坦肚露腹，中国男性消暑有“北京比基尼”

Summer on the streets of Chinese cities yields a panoply of exotic sights and sounds: old men loudly jousting over mah-jongg tiles, sidewalk barbecues grilling tough-to identify animal parts, and the unmistakable growl of a clearing throat — that ends with an inevitable splat.

中国城市的夏日街头充斥着一系列奇异的景象和声响：老头们大声地打着麻将、街边烧烤不知道烤着动物的哪个部位，还有清嗓子发出的“呵”声——最后一定是吐出一口痰。

But nothing defines China’s most sweltering season (or bewilders foreigners) more than the curious sartorial habits of grown men who neatly roll up their shirts to reveal bellies, often in glorious plenitude, without the teeniest hint of shame (nor the teeniest hint of a six-pack).

但是，没有什么比成年男子奇特的衣着习惯更能定义中国最闷热的季节(或让外国人疑惑)。他们把身上的衬衣整齐地卷起来，露出肚子，通常“内涵”丰富，而且没有一点羞愧的迹象(也没有一点六块腹肌的痕迹)。

The exposed midriff, visible in shops, restaurants and hospital waiting rooms, often has a companion flourish, with practitioners rolling up their pants legs to just below the knee.

在商店、餐馆和医院候诊室都能见到这些暴露在外的腹部，通常它还有一个搭配，这么做的人往往会把裤腿卷到膝盖正下方。

This, it will be explained upon asking, is a makeshift form of air-conditioning known as the Beijing Bikini. (Others somewhat disparagingly describe the phenomenon as “bang ye,” which roughly translates as “exposing yourself like a grandfather.”) It is on display anywhere where temperatures sizzle — urban or rural, private space or public sphere, recreational park or commercial shop.

如果你要问的话，这就是空调的替代版本，叫做“北京比基尼”。(有些人略显轻蔑地将这种现象称之为“膀爷”，大致翻译成“像个老爷子一样暴露你自己”。)在任何一个非常热的地方，都会看到这样的现象——无论城市还是农村、私人空间还是公共空间、休闲公园还是商店。

Social convention bars women from engaging in similar displays of flesh. 社会传统禁止女人们参与类似的对肉体的显露。

Although adherents, often with cigarette and beer in hand, attest to the Beijing Bikini’s cooling health benefits, they face mounting hostility from educated upstarts or busybody bureaucrats who find the summer parade of bulging tummies uncouth and unbecoming of a great nation.

这些膀爷的追随者常常手拿香烟和啤酒，尽管他们证明“北京比基尼”确实有降温的健康益处，却面临着越来越多的敌意。受过良好教育的自命不凡者和好管闲事的官僚认为，夏天把大肚腩露出来对一个大国来说显得粗鲁且不合适。

Chinese newspapers wage periodic propaganda campaigns against the look, but it endures and is increasingly visible abroad, proudly displayed by Chinese tourists outside New York City art museums, London’s Buckingham Palace and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

中国报纸定期发起宣传活动，反对这种裸露。但是这种现象仍在继续，而且在海外也越来越多见。在纽约的艺术博物馆、伦敦的白金汉宫和巴黎埃菲尔铁塔外，都能看到中国游客骄傲地展示着自己的肚子。