它们拥挤、不舒服,而且速度慢.它们有臭味、没空调,但在“绿皮”列车在中国已纵横两代,在许多人的心中都享有特殊地位,即使忍受著它们欠舒适.
在有子弹列车和超级高速公路建设之前,从一个城市前往的城市,大多数人都坐绿皮火车.在车上玩纸牌游戏,大声交谈、欢笑和哭泣的婴儿,绿色列车满载著生命力和升斗市民的活力.
最后的长途绿皮火车在六月份停止服务了,这引起了老一辈的中国人一股怀旧热潮.怀旧意味着对过去的情怀感伤,即使过去包括著辛酸,我能理解这种感觉.
十年前,我坐绿皮火车到青岛.这是19小时如在地狱,但现在当我仔细想想,我已忘了腰酸背痛和拥挤的过道.相反,我怀忆不已,我记得是一份友好的感觉,许多人共同分享同一经历.
回应市民对绿皮火车的留恋,在上海和北京铁路局计划在今年年底推出一些新的绿皮火车.但它们只是外皮是绿色.在车厢内,乘客将在期待的清洁、舒适、有空调的环境下踏上旅程.勾起过去,看来,只能到此为止.
原文如下：
They were crowded,uncomfortable and slow.They smelled badly and lacked air-conditioning,and yet the “green-skinned” trains that crisscrossed China for more than two generations have a special place in the hearts of the people who endured their discomfort.
Before bullet trains and the building of super highways,the green-skinned trains were how most people traveled from city to city.Card games,loud conversations,laughter and babies crying—the green trains were full of the life and the liveliness of the common people.
The last long-distance green train ended service in June and this has caused a wave of nostalgia among older Chinese.Nostalgia means having sentimental feelings about the past,even if the past included hard times.I can understand the feeling.
Ten years ago,I took a green train to Qingdao.It was nineteen hours of hell,but when I think about it now,I forget about my aching back and the crowded aisles.Instead,I get nostalgic and I remember the friendly feeling of so many people sharing the same experience.
In response to the public’s nostalgia,railway bureaus in Shanghai and Beijing plan to introduce some new green trains at the end of the year.But they will only be green on the outside.Inside,passengers will travel in the clean,air-conditioned comfort they’ve come to expect.The pull of the past,it seems,only goes so far.
