Michael Chugani 褚简宁 - Make a beeline for｜又中又英

New York City’s Times Square has a man nicknamed the Naked Cowboy who wears only underpants, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat. He and others dressed as Batman and Spiderman take pictures with tourists for money. Tourists pay top dollar to see Broadway shows such as The Lion King. Thousands make a beeline for downtown Manhattan daily to take pictures with a famous sculpture of a bull near Wall Street where the New York Stock Exchange is located. Tourists make a beeline for ferry tours of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour. In Paris, tourists who don’t book in advance must queue for hours to go up the Eiffel Tower or visit the Louvre.

In London, which is also famous for stage shows, tourists jockey for position to take pictures of Buckingham Palace. Hong Kong has re-opened but what will tourists make a beeline for?　To make a beeline for something means to head directly and quickly to a place. To pay top dollar means to pay a lot of money. To jockey for position used this way means to get the best position for something, such as taking a picture. Some people liked the government’s Hello Hong Kong promotion, but others were not impressed. That’s understandable. I love Hong Kong’s Harbour and the Peak, but some people feel the city needs newer attractions.

The Washington Post described the 30-second ad as spiffy, which means smart in appearance but was still critical. Could the promotion ad have been better if it used globally recognized gold medalist swimmer Siobhan Haughey or Michelle Yeoh? Should it have used promotion experts like Lan Kwai Fong founder Allan Zeman or Chow Yun-fat?
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纽约市时代广场有一个只穿着内裤、牛仔靴和牛仔帽，绰号叫赤裸牛仔的男人。他和其他打扮成蝙蝠侠和蜘蛛侠的人，会跟游客合照以赚取金钱。游客会花高价（pay top dollar）去看百老汇的节目，例如《狮子王》。每天，数以千计的人会直奔（make a beeline for）曼哈顿下城，只为与华尔街附近的铜牛雕塑合照，而华尔街正正是纽约证券交易所的所在地。游客们亦会对乘船游览纽约港的自由神像趋之若鹜（make a beeline for）。在巴黎，游客要登上艾菲尔铁塔，又或参观罗浮宫，若没有预先订票，就必须花上数小时排队。

伦敦的舞台节目亦闻名遐迩，而游客亦会占据有利位置（jockey for position），去在白金汉宫留影。香港已经重开，但又有甚么物事，可令游客趋之若鹜的（make a beeline for）？ To make a beeline for something是指直奔某处。To pay top dollar是指大洒金钱、所费不菲。To jockey for position在这里是指去霸占最佳位置，例如拍照打卡的有利位置。有些人喜欢政府推出的「你好，香港！」宣传活动，另一些人则没甚么好印象，这也是可以理解的。我喜爱香港的海港与山顶，但有些人认为，这个城市需要一些新的旅游胜地。

《华盛顿邮报》将这三十秒的广告形容为 spiffy，意即显眼耀目的，但仍可挑剔。这个宣传广告要是能起用国际熟悉的金牌游泳选手何诗蓓又或杨紫琼，会不会更好？又或者，是否应起用熟知公关宣传的能手，例如兰桂坊的创办人盛智文，又或周润发？
中译：七刻
Michael Chugani 褚简宁