清晨八时半,一声发令枪响,近万人的长跑人流似一股决堤的潮水,涌上北京街头。几乎一秒也不差,在位于赤道附近的太平洋岛国毛里求斯中国使馆的花园内,一个年近古稀但看上去却象精壮汉子的人,也准时起跑了。北京正在举行一个群众性的长跑大赛,毛里求斯中国使馆花园中的老人也在跑着马拉松。在北京是清晨,而在毛用求斯则是深夜两点左右。 At about half past eight in the morning, there was a rapid fire and a crowd of nearly 10,000 runners burst like a tide of bursts into the streets of Beijing. Almost a second, not bad. In the gardens of the Chinese embassy in Mauritius, the Pacific island nation near the equator, a man of nearly all-time but seemingly formidable man started off on time. Beijing is holding a mass-race long-distance race and the elderly in the garden of the Chinese embassy in Mauritius are running marathons. It is early morning in Beijing, but it is late at night about two in Mauritius.