【端x行星酒館】EP8︱微信支付不相識，笑問老外何處來？A Beijing Homecoming Vibe Check

2023-12-22

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【本期介紹】2021/22學年，共有211名美國學生在中國留學生活。五年前，這個數字是11,639，規模縮減了超過五十倍。疫情與封控固然是重要的直接原因，但美國留學生在華斷崖式的人數下跌，只是世界全面脫鉤加速的側影。外資撤離、遊客驟減、偏見激增、輿論極化——許多中國人選擇物理離散的同時，相當一部分已...

【本期介紹】

2021/22學年，共有211名美國學生在中國留學生活。五年前，這個數字是11,639，規模縮減了超過五十倍。疫情與封控固然是重要的直接原因，但美國留學生在華斷崖式的人數下跌，只是世界全面脫鉤加速的側影。外資撤離、遊客驟減、偏見激增、輿論極化——許多中國人選擇物理離散的同時，相當一部分已經定居在中国的外籍人士，也一樣必須放下自己扎根的土地，尋找新的生活。

今期行星酒館，邀請到了兩位外籍人士 Matt 和 Ling。他們都曾定居中國，度過大部分成年時光。這幾年間選擇了離開的他們，在過去半年，先後回到中國短暫停留。藉著兩位朋友的「外賓」視角，我想聊聊重新踏上「故土」時經歷的軼事和複雜的心情；也分享他們觀察到的、這片土地所上發生的微妙變化。

P.S.為了讓大家更為舒服地暢所欲言，這期播客主要用英文錄製。而文字專欄則附上對談的全程翻譯。

In the 2021/22 academic year, there were a total of 211 American students studying in China. Just five years ago, the number stood at 11,639 — a reduction in scale of over fifty times.

The steep decline in the number of U.S. students there is just the tip of the iceberg during this dramatic decoupling between the world's two superpowers. The mass departure of foreign companies, a sharp drop in international tourists, and the increasingly polarized discourse about foreigners all contribute to this troubling trend, resulting in an ongoing exodus of foreigners from a country that once seemed warm to them.

Economic and political consequences aside, there are tangible—and deeply painful—personal costs resulting from this widening rupture. Many of those in-betweeners were forced to leave behind the lives they had built, the languages they had picked up, the friends they had made, the communities they had cultivated, and an entire world they had settled into. In a broader sense, this land has become an increasingly opaque entity to the outside world, as those with firsthand experiences here and the passion to navigate its intricacies are becoming growingly marginalized, both physically and culturally.

Ironically, the only way to (kind of) process what we've lost over these few years is to start talking about our collective loss of understanding. In this inaugural English episode of Planet Speakeasy, two friends who once spent a significant portion of their adult lives in China shared a candid discussion about their recent "homecoming" trip: the familiar, the confusing, the surprising, and the beautiful, chaotic youth in an elusive "home" that we all miss so very much.

【本期主播】

林東尼，紀錄片導演，雙語寫作者，播客「行星酒館」創始人

Ling，媒體人

Matt，作家、研究員

【主要話題】

（02:05）「西安戶口」的Matt和疫情中搬家的Ling

（03:58）旅程前的復雜心緒，到剛下飛機的第一印象

（08:37）微信支付與滴滴，國內方便的不方便

（13:51）飛盤文化的崛起背後，一些微妙的新現實

（16:41）失落與悵惘，地方變了還是我們老了？

（20:08）一個反復被提起的掙扎：「為什麼還沒出國？」

（21:38）失落的連結背後，中美語境下不同的創作困境