Renowned¹ cosmologist Stephen Hawking² entered the universe of Chinese social media with a big bang on Tuesday, with his first post to the country's Twitter-like Weibo service garnering³ him more than 2 million followers⁴ the same day.

英国著名宇宙学家史蒂芬·霍金本周二进入了中国社交媒体的浩瀚空间，引起巨大反响。他发布的首条微博（中国版本的推特）当天便吸引了超过了200万粉丝。

In less than five hours Hawking flew past Apple chief Tim Cook, who has around 820,000 fans after a nearly a year online.

在不到五个小时的时间里，霍金一举超过了苹果公司CEO蒂姆·库克。库克在开通近一年的时间里拥有了大约82万名粉丝。

"In my physical travels, I have only been able to touch the surface of your fascinating history and culture," the Cambridge scientist said in his initial post, writing in both English and Chinese.

在首条中英双语微博里，这位来自剑桥的科学家写道："到中国的旅行，使我对博大精深的中国历史和文化略有接触。"

"But now I can communicate with you through social media -- and I hope to tell you more about my life and work through this page and also to learn from you in reply," he added.

他还写道："但现在我可以通过社交媒体与你们沟通了。通过这个微博，我希望和你们分享我的生活趣事和工作心得，也希望能在互动中向你们学习。"

He also explained that he first visited China in 1985, traversing the country by train, and had last been in the capital in 2006 for a physics conference.

此外，他还提到了他第一次访问中国是在1985年，乘坐火车穿越中国，以及上一次来访是在2006年在首都北京举行的物理会议。

Netizens extended their warm welcome to Hawking, with many leaving messages thanking him for his contribution to the world.

许多网民非常欢迎霍金进驻中国微博，并在他的微博下方留言，感谢他一直以来对世界做出的伟大贡献。

"I cannot believe it. This is a historical moment. I'm so close to the grand master!" a netizen said, whose feelings appeared to be shared by many others.

一位网友留言道："我简直不敢相信！这简直是一个历史性的时刻！我从没有想过我可以离这样一个伟人如此之近。"这条评论也道出了许多网友的心声，许多网友也纷纷转发该条评论。

His second post, on Wednesday, described the interstellar project Breakthrough Starshot which he is backing, saying it was "exciting to be involved in such an ambitious project".

周三，霍金发布第2条微博，描述了由他支持的星际穿越项目"突破摄星"，并称能参与这样雄心勃勃的项目，非常令人兴奋。

Born on January 8, 1942, Hawking is well-known and respected in China not only for his achievements in physics, but also for the inspiring and encouraging story of his fight with amyotrophic lateral⁵ sclerosis (ALS).

霍金出生于1942年2月8日，在中国，他不仅因为物理成就广为人知、受到尊重，也因为他和渐冻症对抗的激励、鼓舞人心的故事。

"Hawking's popularity shows the Chinese people's great enthusiasm for science, especially among the young generation, which is inspiring for the country's future," Steven Dong, a professor at the Communications University of China, told the Global Times.

中国交通大学教授史蒂芬·东告诉《环球时报》："霍金的风靡显示出中国人民对科学的巨大热情，尤其在年轻一代中更是如此，这对国家的未来来说是振奋人心的。"