财经金融新闻 春运

The red and gold decorations are popping up everywhere,

带有红色和金色装饰的建筑随处可见，

the train queues are getting long and your parents are calling more often than before.

火车候车队伍排得越来越长，父母的呼喊声比以往更频繁。

The Chun Yun period, a 40-day travel season in the lead-up to China's Spring Festival holiday begins February 4 2015,

为期40天的春运将在2月4日开始，

and it's time to start preparing for your journey 'home,' along with over 3.4 billion others.

超过34亿人次将踏上回家之旅。

Regional clusters of development are a major factor in the ever-increasing number of travellers during the 'Chun Yun' period leading up to the holiday

地区之间的紧密发展是造成春运期间旅客人数不断增多的因素之一，

and are a result of migrant workers flocking to more affluent¹ cities such as Guangdong, Shanghai and Beijing for better opportunities.

这也导致将有更多弄农民工前往如北京、上海、广东这样的一线城市谋求机会。

The 3.6 billion total passenger load in 2014 represented an increase of 200 million from 2013

2014年的旅客人次将达到36亿人次，比2013年增长了2亿人，

and is exacerbated² by the fact that the Spring Festival is usually the only chance workers are given to return to their hometowns every year.

春节是打工人员每年唯一一次能够回家过节的假期，这也就增加旅客的人数。

After you've prepared all the hong bao you're bringing home, your travel budget shapes the next trials you'll face.

准备完红包之后，你的旅程预算将预示着你将面临着一场艰难的回家之旅。

If you're lucky, you'll be searching for a relatively³ comfortable plane or bus ticket,

如果你足够幸运的话，你将购买到一张舒适的飞机，或者是巴士票，

albeit⁴ with heavily inflated⁵ prices and limited capacity.

尽管价格飞涨，人数有限。

You may choose to drive your own car, hoping you don't get caught in mass traffic jams,

你还可以选择开车回家，希望你不要堵在交通拥堵的大街上，

despite the 2.3 million vehicles projected to pass through major cities like Shanghai per day in 2014,

尽管在2014年，像上海这样的大城市，每天的车流量是2300万，

or treacherous⁶ weather that can include snow, freezing rain and haze⁷.

或者是遇到恶劣天气，如下雪，下雨或是雾霾。

But most likely, you will be among the 266 million people competing for the cheapest and most popular option: railway travel.

但是更有可能的是，你可能会和其他2.66亿人竞争一张最廉价，购买人数最多的火车票。

Ticket-buying is its own ordeal⁸.

购买火车票本身就是一场对你的考验。

Let's say you're one of the 268 million migrant workers who have limited access to digital technologies, according to the National Statistics Bureau.

比如说你是那2.68亿农民工之中的一位，手中缺少电子技术，这是国家统计局统计的数据。

You will probably have to brave the 5AM cold and a long wait at ticket booths,

你也许会在大冷天中站在售票窗口，等待购票，

The training session on how to book ticket in Shanghai are phoning up young volunteers initiatives organised through Weibo may help you chances.

上海的购票培训服务使用了志愿者来帮助大家。

Even so, other travellers may have already snatched your tickets because the China Railway Corp's official booking website, 12306.cn,

即使是这样，其他乘客可能已经抢到了你的票，原因是中国铁建的官方订票网站-12306.com，

allows online ticket buyers to book 60 days in advance, instead of 58 days like you,

网上购票可以让乘客提前60天购票，而不是像你一样在第58天购票，

a move that highlights the inequalities perpetrated by the digital gap in the Chinese population.

这一举动凸显出了中国人在电子世界中的差距。

Even as a computer user, you may still be missing a ticket if the $300 million yuan website's annual server fails

即使是一位电脑使用者，你也有可能丢失你的车票，前提是这一购票网站瘫痪，

or has technical difficulties and a plague of ticket scalpers scrounge up remaining seats.

或者是遇到技术问题，再或者是票贩子购买了余下的火车票。

Using an unofficial plugin by websites like Baidu, Ctrip or Qihoo 360 to boost your chances

使用非官方网站，如百度、携程或者是奇虎360，

can increase the risk of personal data being leaked by cyber attacks.

如果你使用这些网站，你的个人信息将很有可能被黑客获取。

And you'll be doing it all again for the return journey.

回程时你还要重新来过。

On the bright side, there is at least one thing you can say to nosy⁹ relatives asking about your relationship status.

从积极的一面说，当亲戚朋友询问你的个人状况时，你至少会有话对他们说。

Since you jumped through all those hurdles¹⁰ with your luggage, money and life all in tact¹¹, getting married and having children should be a breeze.

你提着行李穿越了重重围栏，金钱和生活是绑在一起的事物，结婚和生小孩那就轻松容易了许多。

For Caixin Online, this is Christina Guo.

这是克里斯提亚·郭为您带来的财新网报道。

1 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

2 exacerbated   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs. 这些症状可能会因为某些药物而加重。
• The drugs they gave her only exacerbated the pain. 他们给她吃的药只是加重了她的痛楚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 albeit   

conj.即使；纵使；虽然

参考例句：

• Albeit fictional,she seemed to have resolved the problem.虽然是虚构的，但是在她看来好象是解决了问题。
• Albeit he has failed twice,he is not discouraged.虽然失败了两次，但他并没有气馁。

5 inflated   

adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。
• They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

7 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

8 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

9 nosy   

adj.鼻子大的，好管闲事的，爱追问的；n.大鼻者

参考例句：

• Our nosy neighbours are always looking in through our windows.好管闲事的邻居总是从我们的窗口望进来。
• My landlord is so nosy.He comes by twice a month to inspect my apartment.我的房东很烦人，他每个月都要到我公寓视察两次。

10 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

11 tact   

n.机敏，圆滑，得体

参考例句：

• She showed great tact in dealing with a tricky situation.她处理棘手的局面表现得十分老练。
• Tact is a valuable commodity.圆滑老练是很有用处的。