Many Beijing residents go to great lengths to avoid breathing the city’s smoggy air, especially when it reaches critical pollution levels, but one local entrepreneur decided that canning and selling this poor quality air as a souvenir would be a great idea.
许多北京居民都千方百计避免吸入京城的雾霾,尤其在污染指数爆表的时候,但是当地的一名企业家却认为将这种污浊的空气装进罐中并作为纪念品出售将是个好主意。
Believe it or not, he was right.
信不信由你,他的想法还真没错。
After seeing a number of companies achieve commercial success by canning fresh air from countries like France, Canada or Australia and selling it in China,
许多公司曾把法国、加拿大或澳大利亚等国的新鲜空气装罐并卖到中国,在目睹了他们的商业成功之后,出生于英国的北京市民多米尼克.约翰逊-希尔(中文名江森海)决定反其道而行,把北京空气装罐并在中国和其他国家销售。
Dominic Johnson-Hill, a British-born citizen of Beijing and owner of the Plastered 8 souvenir shop, decided to turn the idea on its head and sell canned Beijing air throughout China and abroad.
多米尼克是创可贴 8纪念品店的老板。
I’d seen people going crazy to buy canned air from Canada and Australia, so I thought it was time to push business the other way, the entrepreneur said.
这名企业家说:我看过许多人都热衷于购买来自加拿大和澳大利亚的罐装空气,所以我想是时候反其道而行了。
They’re perfect gifts! What else are you going to take home when you go home from Beijing? A roast duck? A Plastered T-shirt? These cans are light, portable, you can just imagine someone’s face when they unwrap it for Christmas.
罐装北京空气是完美的礼物!在离京返家的时候还有什么礼物比北京空气更好呢?烤鸭?创可贴T恤?这些罐装空气轻巧便携,而且你还可以想象某人在圣诞节打开它时脸上的表情。
The few mouth-fulls of Beijing air come in standard tin cans featuring a couple of iconic city landmarks as well as a snarky description of the contents: a unique blend of nitrogen, oxygen and some other stuff.
装有几口北京空气的标准锡罐上印着北京城的几个标志性地标,还有对罐中所含物的尖锐描述:氮气、氧气和其他一些东西的独特混合物。
The tongue-in-cheek souvenirs cost 28 RMB (US$4) and are available at the Plastered 8 shop, as well as on its online shop.
这个带有戏谑意味的纪念品售价28元人民币(合4美元),在创可贴8纪念品店及其网店有售。
But if you’re actually considering buying some, you’d better ask shop, as they are virtually flying off the shelves.
如果你真的考虑买几罐,你最好先问一下这家店,因为罐装北京空气极其畅销。
Johnson-Hill told Ruptly that his shop is selling hundreds of Beijing air cans every day.
约翰逊-希尔告诉俄罗斯Ruptly视频新闻社说,他的店每天都能卖出几百罐北京空气。
One thing that’s not particularly clear is if the air is really collected from Beijing, as the cans are labeled as Made in Shenzhen.
不过关于罐头里装的是否确实是北京空气不是特别清楚,因为罐头上标着深圳制造。
There’s a big chance that’s just Plastered 8 humor, as they also list Chocking Hazard and May have come into contact with nuts as warnings.
很有可能这只是创可贴8纪念品店的小小幽默感,罐头上还警告说有窒息危险和可能会吸到硬物。