Made in China. A Poem

The following poem is a memory of riding the old slow green trains in China at the peak of worker migration during the Chinese New Year. It was brought back by a recent news that an unusual snow storm swept through central China. Many high speed trains were delayed or canceled. It couldn't have happened at a worse time since the Chinese New Year was only a few days away and people were eager to get home. However some stranded passengers reported in the social media that many old slow green trains were still running in the snow, ice, and freezing rain, zipping through the country side, untouched by the adverse weather. They acclaimed, “the old grandpa rules again!”

 

    中国制造

 

人们涌向商朝。

经商。

买中国制造。

 

临近春节，

制造了中国的人正返乡，

大包小包，

和一小沓正在贬值的钞票，

是给他们的全部回报。

一同带回家的还有

尘肺、失聪的耳朵、

重金属、正己烷、苯，

等等，等等。

 

工业驱赶农业，

离开田野。

有如狼驱赶羊，

离开草场。

 

火车哐当直响。

捶胸顿足。

装满幸福的梦想，

以及一厢情愿。

图谋不轨的心，

先于身体回到了故里。

 

从南到北，从东到西，

开往四面八方，

这为年准备的

香肠。

 

开过了清。

开过了明。

开过了元。

累出一身大汗。

落下半生的病。

 

他住北宋以北，

你住南唐以南，

我住东汉以东，

她更远，西周以西。

 

我从不及格的历史啊，

给我一匹汗血宝马，

日行千里，

回到我回不去的回程。

追上恨凰，追上爱凤，

烧了熬药，免祸去病。

 

哐当直响，超负荷的心脏。

累得够呛，睡了。

在梦里熟读诗经。

王侯将相，您有种，

确信

硕鼠是检验猫的唯一标准。

 

开过了春。

开过了秋。

数不清过了多少车站，

多少钢筋水泥的城郭。

前进了多少，倒行了多少？

只有不动的风景知道。

 

黑的河水，白的血，

看不见的石头，

摸不着的良心，

辛苦挣来的薄利，

图方便省钱，

像吸溜开水泡面一样

吞没了列车的雾霾，

都有一个小小的标签：

Made in China.

 

The English version of the poem below is a direct translation from its Chinese counterpart. I used Google Translation first. It did a decent job, but with some obvious errors that I fixed. All the puns and word plays in the Chinese text were lost. Inherently they are the parts of a poem that are untranslatable.

 

Made in China

 

People flocked to the Shang Dynasty.

Do business.

Buy made-in-China.

 

Spring Festival is approaching,

The people who made China are returning home,

big and small bags,

and a small wad of depreciating banknotes

is the full reward for them.

Also bringing home with them

pneumoconiosis, deaf ears,

heavy metals, n-hexane, benzene,

etc., etc..

 

Industry drives out agriculture,

to leave the farmland,

like a wolf driving a sheep,

to leave the pasture.

 

The train clanked.

Beat its chest and stamped its feet.

A full car of happy dreams,

and wishful thinking.

A heart that has off track intentions

returned to his hometown before his body.

 

From south to north, from east to west,

heading in all directions,

this is the sausage for the new year.

 

Passed Qing Dynasty.

Passed Ming Dynasty.

Passed Yuan Dynasty.

Sweating profusely from exhaustion.

Sick for the rest of my life.

 

He lives in the north of the Northern Song Dynasty,

You live in the south of Southern Tang Dynasty.

I live in the east of the Eastern Han Dynasty,

She is further away, to the west of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

 

Oh, my history of never passing,

give me an akhal-teke horse

(a.k.a. bloody BMW)

that travels a thousand miles a day.

I'll go on a return trip that I can't return to.

Catch up with the hated phoenix, catch up with the loved phoenix,

burn it then boil it to make medicine

to avoid disaster and cure the disease.

 

Clanging sound, overloaded heart.

I was so tired that I fell asleep.

Read the Book of Songs in your dream.

Princes, generals and ministers,

you are the noble breed by gene.

Convinced that

the rat is the only criterion for testing a cat.

 

Passed the Spring and Autumn Period.

I can't count how many stations I passed,

And how many reinforced concrete cities.

How much has it gone forward and how much has it gone backwards?

Only the immobile scenery knows.

 

Black river water, white blood,

invisible stone,

intangible conscience,

hard-earned small profits.

To be convenient and money saving,

the smog that swallowed up the train

like sucking instant noodles.

All have a small label:

Made in China.

 

A few old photos of worker migrations via train during the Chinese New Year: