China – a Country Different from Your Imagination

By She Congge

China – a Country Different from Your Imagination

By She Congge

W hen you set foot on this ancient land, you will realize that everything you see is utterly and totally different from your previous knowledge about China.

After landing at the airport, the first thing you should do is not to find a cab at the airport terminal, or buy a tourist map, or exchange currencies from a bank.

What you should do is to download a chatting app on your mobile phone.

Welcome to a brand new world that you’ve never been exposed to! In this world, cash or credit card is not a must, as you’ll find out that all kinds of payments can be made via your phone.

No matter whether you are taking a cab, checking in to a hotel, enjoying delicacies or buying goods, the QR code on your phone will complete all the transactions. Nowadays, QR codes have entered into Chinese life in all aspects. Just grab a cell phone, and you can enjoy such a life!

Ok, now you can begin your journey in China.

Afterwards, you’ll find yourself traveling on a train across the vast land at a speed no less than an airplane. The highspeed railroads have bound the entire country together, stretching from the snowy northern lands to the scorching southern beaches, from thriving coastal cities in the east to majestic plateaus in the west, from inland to borderland, and from seashores to deserts. Along the rail line, there are numerous fields, patches of lakes, and lofty mountain ranges fleeting by, right in front of your eyes.

Moreover, you can have a bowl of plain noodle soup for breakfast in Shanghai, and at noon, you can enjoy roasted duck in Beijing, and, if you like, you can also have dinner in any city a thousand miles away at night.

By means of the massive high-speed railway network, you can reach any place in China you’d like to go within 24 hours.

Basically, all cities in China have been closely interlinked due to the fast and efficient public transit network, and hence the country itself has been turned in to a diversified urban circle. When you take a city trip in China, particularly when you stroll along the streets, you will see that people around you are riding similar bikes with an identical colour. Without fixed parking spaces and complicated formalities, all you need to ride one of the bikes is merely your phone and the ubiquitous QR code. You can ride on any vacant bike parked on the curbside, and pass through the streets and lanes of the city to see the real life of Chinese people. When reaching the destination, you can simply park the bike on the roadside.

This is the contemporary China. Apart from Peking Opera, giant pandas, the Great Wall, modern cities, and beautiful villages, there is also the convenient digital life that you’ve never experienced.

Once again, welcome to the world depicted in the science fiction of many years ago!

(Translated: Zhu Yaguang)

当您踏上这片古老的土地时，您会发现，您眼前看到的一切，跟您之前了解的中国，完全、完全的不同。

从您在机场的那一刻开始，您首先需要做的事情，并非是在机场出口去找一辆出租车，不是去买一张旅游地图，也不是去银行兑换您的旅游费用。

您需要做的只是在您的手机上下载一个聊天软件。

欢迎您，来到了一个您还没有接触过的崭新世界，一个不需要随身携带现金和信用卡的世界。

您会发现，在手机上，您能够安排所有消费支付。从打出租车到进住酒店，从品尝美食到购买商品，手机上的二维码会完成所有的交易。二维码渗透到生活各个细节，如果您愿意感受这种生活，您只需要一部手机。

好了，您可以开始中国的旅程了。

接着你会发现，您坐在火车上，也能在这个广袤的国土上以不逊于飞机的速度移动。高铁网遍布了整个国家。从白雪皑皑的北国，到盛夏炎炎的南海沙滩；从繁华的东部沿海城市，到风光壮美的西部高原；从腹地到边陲，从海边到戈壁，路上的田野，星罗棋布的湖泊，连绵的崇山，都会从您的视野里一一掠过。

您可以早餐的时候在上海吃一碗阳春面。中午的时候，就坐在北京品尝烤鸭。如果你愿意，还可以去往一千公里外的任何一个城市享受晚餐。

在这个庞大的高铁网络里，你可以在二十四小时内去往任何一个您想到达的角落。

高效快速的公共运输网络已经将整个中国，拉近成一个紧密的多元化城市圈。

当您在中国城市里旅游，行走在街道上的时候，你会看见身边的人，都骑着统一颜色的自行车。每一辆单车，都没有固定的存取点，没有复杂的手续，仍旧只需要的只是你手中的手机，还有在你生活中无处不在的二维码。您可以随意在街道的旁边，骑上一辆单车，穿行在城市里的街道上、小巷里，看着最真实的中国人的生活。到达目的地后，只需要停在路边的角落即可。

这里就是中国，这里不仅有京剧、大熊猫、长城、现代的城市和美丽的乡村，还有你没有体验过的数字化便利生活。

再次欢迎您到达多年前科幻小说里描绘的世界。

蛇从革 She Congge

She Congge, formerly named as Xu Yufeng, a native in Yichang City of Hubei Province. Mr. She is a well-known writer on Tianya BBS, who has started to post a mystery novel – Yichang Ghost Stories on Tianya BBS since 2010. The single post of the novel has got over 40 million hits within half a year, and the overall page views reached over 100 million times. His science fiction – Abnormal Sea, written in 2011, has won the Silver Medal of the 4th Xingyun Award for Global Chinese Science Fiction. In 2015, he wrote a full-length mystery novel called the Great Master, and in 2016, iQIYI spent 10 million RMB in the film and television copyright of the Great Master.

原名徐玉峰，宜昌人。天涯论坛著名作家。2010年开始在天涯论坛发表悬疑小说《宜昌鬼事》，单帖阅读数量在半年内达到了四千万，《宜昌鬼事》全网阅读量过亿。2011年创作科幻小说《异海》，获得“第四届全球华人科幻星云奖银奖”。2015年创作长篇悬疑小说《大宗师》，2016年爱奇艺以一千万元买下《大宗师》的影视版权。

中国跟您想的不一样

文|蛇从革