If it seems that life in the West has become a fast-forward blur, consider China. In just 20 years, since market forces were unleashed by economic reforms begun in 1978, life for many urban Chinese has changed drastically. A recent survey of 12 major cities showed that 97 percent of the respondents had televisions, and 88 percent had refrigerators and washing machines. Another study revealed that farmers are eating 48 percent more meat each year and 400 percent more fruit. Cosmopolitan, plunging necklines and all, is read by 260,000 Chinese women every month.
如果说西方的生活看似发展太快而难窥真貌，那么就审视中国吧。自从1978年经济改革释放了市场的潜力，在短短20年的时间里，许多中国城市居民的生活产生了巨变。最近一项对12个大城市的调查显示，97%的调查对象拥有电视机，88%拥有电冰箱和洗衣机。另一项研究表明农民每年肉食消费增加48%，水果消费增加400%。在中国，每个月都有26万妇女阅读刊有开领袒胸图片及其他内容的《时尚》杂志。
I went to Shanghai to see how the cultural trends show up in the largest city in the world's most populous nation. It is also a city that has long been open to the West. General Motors, for example, set up its first Buick sales outlet in Shanghai in 1929; today GM has invested 1.5 billion dollars in a new plant there, the biggest Sino-American venture in China.
我到上海去考察这个世界人口最多国家的最大城市文化变迁趋势。上海也是对西方开放时间最长的城市，例如，早在1929年通用汽车公司就在上海建立了第一个别克牌汽车销售处。今天，通用汽车投资15亿美元在那儿新建了中国最大的中美合资工厂。
Once a city of elegant villas and imposing office buildings, Shanghai is currently ripping itself to ribbons. In a decade scores of gleaming new skyscrapers have shot up to crowd and jostle the skyline, cramp the narrow winding streets, and choke the parks and open spaces with their sheer soaring presence. Traffic crawls, even on the new multilane overpasses.
曾经拥有雅致别墅和宏伟办公大楼的上海，现在却被条条分割。在10年时间里，几十座闪亮的摩天大楼冲天而起，拥挤在天际间，挤压着狭窄弯曲的小巷，用它们高耸的外表窒息着公园和开放空间。车辆缓慢爬行在多车道高架桥上。