08 December 2005
北京的哥不再当“政治评论员”/Beijing's Taxi drivers Are No Longer "Political Commentators"
I can't remember where I saw this first linked (probably ESWN or Danwei), but it had remained untranslated, and seemed like an interesting challenge. This piece comes from Singapore's 联合早报 (United/Consolidated Morning News - there is no English name that I could find). This piece has been reprinted in several places online, including at Xinhua News (http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2005-11/29/content_3850090.htm).
Key to how to reading my notes:
1. All pronounciations are rendered in standard pinyin, with tones. Your browser should be able to read them. If not, I have also included the simplified Chinese character (how it was printed, at least) and also the pinyin with numbered tones appended). Note that I capitalize every word so that you there's no mistake about where one word ends and the other begins. I didn't add tone marks to the cities, but just in case, it's Bei3 Jing1 and Wu3 Han4)
2. ( ) are alternate readings and translations, I might insert something if I feel that I needed to explain something further about a term. These aren't meant to be part of the sentence, just editorial comments.
3. [ ] are additions, such as to provide context for a sentence.
I try to be as faithful to the original as I can be in wording. Everything else is done as close to the meaning as I could make it. As I said, this is a translation exercise for me and may not be completely accurate. Hopefully I'll get better at this as time progresses. If you can read Chinese and can spare a few minutes, please let me know how I did!
Translation is protected by the labrynthine maze that is US IP (etc etc). Please let me know if you are posting to this elsewhere, and to properly credit the translator.
I'm off my gin bathtub. See below for actual point of this post.
----
Beijing's "DiGe (Di1 Ge1 - Taxi drivers)" are no longer "Political Commentators"
In the eyes of the Chinese, the impression that Beijing's "DiGe" (的（pronounced dī ‘笛’）哥 gē) - taxi drivers) are all political commentators is well-established.
Living in the "Friendliest of Cities", Beijingers are usually very familiar with domestic and foreign political matters; taxi drivers, who spend the entire day listening to radio broadcasts, love to chat with their passengers about everything, even more so than ordinary Beijinger.
Recently, taxi drivers' renown as 'political commentators' has almost disappeared.
When asked if he still chat about politics with his riders, night shift driver Cài (蔡 - Cai4) says: "If the rider wants to chat then we do, but now no one has the inclination."
Following Beijing's increasing globalisation (alternate: opening up to the outside) and commercialization, its citizens are now more concerned with day-to-day living than with military and government matters.
Intense competition due to commercialization, along with the pressure of constantly measuring one's life with those of relatives and acquaintances, have increased Beijingers' psychological burdens as they try to raise their standards of living.
Intense Pressures in the Lives of the Taxi Drivers
Citizens from outside Beijing can also feel the fast pace of life in this city (Beijing). WuHan's TúJùn (涂俊 - Tu2 Jun4), who came to Beijing to work, complains that Beijing life is too intense (紧张, jin3 zhang1, implying that it's also rushed) and does not appeal to him. He wants to go back to WuHan once he has earned enough money.
Passengers aren't so concerned about politics anymore, and drivers also aren't interested. Driver Cài says that housing costs, educating children, the rising cost of living...there are too many things to worry about; when taxi drivers meet, they also talk little about politics.
Like other Beijingers, taxi drivers also face market competition's associated pressures. Beijing has almost 300 taxi companies, together there are 68000 cars in service, with almost 100000 drivers (some cars are driven in two shifts).
Different companies have different rental arrangements. Beijing Capital Taxi Corporation, Limited (股份有限公司, literally, Shares Limited Company) collects 5175RMB in monthly rental fees, which includes insurance, 200RMB gas reimbursement. If the car has two drivers (two shifts), then the rental price is 7000RMB.
Driver Cài, who belongs to another taxi company, estimates that besides the rental fee, he spends 3000RMB on gasoline, plus insurance, repairs, and meals. Monthly expenses add up to over 9000RMB every month.
Cài says, "The first 9000RMB doesn't belong to me. What will happen if I don't work more than ten hours a day? (rhetorical question: 一天不做10小时以上能行吗？literally, will it be fine if I don't work more than ten hours a day?)"
This journalist took the opportunity while chatting with taxi drivers to conduct a simple survey. [He] found that, shortest average shift is ten hours. Some drivers must drive for up to twelve hours, no vacation year-round (including Chinese New Year), to earn an average income that is, at best, between 2000-3000RMB. If he is unlucky and gets a traffic ticket (lightest fine is 200RMB), then he'll have earned no income for that day.
Farmers from other places become new Di Ge
The changing makeup of taxi drivers is also a reason for the lack of interest in politics. Lengthy work shifts and small incomes make jobs as taxi drivers not as attractive. Native Beijingers don't want to be taxi drivers [anymore].
Twenty years ago, when there weren't as many cars in China, taxi drivers were ideal spouses for an air hostess, because they can be counted as belonging to the car-owning social class.
Long work hours and with no opportunity to rest, some taxi drivers have been worked to exhaustion. [The journalist has heard] stories of drivers unexpectedly dying in their vehicles [from their exhaustion (most likely explanation – ed.)]. Following the retirements of older taxi drivers, many middle-aged drivers have begun driving "black cars" (using an unlicensed private car to transport passengers) because the time demands are more flexible. Many young people also don't want to [become taxi drivers]. The jobs have been filled by farmers from elsewhere.
To these farmers, 2000-3000 RMB a month is an impressive income.
To these new taxi drivers, Beijing's 700 square kilometers, with its associated hutongs, is like a big maze. They worry about passengers complaining, and consequently they are so busy memorizing routes that they don't have any urge to chat.
Also, these [new taxi drivers] grew up in villages and have very simple backgrounds, their base of knowledge and oral skills cannot compare with native Beijinger Di Ge, naturally they cannot be like the native Beijing drivers and talk about political subjects with the same skill and enthusiasm (侃(kan3)侃(kan3)而(er2)谈(tan2) - somewhat derogatory, implies especially ceaseless discussion, also possibly implying a certain amount of oratory talent).
Key to how to reading my notes:
1. All pronounciations are rendered in standard pinyin, with tones. Your browser should be able to read them. If not, I have also included the simplified Chinese character (how it was printed, at least) and also the pinyin with numbered tones appended). Note that I capitalize every word so that you there's no mistake about where one word ends and the other begins. I didn't add tone marks to the cities, but just in case, it's Bei3 Jing1 and Wu3 Han4)
2. ( ) are alternate readings and translations, I might insert something if I feel that I needed to explain something further about a term. These aren't meant to be part of the sentence, just editorial comments.
3. [ ] are additions, such as to provide context for a sentence.
I try to be as faithful to the original as I can be in wording. Everything else is done as close to the meaning as I could make it. As I said, this is a translation exercise for me and may not be completely accurate. Hopefully I'll get better at this as time progresses. If you can read Chinese and can spare a few minutes, please let me know how I did!
Translation is protected by the labrynthine maze that is US IP (etc etc). Please let me know if you are posting to this elsewhere, and to properly credit the translator.
I'm off my gin bathtub. See below for actual point of this post.
----
Beijing's "DiGe (Di1 Ge1 - Taxi drivers)" are no longer "Political Commentators"
In the eyes of the Chinese, the impression that Beijing's "DiGe" (的（pronounced dī ‘笛’）哥 gē) - taxi drivers) are all political commentators is well-established.
Living in the "Friendliest of Cities", Beijingers are usually very familiar with domestic and foreign political matters; taxi drivers, who spend the entire day listening to radio broadcasts, love to chat with their passengers about everything, even more so than ordinary Beijinger.
Recently, taxi drivers' renown as 'political commentators' has almost disappeared.
When asked if he still chat about politics with his riders, night shift driver Cài (蔡 - Cai4) says: "If the rider wants to chat then we do, but now no one has the inclination."
Following Beijing's increasing globalisation (alternate: opening up to the outside) and commercialization, its citizens are now more concerned with day-to-day living than with military and government matters.
Intense competition due to commercialization, along with the pressure of constantly measuring one's life with those of relatives and acquaintances, have increased Beijingers' psychological burdens as they try to raise their standards of living.
Intense Pressures in the Lives of the Taxi Drivers
Citizens from outside Beijing can also feel the fast pace of life in this city (Beijing). WuHan's TúJùn (涂俊 - Tu2 Jun4), who came to Beijing to work, complains that Beijing life is too intense (紧张, jin3 zhang1, implying that it's also rushed) and does not appeal to him. He wants to go back to WuHan once he has earned enough money.
Passengers aren't so concerned about politics anymore, and drivers also aren't interested. Driver Cài says that housing costs, educating children, the rising cost of living...there are too many things to worry about; when taxi drivers meet, they also talk little about politics.
Like other Beijingers, taxi drivers also face market competition's associated pressures. Beijing has almost 300 taxi companies, together there are 68000 cars in service, with almost 100000 drivers (some cars are driven in two shifts).
Different companies have different rental arrangements. Beijing Capital Taxi Corporation, Limited (股份有限公司, literally, Shares Limited Company) collects 5175RMB in monthly rental fees, which includes insurance, 200RMB gas reimbursement. If the car has two drivers (two shifts), then the rental price is 7000RMB.
Driver Cài, who belongs to another taxi company, estimates that besides the rental fee, he spends 3000RMB on gasoline, plus insurance, repairs, and meals. Monthly expenses add up to over 9000RMB every month.
Cài says, "The first 9000RMB doesn't belong to me. What will happen if I don't work more than ten hours a day? (rhetorical question: 一天不做10小时以上能行吗？literally, will it be fine if I don't work more than ten hours a day?)"
This journalist took the opportunity while chatting with taxi drivers to conduct a simple survey. [He] found that, shortest average shift is ten hours. Some drivers must drive for up to twelve hours, no vacation year-round (including Chinese New Year), to earn an average income that is, at best, between 2000-3000RMB. If he is unlucky and gets a traffic ticket (lightest fine is 200RMB), then he'll have earned no income for that day.
Farmers from other places become new Di Ge
The changing makeup of taxi drivers is also a reason for the lack of interest in politics. Lengthy work shifts and small incomes make jobs as taxi drivers not as attractive. Native Beijingers don't want to be taxi drivers [anymore].
Twenty years ago, when there weren't as many cars in China, taxi drivers were ideal spouses for an air hostess, because they can be counted as belonging to the car-owning social class.
Long work hours and with no opportunity to rest, some taxi drivers have been worked to exhaustion. [The journalist has heard] stories of drivers unexpectedly dying in their vehicles [from their exhaustion (most likely explanation – ed.)]. Following the retirements of older taxi drivers, many middle-aged drivers have begun driving "black cars" (using an unlicensed private car to transport passengers) because the time demands are more flexible. Many young people also don't want to [become taxi drivers]. The jobs have been filled by farmers from elsewhere.
To these farmers, 2000-3000 RMB a month is an impressive income.
To these new taxi drivers, Beijing's 700 square kilometers, with its associated hutongs, is like a big maze. They worry about passengers complaining, and consequently they are so busy memorizing routes that they don't have any urge to chat.
Also, these [new taxi drivers] grew up in villages and have very simple backgrounds, their base of knowledge and oral skills cannot compare with native Beijinger Di Ge, naturally they cannot be like the native Beijing drivers and talk about political subjects with the same skill and enthusiasm (侃(kan3)侃(kan3)而(er2)谈(tan2) - somewhat derogatory, implies especially ceaseless discussion, also possibly implying a certain amount of oratory talent).
// posted by pocketni @ 12/08/2005 01:48:00 AM 
