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CHINA'S HEALTH-CARE system is a great subject for reporting. But I would have preferred to do it as a journalist, not as a patient at Tongcheng People's Hospital.
中国的医疗体系是一个很好的报道主题。只是我更情愿是从记者的角度──而不是从腾冲县人民医院一名患者的角度──来说说中国的医疗体系。
My wife, Debra, and I are just back from our third trip to Yunnan, a picturesque, verdant province in China's southwest. We have an amazing guide, Frank Hitman─'Flanke' to the Chinese─who is endlessly enthusiastic and as tourist-junk and crap-food avoidant as we are.
我和我太太德布拉(Debra)刚从我们的第三次云南之行归来。云南是位于中国西南部的一个风景如画、满目苍翠的省份。我们请到了最棒的向导──弗兰克•西特曼(Frank Hitman)，他每时每刻都精力充沛，和我们一样，他也讨厌廉价旅游纪念品和垃圾食品。
The highlight of the trip was a hike over what Frank called the 'mighty' Gaoligong mountains. They are green and jagged and go on and on and eventually end in Burma. We were crossing a trail that was part of the Burma Road of World War II fame, starting at 5,000 feet and climbing to 10,000 feet. Frank's lovely girlfriend, Anne-Sophie Markus, a photographer, came along, as did Mr. Ji, Frank's driver, who thought most everything we did was hilarious.
旅途中最精彩的当属徒步穿越弗兰克形容为“浩瀚无际”的高黎贡山。这座山脉一碧无际、连绵起伏，最终延伸到缅甸境内。我们的穿越路线始自海拔5,000英尺（约合1,524米）的地方，在中途要攀升至海拔10,000英尺（约合3,048米），这条路径是第二次世界大战中著名的滇缅公路的一部分。与我们同行的还有弗兰克可爱的女友、摄影师安妮-索菲•马库斯(Anne-Sophie Markus)，以及弗兰克的司机老纪。老纪觉得我们做的大部分事情都很好笑。
Deb and I like hiking─or, more precisely, we like the idea of hiking. We usually forget that hiking involves walking up and down steep mountains and encountering all manner of things we'd rather just read about. On the seven-mile hike up the mountain, Anne-Sophie saw a wild wolf, who thankfully was more frightened of us than vice versa; I brushed my hand against a poisonous bush that left the back of my hand stinging for three days; and all but Frank were beset by nasty leeches that left our clothes bloody.
德布拉和我喜欢远足──或者更准确地说，我们喜欢远足这个爱好。我们通常都会忘记，远足需要在陡峭的山间爬上爬下，并且在这一过程中我们会遇到形形色色的、我们只想读到但不想亲身经历的事情。在徒步行走了大概七英里的时候，安妮-索菲看到了一只野狼，谢天谢地，它更害怕我们，而不是我们更怕它；我的手还蹭到了一种有毒灌木，这让我手背上的刺痛感直到三天之后才消失；此外，除了弗兰克，每个人都受到了令人讨厌的蚂蟥的困扰，这让我们的衣服变得血迹斑斑。
At some point, what must have been thousands of laborers placed tens of thousands of stones along the trail to make it more passable. Great for hikers when dry; treacherous when wet. It's almost always wet.
在某些路段，你可以想象，一定是曾有数千名劳工把成千上万吨的石料铺在了地上，这让通行变得容易多了。天晴对远足者是好消息；下雨则是噩梦。而我们面对的几乎都是雨天。
Deb and I made it to the summit, huffing and puffing and taking many breaks. The journey down was far harder. The route was much steeper, the rain was pounding and the rocks led through one stream after another. It was like hiking down a mountain coated with ice.
尽管德布拉和我一路上气喘吁吁、频频休息，但是我们最终还是成功地抵达了此次远足路线的顶峰。不过，下山的旅程却更加艰苦。山路变得更陡峭了，大雨倾盆而下，岩石间的小溪一条接着一条，下山的路简直可以用如履薄冰来形容。
I took a powerful pratfall just below the summit, smashing my back against the stone steps. Deb screamed. I could barely breathe and my right side was on fire. I hoped I'd just had the wind knocked out of me, but I knew that was optimistic.
在离开顶峰后不久，我就狠狠地摔了一跤，我的背撞在了石头台阶上。德布拉吓得大叫起来。我感到呼吸困难，身体的右侧像是着了火一样。我希望我只是因为重击而喘不上气来，但是我知道这太乐观了。
We were at 10,000 feet on a mountain. My ribs were bruised or broken. And it was 10 miles to the nearest dirt road. For the rest of the hike, I went at the pace of a 90-year-old using a walker, grunting in pain all the way. Frank held my hand on particularly treacherous paths. It rained and rained and rained. Shortly before sunset we made it to the bottom, soaked and shivering.
那时，我们在海拔10,000英尺的大山里。我的肋骨不是挫伤就是断了。我们距最近的土路有10英里（约合16公里）。在剩下的路途中，我走路的速度就像一位扶着助行架走路的90岁长者，并且一路上都由于疼痛而呻吟不止。弗兰克搀着我走过了那些极其难走的路段。雨下得没完没了。就在太阳落山之前，我们抵达了山脚，浑身湿透、冻得发抖。
After a night's sleep, we all headed to Tengchong People's Hospital to see what I had done.
睡了一觉之后，大家一起陪我来到了腾冲县人民医院检查身体。
Tengchong is a lovely, green city where people smile a lot and─unlike in other Chinese cities─drivers don't try to mow you down. Tengchong People's Hospital is crowded and decaying and full of patients who look in terrible shape and are seeking any edge to move ahead of their fellow sufferers and see a doctor.
腾冲是一个可爱的、郁郁葱葱的城市，那里的人们都很爱笑──不像在中国的其他城市──腾冲的司机也不会开着车横冲直撞。腾冲县人民医院门庭若市，显得老旧不堪，医院里到处都是看起来状态很糟糕的患者，每位患者都争先恐后地试图赶到其他患者前面，早一点看到医生。
I had several advantages over other patients. First, I was a Westerner, which made me an instant celebrity. Second, I had Mr. Ji, who knows his way around Chinese bureaucracy. No complaints from me about long waits─or charges. Tengchong People's charges 1 yuan (16 cents) to be admitted and 4.4 yuan (67 cents) to see a doctor. An X-ray is 114 yuan ($18.39).
相对于其他患者，我有几点优势。首先，我是个西方人，这让我瞬间成了知名人士。第二，我有老纪帮忙，他知道怎样和中国的官僚机构打交道。我对于长久的等待和收费都没有任何怨言。腾冲县人民医院收取的挂号费只有人民币一元，诊断费为人民币4.4元。X光检查的费用为人民币114元。
But 'seeing a doctor' didn't have quite the meaning it does in the U.S. There were two guys in lab coats sitting at wooden tables, besieged by patients. Frank explained in Chinese what had happened. I pointed to my rib cage.
但是在那里“看医生”和在美国“看医生”的含义却不尽相同。在医院的诊室里，两位穿着白大褂的男医生坐在木头桌子前，被众多患者簇拥着。弗兰克用中文解释了我摔倒的经历。我用手指了指自己的胸腔。
'Does your stomach hurt?' one of them asked. What about lower back? No, to both questions. They dispatched me to the X-ray area, where a dozen people were watching the technician's screen over his shoulder.
其中一个医生问我：“肚子疼不疼？”腰呢？我回答，都不疼。接着，他们安排我去X光室做检查，在那里有十来个人正在从X光技师的肩膀上方盯着他的屏幕。
'Waiguoren?' he asked, stunned at the possibility. 'Foreigner?' I was whisked ahead of the other patients into the X-ray room, where I was zapped without lead draping. I hope their aim was good.
“外国人？”这位技师问道，看起来很惊讶。他们把我先于其他患者送进了X光室，却并没有给我穿防护铅服。我希望他们拍片子是有准头的。
Finally, I got to see a specialist, who sat at another wooden desk. He looked at my X-rays, holding them up to the light from the window. He conferred with Frank and Mr. Ji.
最终，我见到了一位专家，他也坐在一张木头桌子面前。他对着从窗户射进来的光线审视着我的X光片。他边看边与弗兰克和老纪交谈。
The diagnosis: two broken ribs. 'See?' he said, holding up the film. I saw two gaps, which I guess were the breaks. I fell on a good part of my back, he said. (Easy for him to say.)
诊断结果：断了两根肋骨。他举着我的X光片问道：“看到没有？”我看到了两条裂纹，我猜想那就是摔断的肋骨。他说，我摔的位置还不错。（我心里想，你倒是说得轻巧。）
Take it easy, he said. Take Chinese medicine. (He didn't say what kind.) And try some Yunnan-made spray that's good for healing. Pain should subside in two weeks or so.
他说，别担心。用点儿中药。（他没说哪种中药。）再喷点有助于康复的一种云南产的气雾剂。两周左右痛感应该就会减弱。
And that was it. Today, the pain is excruciating when I turn suddenly, but it doesn't hurt much to sit in a chair or lie in a bed. Deb hits me with the Yunnan spray─27 special ingredients, none listed on the can. I screech from the cold, which she finds amusing.
就是这样了。现在，在我突然转身的时候，疼痛感会非常强烈，但是，当我坐在椅子上或躺在床上时已经不怎么疼了。德布拉每天都帮我喷那种云南气雾剂，这种气雾剂由27种成分制成，不过药瓶上没有列明任何一种成分。冰凉的喷雾让我大叫起来，德布拉觉得这很好玩儿。
Things could be worse. I've been leech-free for two days now.
事情本来没准还会更糟糕呢。两天之前我身体里才终于没有蚂蟥了。
