.

对于某些机场，我有赞美之词要说¹，而对另外一些机场，我显然就没那么多好话了²。碰巧的是，最让我愤怒的是那些我原本抱有更高基准预期，但实际表现却很差劲的地方。不过，如果大兴机场代表了如今中国在这方面所树立的新标准，虽然通常我觉得那些滔滔不绝地夸赞中国多么现代化、多么了不起的外国人是在为了博眼球、求关注，但我现在完全能理解他们这么说的缘由了。

Wheelchairs³ and prams⁴ to borrow 轮椅³和婴儿车⁴可供借用

Color coded wristbands for people who might need help and for what kind of help are available at the entrance 在入口处，为可能需要帮助的人准备的彩色编码腕带，通过腕带能看出可以获得什么样的帮助。

I'm back at the airport because it's the easiest way to get mass transit into the city, and I need to go all the way to far side of the city to catch up with the Beijing Cyclists⁵ who have provided me with an address to receive my taobao shopping and are letting me drop the backpack of stuff that I might want to wear when I come back to Beijing for Yom Kippur in a little over 3 weeks.

I feel like I've got loads more I can still cut, but—even while I really don't want this much non bike clothing with me—I know that it's necessary. I'm also not real keen on doing laundry every single day the way some people do.

我又回到这个机场，因为搭乘机场的公共交通进城是最便捷的方式，而且我得前往城市的另一端去和北京骑行者们⁵碰面，他们给了我一个地址用来收我在淘宝上购买的物品，并且允许我把装有物品的背包寄放在那儿，这些物品是三周多一点之后我回北京过赎罪日时可能会用到的。

我觉得我还有很多东西可以精简，不过——尽管我真的不想随身带着这么多非骑行用的衣物——但我知道这是有必要的，而且我也不像有些人那样热衷于每天洗衣服。

Plum American Tourister has a handle that won't retract. It's been gently "tossed out" in the direction of someone who will fix it. Big blue is full of stuff being mailed back to Hainan. 这个紫红色的美旅牌行李箱有个把手收不回去了。它已经被轻轻“扔”向能修理它的人那边去了。那个蓝色大行李箱里装满了要寄回海南的东西。

What genius came up with this idea? 这主意是哪个天才想出来的？

Not including the bit of time I spent on an AliBike, it took almost three hours on subways to get to their place. This gives me lots of time to organize my thoughts on how I will word the complaint to Beijing 12345 (the all purpose government information and complaints hotline) regarding the situation with my original booking in Daxing.

Don't get me wrong, my new place is still very reasonably priced, incredibly clean, and they've got a passport scanner⁶ instead of manual entry on a phone app, but—in addition to costing 40% more—they're also right next to the road, and they're lacking the courtyard house amenities or trendy style of the place I explicitly chose to stay.

不算我骑哈罗单车花的那点时间，坐地铁到他们那儿差不多花了三个小时呢。这让我有充足的时间来整理思绪，想想该如何向北京12345（全能型的政府信息及投诉热线）投诉我原本在大兴的预订情况。

别误会我的意思，我新入住的地方价格仍然很合理，干净得令人难以置信，而且他们配备了护照扫描仪⁶，不用在手机应用程序上手动输入信息了，但是——这里的价格比之前贵了40%——并且它就在马路边上，也没有我之前特意选择入住的地方那样有庭院或时尚感。

They just stood in line to wait for the subway. Without being told. What happened to the Beijing I remember? 他们就那样自觉排队等地铁，都不用别人提醒。我记忆中的北京怎么变成这样了？

I suppose, if all the icons are female presenting, that's also gender neutral 如果所有图标呈现的都是女性形象，那这也算是性别中立对不对

Current plan, now that I have my stuff, is to do sharebikes most of tomorrow, visit the offices of the Beijinger and Important State-owned Publishing Company, and cross the border into Hebei at whenever o'clock I get back to Daxing and my bicycle. It means putting off the meeting with the Large National Media Outlet until Yom Kippur but I really want to get on the road.

目前的计划是，既然我已经拿到东西了，明天大部分时间就骑共享单车出行，前往《北京人》杂志以及那家重要的国有出版公司的办公室，然后等我回到大兴取到自行车后，不管几点都要进入河北境内。这意味着要把与那家大型国家级媒体机构的会面推迟到犹太赎罪日了，但我真的很想出发上路。

¹ Security lines in Changsha were actively handicapped friendly. A man who travels with small children clearly had input on the design in Fuzhou†. The VIP waiting room in Cheng was stunningly decorated‡.

† They had cribs at security, so it was possible to put a squirmy child down while unpacking and repacking your carry-on. They also had explicitly gender neutral language and icons on the baby care rooms.

‡ It was like something out of the 90s with big red velvet armchairs and hand crocheted antimacassars.

¹ 长沙机场的安检通道对行动不便者非常友好。一位带着小孩子出行的男士显然对福州机场†（安检通道等设施）的设计提供了意见。成县机场‡的贵宾候机室装修得美轮美奂。

†安检处设有婴儿床，在打开和重新整理随身行李时，可以把好动的孩子放在床上。“母婴室”不但变成“育婴室”，门上的图标是性别中立。

‡这就像是从90年代走出来的场景，宽大的红色天鹅绒扶手椅以及手工钩织的椅套。

Usually, the terminology for baby care rooms is “母婴室” (meaning: “mother & child room”). This is “育婴室” (meaning “room for taking care of a baby”). Sometimes they even have large signs prohibiting men. 通常情况下，这个叫母婴室，有时候还会有很大的禁止男士进入的标识。

These have got to be handmade 这些肯定是手工制作的。

² Fuck Frankfurt and double fuck the fuckheads at Lufthansa Luggage Services, Frankfurt.

²去他的法兰克福，更要狠狠咒骂法兰克福汉莎航空行李服务处的那些蠢货。

³ In 2009, I had an emergency flight from Beijing Capital to the US and the bitch at the supervisor counter told the person on crutches that "resources [were] limited" and, since I "hadn't made a wheelchair request seven days in advance" on a ticket bought two days earlier, I couldn't have one. The ordeal was only ameliorated by literally everyone else in line refusing to be "served next" until they did something about my inability to make it to my gate on my own.

³ 2009年，我有一次从北京首都机场紧急飞往美国的行程，当时值班主任柜台的那人跟拄着拐杖的我说“资源有限”，而且由于我在两天前才买的机票，无法提前七天申请轮椅，所以不能给我轮椅。这场磨难之所以有所缓解，是因为排队的其他人都拒绝接受“服务”，直到工作人员为我解决没法独自走到登机口的问题。

⁴ They also have truck-shaped luggage carts with a built in toddler corral.

⁴ 他们还有那种卡车形状的行李推车，车上自带一个幼儿围栏。

Last night, I tried asking for a Twice Cooked Pork Over Rice sans rice. Instead, they brought me the full sized multi person dish. Today, I just wasted all the rice that came with my Kung Pao Chicken. 昨晚，我试着要一份不要米饭的回锅肉盖饭。结果，他们却给我端来了一份多人份的菜品。今天，我浪费了宫保鸡丁盖饭配的整份米饭。

With shoes on, and a full stomach 穿着鞋，肚子也吃得饱饱的。

⁵ Sometimes I don't give people names because I am shit with names. Other times, it's because I think they might not want to be all over someone else's social media

⁶ I know this because a group of three middle eastern students from Hangzhou and four athletic looking Russians in "Paris 2024" Team Russia clothing that did not look like it was available-for-purchase stuff were checking in when I got back from the bike shop yesterday evening.

⁵有时候我不给他人取名字，是因为我不擅长记名字。其它时候，则是因为我觉得他们或许并不想自己频繁出现在别人的自媒体上。

⁶我知道这事是因为，昨天傍晚我从自行车店返回时，看到三名来自杭州的中东学生以及四名体格健壮、身着“巴黎 2024”俄罗斯队队服的俄罗斯人在办理入住时使用了护照扫描仪，那队服看起来并非是市面上能买到的。

Today's ride: 3 km (2 miles)
Total: 53 km (33 miles)

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I1/2: 西郏河 → 后沙峪 （双语）

I1/2: 西郏河 → 后沙峪（双语）