Tip-tap. Tick-tock. Knock-knock. 點(diǎn)點(diǎn)手機(jī)屏幕，敲兩下鍵盤上，再點(diǎn)擊購(gòu)買。 That’s how we shop. 這就是我們現(xiàn)在的購(gòu)物方式。 A few taps on my phone, a short wait and the goods arrive. 只需在手機(jī)上點(diǎn)兩下，不需多久貨物就可到達(dá)。 I’ve hardly set foot in a physical store since I set up my phone to enable me to make use of China’s vast e-commerce. 自從開通了手機(jī)購(gòu)物功能后，我?guī)缀踉贈(zèng)]去過實(shí)體店。 I’ve kept a tally and discovered I average around seven deliveries on days I don’t leave the house. 我會(huì)給自己買的東西記賬，我發(fā)現(xiàn)在家的時(shí)候平均要收七次快遞。 Three meals, groceries for later, detergent, earphones, water, diapers, towels, sweaters — indeed, all these necessities come to my door on the back of a bike as fast as the delivery man can bring them. 從一日三餐，再到后來(lái)的洗滌劑，耳機(jī)，水，尿布，毛巾，毛衣等雜貨——事實(shí)上，所有這些必需品都會(huì)在快遞員的后座上飛快的送達(dá)到我家門口。 That’s not to mention such … novelties I guess you could call them, as beer mugs adorned with Asian dragons that flash with multicolor lights, geodes for my daughter to break open and Star Wars-themed socks for my super-fan wife. 更不用說一些新奇的玩意兒（我想你們會(huì)這么稱呼），比如印著許多閃閃發(fā)光的亞洲龍的啤酒杯，給我女兒玩的一些晶晶亮的石頭，還有給我老婆買的星球大戰(zhàn)主題襪子，她可是該系列電影的超級(jí)粉絲。 Basic Western food and drink like coffee and cheese were difficult to find when I first arrived in China 12 years ago. Acquiring them meant traveling to the handful of places across the city, such as the Friendship Store, that sold such goods and paying exorbitant prices. 12年前，我剛到中國(guó)時(shí)，很難發(fā)現(xiàn)像咖啡和奶酪等西方食品和飲料。要想買到得轉(zhuǎn)遍全城，但只有很少的地方，如友誼商店才能買到這些東西，而且售價(jià)也非常高。 Fast forward to today — it’s still difficult to find such items as sourdough, salsa verde and French onion seasoning in any physical stores I’m aware of. (Other foreign fare, such as pretzels, salami and spaghetti sauce are now relatively easy to get at the handful of imported-food shops around the city.) 但現(xiàn)在，在我知道的所有實(shí)體店中，仍然很難找到像酵母、歐芹醬或法式洋蔥調(diào)味料等物品。（椒鹽脆餅，意大利香腸和意大利面醬這些外國(guó)食品在少數(shù)進(jìn)口食品商店中相對(duì)容易買到。） But virtually any foodstuff from any corner of the globe is easily purchased on Taobao — and affordable. 但幾乎來(lái)自全球任何角落的食品都可以輕松地在淘寶上買到，而且價(jià)格還很實(shí)惠。 Of course, we mostly eat Chinese staples, which are even cheaper and easier to find on shopping apps, and typically arrive within about 40 minutes. (Taobao takes days.) 當(dāng)然，大多數(shù)時(shí)候我們會(huì)買中國(guó)食材，這些食材在購(gòu)物軟件里更容易找到，而且也更便宜，通常下單后40分鐘內(nèi)就可送達(dá)。（淘寶的話需要幾天才能送達(dá)。） I haven’t visited a supermarket in months. Even though there’s one across the street from my apartment, a trip takes about an hour or so — longer if I have to tow the kids along. 我有幾個(gè)月都沒去過超市。我公寓對(duì)面就有一家，但去一次就得花大約一個(gè)小時(shí)，要是孩子纏著一起去超市，那時(shí)間會(huì)更長(zhǎng)。 Now, I can shop in under a minute, leaving more time to play with my children, rather than drag — and sometimes chase — them through a shopping complex. 現(xiàn)在，我可以在一分鐘內(nèi)就買好東西，余下更多時(shí)間與孩子玩耍，而不是拖著他們?nèi)サ匠?，有時(shí)還得追著她在超市里到處亂跑。 I’ve absolutely detested shopping all my life. I used to try to buy all the clothes I’d need for a few years in one trip to get it over with. 我其實(shí)非常討厭購(gòu)物。曾經(jīng)在一次旅行中，我買了夠穿幾年的衣服，為的就是以后就不用再買了。 But I’ve come to adore online shopping in China. That’s partly because of the novelty of the strange and surprising things you can find. 但在中國(guó)，我卻很喜歡網(wǎng)上購(gòu)物。部分原因在于我可以找到很多奇奇怪怪又讓人感到驚奇的東西。 For instance, a human hamster wheel, an animatronic dancing caveman, bacon-shaped earrings, coffee mugs that make it look like you have a pig nose when you drink from them — you name it. 比如說：人類倉(cāng)鼠輪、跳舞穴居人的卡通畫、培根形狀的耳環(huán)還有咖啡杯，喝咖啡的時(shí)候，這個(gè)杯子會(huì)讓你看起來(lái)像帶了個(gè)豬鼻子——但凡你能說出來(lái)的東西購(gòu)物網(wǎng)站上都找的到。 Search “scorpions”, and up pop pages selling scorpions for pets, scorpions for snacks and albums by the German metal band, Scorpions. 搜索“蝎子”，就會(huì)彈出售賣蝎子寵物、蝎子小吃還有德國(guó)金屬樂隊(duì)“蝎子”專輯的網(wǎng)頁(yè)。 My economist friend recently purchased a money gun from Taobao. That is, a gun that blasts bills when you pull the trigger. 我有個(gè)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家朋友最近從淘寶購(gòu)買了一把“噴錢槍”。扣動(dòng)扳機(jī)時(shí)，這種槍會(huì)彈出鈔票。 We joked this may soon prove one of few uses for physical banknotes in China’s increasingly cashless and e-commerce-driven landscape. 我們開玩笑說，這就是現(xiàn)今中國(guó)的一種印證，在電子商務(wù)環(huán)境的驅(qū)動(dòng)下，中國(guó)的現(xiàn)金越來(lái)越少，實(shí)物鈔票的用途也越來(lái)越少。