It might not get weirder than this
可能没有比这更奇怪的了

The following post was originally published in January 2013 on Google Sites, following my visit to North Korea. At the time of this trip, my father Eric Schmidt was the executive chairman at Google, now Alphabet. He left Alphabet’s board in 2019. Bill Richardson died in 2023. The post has been edited for readability, and some original photos are missing.
下面这篇文章最初于 2013 年 1 月我访问朝鲜后发表在谷歌网站上。这次访问时，我的父亲埃里克-施密特（Eric Schmidt）是谷歌（现为 Alphabet）的执行董事长。他于 2019 年离开 Alphabet 董事会。比尔-理查森于 2023 年去世。为便于阅读，本帖经过编辑，部分原始照片缺失。

Trip Report January 2013
2013 年 1 月旅行报告

Disclaimer: I am a North Korea amateur and can only share what it’s like to be part of a NK-bound delegation. Straightforward trip report here: no discussion of meeting details or intentions–just some informal observations from my grad school winter break.
免责声明：我是朝鲜问题的门外汉，只能分享作为朝鲜代表团成员的感受。这里是一份简单的行程报告：不讨论会议细节或意图--只是我在研究生寒假期间的一些非正式观察。

The Trip 旅程

Bill Richardson, former Governor, US Ambassador to the UN and backchannel freelance diplomat extraordinaire, was planning his 8th trip to Democratic People’s Republic of (North) Korea. He invited my father Eric, who invited me.
比尔-理查森，前州长、美国驻联合国大使，同时也是一位出色的自由外交官，正在计划他的第八次朝鲜之行。他邀请了我的父亲埃里克，埃里克又邀请了我。

Two sets of goals for the trip: political (Richardson’s side) and technological (our side). Speaking as a tech person, just getting to speak to officials in the most closed country on earth about the virtues of the Internet–and having them (appear to) listen–seemed extraordinary. It was a nine person delegation in total. We left our phones and laptops behind in China, since we were warned they’d be confiscated in North Korea, and probably infected with lord knows what malware.
此行有两套目标：政治目标（理查森方面）和技术目标（我们方面）。作为一名技术人员，能在这个世界上最封闭的国家向官员们讲述互联网的优点，而且他们（似乎）听得进去，这就显得非同寻常了。代表团总共有九个人。我们把手机和笔记本电脑留在了中国，因为我们被警告手机和笔记本电脑在朝鲜会被没收，而且很可能会感染天知道是什么的恶意软件。

No. 1 Caveat: It’s impossible to know how much we can extrapolate from what we saw in Pyongyang to what the DPRK is really like. Our trip was a mixture of highly staged encounters, tightly-orchestrated viewings and what seemed like genuine human moments. We had zero interactions with non-state-approved North Koreans and were never far from our two minders (two, so one can mind the other).
注意事项 1：我们不可能从平壤的所见所闻推断出朝鲜的真实面貌。我们的行程中既有高度舞台化的邂逅，也有精心安排的观赏，还有看似真实的人性瞬间。我们与未经国家批准的朝鲜人没有任何互动，而且从未远离过我们的两个看护人（两个，所以一个可以看护另一个）。

The longer I think about what we saw and heard, the less sure I am about what any of it actually meant.
我对我们的所见所闻思考得越久，就越不确定其中的实际意义。

Top Level Take-aways 最高级别的收获

• Go to North Korea if you can. It is very, very strange.
  如果可以的话，去朝鲜看看吧。那里非常非常奇特。
• If it is January, disregard the above. It is very, very cold.
  如果现在是一月份，请忽略上述内容。天气非常非常冷。
• Nothing I’d read or heard beforehand really prepared me for what we saw.
  在此之前，我所读到或听到的一切都没有让我对我们所看到的一切做好准备。

I can’t express how cold it was. Maybe 10-15 degrees F in the sunshine, not including wind chill. The cold was compounded by the fact that none of the buildings we visited were heated, which meant hour-long tours in cavernous, 30-degree indoor environments. It is quite extraordinary to have the Honored Guest Experience in such conditions: they’re proudly showing you their latest technology or best library, and you can see your breath. A clue to how much is really in their control.
我无法表达当时有多冷。阳光下大概有 10-15 华氏度，这还不包括风寒。我们参观的建筑都没有暖气，这就意味着要在 30 度的室内环境中进行长达一个小时的参观，这让寒冷雪上加霜。在这样的环境中体验 "尊贵客人 "的感觉真是非同一般：他们自豪地向你展示他们最新的技术或最好的图书馆，而你却能看到自己的呼吸。这就是他们能控制多少的线索。

Ordinary North Koreans live in a near-total information bubble, without any true frame of reference. I can’t think of any reaction to that except absolute sympathy. My understanding is that North Koreans are taught to believe they are lucky to be in North Korea, so why would they ever want to leave? They’re hostages in their own country. And the opacity of the country’s inner workings–down to the basics of its economy–further serves to reinforce the state’s control.
普通朝鲜人生活在近乎完全的信息泡沫中，没有任何真正的参照系。对此，除了绝对的同情，我想不出其他任何反应。我的理解是，朝鲜人被教导要相信，他们在朝鲜是幸运的，所以他们为什么要离开呢？他们是自己国家的人质。朝鲜内部运作的不透明性--甚至包括其经济的基本情况--进一步加强了国家的控制。

The best description we could come up with: it’s like The Truman Show, at country scale.
我们能想到的最好的描述是：它就像乡村规模的《杜鲁门秀》。

Arrival 抵达

We flew Air China in, on a full flight. Mostly Chinese businessmen, Western NGO types and assorted diplomats, all looking appropriately battle-hardened. An Ethiopian attache assured me there was “never a dull moment” in the hermit kingdom. We carried a ton of cash (USD) since that was the only way to pay for anything. 
我们乘坐的是中国国际航空公司的航班，满员。乘客大多是中国商人、西方非政府组织人员和各类外交官，他们看上去都身经百战。一位埃塞俄比亚随员向我保证，在这个隐士王国里 "永远不会有无聊的时刻"。我们携带了大量现金（美元），因为这是支付任何费用的唯一方式。

We picked up visas at the Beijing check-in desk: slips of paper with our pictures taped on, which they then took back upon arrival at Pyongyang. Deprived of our deserved passport stamps, we soldiered on.
我们在北京的值机柜台领取了签证：一张贴有我们照片的纸条，抵达平壤后他们将纸条收回。虽然没有了应得的护照印章，但我们还是坚持了下来。

Our flight was the only one coming into Pyongyang that day. Small press swarm upon arrival, including media from North Korea, China and the Associated Press, who have a small bureau in Pyongyang.
我们的航班是当天唯一飞抵平壤的航班。抵达后，小型媒体蜂拥而至，包括来自朝鲜、中国和美联社的媒体，美联社在平壤设有一个小型分社。

We also met our handlers, two men from the Foreign Ministry, whom we gave code names. Unusually, both men had lived in the US, in addition to other countries, as embassy staffers. It was hard to reconcile this with our notion of hermetically-sealed North Koreans: Did it mean they’d passed the ultimate loyalty test? That they were even more ideologically committed than their peers?
我们还见到了我们的联络人，外交部的两个人，我们给他们起了代号。不同寻常的是，这两个人除了在其他国家担任过大使馆工作人员外，还在美国生活过。这很难与我们印象中密不透风的朝鲜人相协调：这是否意味着他们通过了终极忠诚测试？他们在意识形态上比同龄人更加坚定？

As minders go, they were alright. They were affable, but would frequently give noncommittal answers to our questions or just not answer us at all. I’d like to think they grew a little fond of us, though realistically, they were probably just as happy to see the back of us as we were to leave.
作为看护人，他们还不错。他们和蔼可亲，但经常对我们的问题不置可否，或者根本不回答我们的问题。我觉得他们对我们有点好感，但实际上，他们可能和我们一样，很高兴看到我们离开。

Lodgings 住宿

We were treated very well throughout the visit, even though official relations between the US and DPRK are “very tense.” Ours was the first American delegation in over a year, and the North Koreans we met were unfailingly polite and engaging, even excited to meet with us (particularly Eric). How that squares with official DPRK agitprop that Americans are super-evil imperialist bastards is beyond me.
尽管美国和朝鲜之间的官方关系 "非常紧张"，但我们在整个访问期间都受到了很好的对待。我们是一年多来第一个美国代表团，我们遇到的朝鲜人始终彬彬有礼、热情好客，甚至很高兴与我们见面（尤其是埃里克）。这与朝鲜官方鼓吹的美国人是超级邪恶的帝国主义混蛋的说法有什么区别，我实在想不通。

We stayed at a guesthouse a few kilometers from Pyongyang. We were the only guests. Food overall? Solidly decent. We were told well ahead of time to assume that everything was bugged: phones, cars, rooms, meetings, restaurants and who knows what else. I looked for cameras in my room but came up short. But then, why bother with cameras when you have minders?
我们住在离平壤几公里远的一家宾馆里。我们是唯一的客人。总体伙食如何？还不错。我们很早就被告知，所有东西都被窃听了：电话、汽车、房间、会议、餐厅，还有其他不知道是什么的东西。我在房间里寻找摄像头，但一无所获。不过，既然有看门人，为什么还要用摄像头呢？

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Since we didn’t have cellphones or alarm clocks, the question of how we’d wake up on time in the morning was legitimate. One person suggested announcing “I’m awake” to the room, and then waiting until someone came to fetch you.
由于我们没有手机或闹钟，所以早上如何准时起床是个合理的问题。有人建议向房间里的人宣布 "我醒了"，然后等到有人来接你。

Beds? Hard as a rock. Very little in North Korea, it seemed to us, was built to be inviting. Not a rug in the place.
床？像石头一样硬在我们看来，朝鲜几乎没有什么地方能让人感到舒适。没有一块地毯。

Three channels on the TVs: CNN International, dubbed-over USSR-era films, and the DPRK channel, which was by far the most entertaining. My tolerance level for videos of Kim Jong Un in crowds turns out to be remarkably high.
电视上有三个频道：CNN 国际频道、苏联时期的配音电影和朝鲜频道，其中朝鲜频道是迄今为止最有趣的。我对金正恩在人群中的视频的容忍度非常高。

Pyongyang 平壤

Now to the good stuff. Pyongyang is a city of 2-3 million, maybe 10% of the population. Most of it built after the Korean War. Electricity levels higher than expected but still patchy. Once outside the city center, things get rural real quick: endless rolling scenes of frozen farmland. If you forgot where you were for a moment, you might call it bucolic.
现在说点好的。平壤是一座拥有两三百万人口的城市，占全国人口的10%。大部分是在朝鲜战争后建成的。电力水平高于预期，但仍然很不稳定。一出市中心，农村的景象很快就出现了：一望无际的连绵起伏的冰冻农田。如果你一时忘了自己身在何处，你可能会说这是田园风光。

People there walk very long distances (miles and miles) in sub-zero temperatures, often in the middle of the road. (Not a problem because there are almost no cars outside the city center.) Conclusion: these people are really, really tough.
那里的人在零度以下的气温下走很远的路（几英里、几英里），经常是在路中间走。(结论：这些人真的非常非常坚强。

Pyongyang itself is oddly charming. Broad boulevards, taller buildings than you’d expect, and a fair number of pedestrians. Very clean. Stylish women in heeled boots and makeup. Given the season, it was all tundra but I can imagine it would be quite pretty in bloom.
平壤本身就有一种奇特的魅力。宽阔的林荫大道，比想象中更高的建筑，行人也不少。非常干净。穿着高跟靴子、化着浓妆的时尚女性。考虑到季节原因，这里都是冻土，但我可以想象，如果是鲜花盛开的季节，这里一定会非常漂亮。

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You could almost forget you were in North Korea, until you noticed little things like the lack of commercial storefronts. No street-level commerce, either. I didn’t realize that I hadn’t seen any plastic bags yet until I saw one person with a bag of apples and thought it looked out of place.
你几乎可以忘记自己是在朝鲜，直到你注意到一些小事，比如没有商业店面。街道上也没有商业。直到我看到一个人拿着一袋苹果，我才意识到我还没有见过任何塑料袋，并觉得它看起来很格格不入。

Our trip coincided with the “Respected Leader” Kim Jong Un’s birthday. On that day, the little stalls that dotted the city and sold small sundries had long lines as they distributed treats. When we asked how old Un had turned (29? 30?), we were told that “Koreans keep track of age differently” than we do. Alright, then.
我们此行恰逢 "尊敬的领袖 "金正恩的生日。这一天，遍布城市、出售小杂货的小摊前排起了长队，分发着各种点心。当我们询问金正恩今年多大了（29 岁？ 30 岁？那好吧。

(Below) is an entrance to the grand square, where they hold military processions and large rallies. Everything on the propaganda side (monuments, portraits, official buildings) is done at scale in the DPRK. Makes it all feel even emptier. This guy’s book explains the function of size in the DPRK totalitarian aesthetic – kitsch, ostentatiousness, scale – superbly.
(下图）是大广场的入口，他们在这里举行军事游行和大型集会。在朝鲜，宣传方面的一切（纪念碑、肖像、官方建筑）都是按比例制作的。这让人感觉更加空旷。这个人的书很好地解释了尺寸在朝鲜极权主义美学中的作用--媚俗、浮夸、规模。

This is a country in a permanent revolutionary state, and everything you see reflects that dug-in, determined, fiercely independent quality. “Juche,” the concept of national self-reliance, is equally omnipresent. Even the calendar year is called “Juche.” We’re in the year Juche 103, in case you were wondering.
这是一个长期处于革命状态的国家，你所看到的一切都反映出这种锲而不舍、坚定不移、顽强独立的特质。"主体 "这一民族自力更生的理念同样无处不在。就连日历年也被称为 "主体年"。如果你想知道，我们现在正处于主体103年。

There is only revolutionary art.
只有革命艺术。
There is only revolutionary music.
只有革命音乐。

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Most buildings prominently displayed large portraits of the two deceased leaders: Kim Il Sung, “Great Leader” and “Eternal President,” and Kim Jong Il, “Dear Leader.” You get used to seeing them. Their portraits are always cheerful, more Santa Claus than Stalin.
大多数建筑物都在显著位置展示了两位已故领导人的巨幅肖像：金日成是 "伟大领袖 "和 "永远的总统"，金正日是 "亲爱的领袖"。你会习惯看到他们。他们的肖像总是很开朗，比斯大林更像圣诞老人。

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Inside the Grand People’s Study Hall, we were shown through study rooms with maybe 60 people diligently at desks. Were they bussed in for our benefit? Were any of them actually reading? All I know is that it. was. freezing.
走进大人民书房，我们看到书房里约有 60 人在书桌前孜孜不倦地学习。他们是为了我们的利益被安排进来的吗？他们中有人真的在读书吗？我只知道，这里太冷了。

We also had no trouble with cameras. Only rarely were we told we couldn’t take photos of something, and no one ever checked my camera. An aside: For a country that banned religion, and has sent thousands of practicing Christians to prison camps, the number of Christmas trees was rather odd. When asked, Minder 1 chuckled and offered, “New Year’s trees?”
我们在相机方面也没有遇到任何麻烦。只有极少数情况下，我们被告知不能拍照，也没有人检查过我的相机。顺便说一句：对于一个禁止宗教信仰并将成千上万信奉基督教的人送进集中营的国家来说，圣诞树的数量相当奇怪。当被问及此事时，Minder 1 笑着说："新年树？

Notable Stops 著名站点

1. The Palace of the Sun
1.太阳宫

Kim Il Sung’s former office and now the national mausoleum where Kim Il Sung’s and Kim Jong Il’s embalmed bodies lie in state. When a government meeting was canceled, they let us visit to pay respects (a rare honor). I can barely describe how strange an experience it was.
金日成以前的办公室，现在是国家陵墓，金日成和金正日的遗体安放在这里。当政府会议被取消时，他们让我们参观瞻仰（这是一种难得的荣誉）。我几乎无法形容这是一次多么奇特的经历。

We weren’t allowed to bring anything in: no coats, gloves, cameras, hats, etc. (“No contents!”) We entered a series of tunnels with those moving-walkways you find in airports, which we slowly rode for probably 20-30 minutes.
我们不允许带任何东西进去：大衣、手套、相机、帽子等（"不允许携带任何物品！"）。我们进入了一系列隧道，里面有机场里的那种移动式通道，我们慢慢地走了大概 20-30 分钟。

The walls were lined with portraits of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung looking at things (famous tumblr here), which turn out to be rather important. Because the Leaders are god-like figures, when one provides “on-site guidance” (which they always can, because they are experts in all things) it’s like a benediction.
墙壁上挂满了金正日和金日成看东西的肖像（这里是著名的 tumblr），这些东西原来相当重要。因为领导人是神一样的人物，当他们提供 "现场指导 "时（他们总是能提供指导，因为他们是万事万物的专家），这就像是一种祝福。

Some in our group favored the portrait of Kim Il Sung behind a gynecologist’s chair (insert “on-site guidance” joke here). I preferred the one of him sitting behind a desk double-fisting ears of corn.
我们小组中有些人喜欢金日成坐在妇科医生椅子后面的画像（此处插入 "现场指导 "笑话）。而我更喜欢他坐在办公桌后双拳紧握玉米穗的那张。

Behind us in line were at least 600 North Korean soldiers of various ranks, for whom this was a solemn occasion and precious opportunity – they may be allowed to visit once in their lives.
排在我们后面的是至少 600 名朝鲜各级士兵，对他们来说，这是一个庄严的场合，也是一次宝贵的机会--他们一生中可能只被允许参观一次。

The mausoleum itself had all the dramatic doom and gloom you can imagine: red-lit marble halls, severe-looking guards, sweeping, lamenting orchestral music. Around the embalmed bodies, the soldiers would line up in threes at each side, and bow deeply. Stone-faced.
陵墓本身就充满了你所能想象到的悲惨气氛：红光闪烁的大理石大厅、神情严肃的卫兵、悠扬哀怨的管弦乐。在防腐尸体周围，士兵们三三两两地排在两侧，深深地鞠躬。面无表情

Also lying in state: the late Leaders’ cars, train compartments and even a yacht, all preserved in their former glory. Even Kim Jong Il’s platform shoes were on display. I was delighted to learn that he and I shared a taste in laptops: 15″ Macbook Pro.
此外，已故领导人的汽车、火车车厢甚至游艇也都保存完好。就连金正日的高跟鞋也在这里展出。我很高兴地得知，我和他都喜欢笔记本电脑：15 英寸 Macbook Pro。

2. Metro Station 2.地铁站

Rather less grand than the mausoleum, but also our best shot at seeing a non-staged group of ordinary North Koreans.
虽然没有陵墓那么宏伟，但也是我们看到一群普通朝鲜人的最佳机会。

Subway lines are deep underground, built to withstand bombing raids. Cars are old but clean. Portraits of the Leaders? Check. Revolutionary music? Check. In the station, they had the day’s newspapers on display; there are four papers and all are state-run.
地铁线路深入地下，是为抵御轰炸而修建的。汽车陈旧但干净整洁。领导人画像？没错。革命音乐？是的。车站里摆放着当天的报纸，一共有四份，都是国营的。

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In a fantastic bit of timing, as we exited the train, the station’s power cut out (above right). The commuters around us immediately pulled out flashlights, which they presumably carry all the time. Can’t win ’em all, minders.
我们刚下火车，车站就停电了，真是天时地利人和（右上图）。我们周围的乘客立即拿出手电筒，想必他们一直都带着手电筒。人无远虑，必有近忧。

3. The Kim Il Sung University e-Library
3.金日成综合大学电子图书馆

Or as I like to call it, the e-Potemkin Village.
或者，我喜欢把它叫做 "电子波特金村"。

Looks great, right? All this activity, all those monitors. Probably 90 desks in the room, all manned, with an identical scene one floor up.
看起来不错吧？所有这些活动，所有这些监视器。房间里大概有 90 张桌子，都有人值班 一层楼上也有同样的场景

One problem: No one was actually doing anything. A few scrolled or clicked, but the rest just stared. More disturbing: when our group walked in – a noisy bunch, with media in tow – not one of the students looked up from their desks. Not a head turn, no eye contact, no reaction to stimuli. They might as well have been figurines.
问题是：没有人真正在做任何事情。有几个人在滚动或点击，但其他人只是在发呆。更令人不安的是：当我们一行人--一群喧闹的人，带着媒体--走进教室时，没有一个学生从课桌上抬起头来。没有一个人转头，没有眼神交流，对刺激没有反应。他们就像一个个小雕像。

Of all the stops we made, the e-Potemkin Village was the most unsettling. We knew nothing about what we were seeing, even as it was in front of us. Were they really students? Did our handlers honestly think we bought it? Did they even care? Photo op and tour completed, maybe they dismantled the whole set and went home.
在我们停留的所有地方中，e-Potemkin 村最令人不安。我们对眼前的一切一无所知，即使它就在我们眼前。他们真的是学生吗？我们的管理者真的认为我们信以为真了吗？他们在乎吗？照相和参观结束后，也许他们拆了整套设备就回家了。

When one of our group went to peek back into the room, a man abruptly closed the door ahead of him and told him to move along.
当我们一行人中的一个人想回房间看看时，一名男子突然把他前面的门关上，并让他往前走。

Meetings 会议

Begin with a grand arrival:
以隆重的抵达开始：

And then, they open with a familiar speech: “It was only due to the instruction/vision/guidance of Our Marshall/the Respected Leader/ Awesome-O wunderkid Kim Jong Un that we were able to successfully [insert achievement here: launch a ballistic rocket, build complicated computer software, negotiate around US sanctions, etc.]“ Just another example of the reality distortion field we routinely encountered in North Korea, just frequently enough to remind us how irrational the whole system really is. Reminded me of the We’re Not Worthy bit from Wayne’s World.
然后，他们以熟悉的讲话开场："只有在我们的元帅/尊敬的领袖/令人敬畏的天才金正恩的指示/远见/指导下，我们才能成功[在此插入成就：发射弹道火箭、制造复杂的计算机软件、绕过美国制裁进行谈判等]"。这只是我们在朝鲜经常遇到的现实扭曲领域的又一个例子，其频繁程度足以提醒我们整个系统有多么不合理。这让我想起了《韦恩的世界》中的 "我们不配"。

Also worth mentioning 还值得一提的是

• Virtually everyone wears a Kim pin: either Kim Il Sung’s face, or both his and Kim Jong Il’s  face, on a red background, on their left lapel.  You can see it in the meeting photo above.
  几乎每个人的左翻领上都佩戴着一枚金制别针：红色背景上要么是金日成的脸，要么是他和金正日的脸。 您可以在上面的会议照片中看到这一点。
• Expected to see more flags flying.  Didn’t expect to see so many glitter barrettes. 
  本以为会看到更多国旗飘扬。 没想到会看到这么多闪光发夹。
• Officials blame American sanctions for just about everything, though somehow the sanctions didn’t stop them from stocking the sparkling new supermarket we saw with Doritos.
  官员们几乎把一切都归咎于美国的制裁，尽管制裁并没有阻止他们在我们看到的闪闪发光的新超市里摆放多力多滋。
• The mausoleum also had large trophy rooms for the Leaders, with medals, honorary citizenships and a veritable rogue’s gallery of grip-and-grin portraits of the Kims and their various friends: Oh hey, Hafez al-Assad, Fidel Castro, Teodoro Obiang. Also noteworthy: only U.S. contribution was an honorary degree from the bullshit Kensington University. Aw, nobody told them.
  陵墓还为领袖们准备了大型奖杯室，里面摆放着勋章、荣誉市民称号和金氏家族及其各种朋友的肖像，是一个名副其实的 "无赖画廊"：哈菲兹-阿萨德、菲德尔-卡斯特罗、特奥多罗-奥比昂。另外值得注意的是：美国唯一的贡献是获得了狗屁肯辛顿大学的荣誉学位。啊，没人告诉他们。
• North Korean acrobats are seriously impressive. I can only imagine the spectacle of the Arirang mass games. Packed amphitheater to watch them, yet temperature never rose above 25 degrees indoors. Felt particularly sorry for the performers with water elements.
  朝鲜的杂技演员真是令人印象深刻。我能想象阿里郎群众运动会的壮观场面。圆形剧场座无虚席，但室内温度从未超过 25 度。我尤其为有水元素的表演者感到遗憾。
• They made sure to show us the American-style fast food restaurant, though their timing appeared to be off: the place was shuttered when we arrived. Workers scrambled to put on aprons and turn on the lights. 
  他们特意带我们参观了这家美式快餐店，不过他们的时机似乎不对，我们到达时，这家快餐店已经关门了。工人们争先恐后地穿上围裙，打开电灯。
• Additional visits to: revolving restaurant on a hotel’s 44th floor, art gallery, cell phone store (Koryolink), various gift shops to buy souvenirs and official literature, available in multiple languages. My favorite was titled, Kim Jong Il, Un Gran Hombre.  If only I could explain the concept of memes…
  还参观了：酒店 44 楼的旋转餐厅、艺术画廊、手机店（Koryolink）、各种礼品店，购买纪念品和官方文献（有多种语言版本）。我最喜欢的书名是《金正日，一个伟大的男人》（Kim Jong Il, Un Gran Hombre）。如果我能解释一下 "备忘录 "的概念......
• We heard just one song that wasn’t patriotic North Korean music while in the country, first in a promotional video for the e-Potemkin village and again over the speakers on our return flight on the national airline, Air Koryo.  It was a remastered version of The Cranberries’ “Dreams.”  It’s cool, I’m sure they secured the rights first. 
  在朝鲜期间，我们只听到过一首非朝鲜爱国音乐的歌曲，先是在 "e-Potemkin 村 "的宣传视频中，然后在乘坐高丽航空（Air Koryo）回程航班的扬声器中再次听到。 那是小红莓乐队的 "梦 "的重制版本。 太酷了，我相信是他们先拿到了版权。
• Also on our flight out? The North Korean national women’s soccer team. 20 North Korean women in tracksuits and sneakers, and presumably no intention to defect.
  我们离开的航班上还有？朝鲜国家女子足球队。20名身着运动服和运动鞋的朝鲜女子，应该无意叛逃。

On the tech front 技术方面

Everything that is accessible is only accessible in special tiers.
所有可访问的东西都只能在特殊的层级中访问。

Their mobile network, Koryolink, has between 1-2 million subscribers. No data service, but international calls were possible on the phones we rented. Realistically, even basic service is prohibitively expensive, much like every other consumption good (fuel, cars, etc.). The officials we interacted with, and a fair number of people we saw in Pyongyang, had mobiles (but not smartphones).
他们的移动网络 Koryolink 有 100 万到 200 万用户。没有数据服务，但可以用我们租用的电话拨打国际长途。实际上，即使是基本服务也贵得吓人，就像其他消费品（燃料、汽车等）一样。与我们交流的官员以及我们在平壤见到的相当多的人都有手机（但不是智能手机）。

North Korea has a national intranet, a walled garden of scrubbed content taken from the real Internet. Our understanding is that some university students have access to this. On tour at the Korea Computer Center (a deranged version of the Consumer Electronics Show), they demoed their latest invention: a tablet, running on Android, that had access to the real Internet. Whether anyone, beyond very select students, high-ranking officials or occasional American delegation tourists, actually gets to use it is unknowable. We also saw virtual-reality software, a video chat platform, musical composition software (?) and other random stuff.
朝鲜有一个国家内联网，这是一个从真正的互联网上删减内容的围墙花园。据我们了解，一些大学生可以访问这个网站。在韩国计算机中心（疯狂版的消费电子展）的巡展上，他们演示了自己的最新发明：一台运行安卓系统的平板电脑，可以访问真正的互联网。除了极少数学生、高级官员或偶尔的美国代表团游客之外，是否有人能真正用上它还不得而知。我们还看到了虚拟现实软件、视频聊天平台、音乐创作软件（？

What’s so odd about the whole thing is that no one in North Korea can even hope to afford the things they showed us. And it’s not like they’re going to export this technology. They’re building products for a market that doesn’t exist.
整件事的奇怪之处在于，朝鲜根本没人能买得起他们给我们看的东西。而且他们也不会出口这种技术。他们在为一个根本不存在的市场制造产品。

Officials are savvier than you’d expect. Exhibit A: Eric fielded questions like, “When is the next version of Android coming out?”and “Can you help us with e-Settlement so that we can put North Korean apps on Android Market?” Answers: soon, and no, you’re under international bank sanctions.
官员们比你想象的还要精明。证据 A：埃里克回答的问题包括："下一版安卓系统什么时候推出？"和 "你能帮我们做电子结算，让我们把朝鲜的应用放到安卓市场上吗？"回答：很快，而且不行，你们正受到国际银行制裁。

They acknowledged that digital connectivity is coming, and that they can’t hope to keep it out. Indeed, some seemed to understand that it’s only with connectivity that their country has a snowball’s chance in hell of keeping up with the 21st century. But we’ll have to wait and see what direction they choose to take.
他们承认，数字互联时代即将到来，他们不能指望将其拒之门外。事实上，有些人似乎明白，只有实现互联互通，他们的国家才有可能跟上 21 世纪的步伐。不过，我们只能拭目以待，看看他们会选择什么方向。