Mr Ma’s early life cannot have been easy: traditional ping tan was banned during the Cultural Revolution, the catastrophic decade-long political campaign launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 in which millions were persecuted, killed or banished to remote parts of the country.

马云的早年生活肯定不容易：评弹在文化大革命期间遭禁，这场由毛泽东在1966年发动的灾难性政治运动持续了整整十年，其间数百万人受到迫害、被杀死或下放到中国的偏远地区。

As a child, Mr Ma was bad at maths but fascinated by English. As China emerged from the trauma of Maoism and began opening up to the world, he decided he would devote himself to learning the language.

马云小时候数学较差，但他对英语很有兴趣。随着中国渐渐抚平毛时代的创伤，开始向世界开放，他决定全身心投入英语学习。

For nine years he got up early every morning and rode his bike to the Hangzhou Hotel, where he befriended foreign tourists and worked for free as a tour guide in order to practise English.

有整整九年时间，他每天都早早起床，骑上他的自行车奔向杭州大酒店(Hangzhou Hotel)，他在那里和外国游客交上朋友，免费充当导游，以练习自己的英语。

After twice failing China’s national university entrance exam he was eventually admitted to Hangzhou Teacher’s Institute, where he graduated in 1988.

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