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中国西南：传统带来的震撼2008-07-14[2008.06.27]Tradition's rock传统带来的震撼 桂林篇
South-west China
中国西南
Tradition's rock
传统带来的震撼--桂林篇
Jun 27th 2008
2008年6月27日
From Economist.com
摘自《经济学人》印刷版
Monday星期一
A booming country's quiet corner
轰鸣大国中的宁静角落
CHINA may be rushing toward superpower status, but not all of it is in a hurry. Life in the country's south-west glides along rather sedately. The road into Guilin, a smallish city of 650,000 people in Guangxi province, was strangely quiet as I looked out at the countryside through rain-streaked taxi windows. The driver could see nothing: her windscreen wiper scraped to a halt. She pulled to a stop in the middle of the highway to fix it, and as she returned it to life, nothing passed in either direction.
中国可能正在向超级大国的地位冲刺，但并非处处都在急行。中国西南部的生活就相对比较平静。桂林是广西省一个的规模较小的城市，人口为65万。从雨水滑落的出租车玻璃窗向野外观看，我发现通往桂林的道路竟是出奇的宁静。司机的视野却被挡住，原来风挡雨刷出了毛病。她在高速公路开了一半路程就停下来修理风挡雨刷，当她把风挡雨刷修好后，道路双向已无车辆往来。
The sense of a slower life continues when we reach the town. The heavy industry that propels China's economy is largely absent from Guilin, which relies instead on tea, tourism and traditional medicines. It has proved a lucrative mix, and people can afford to amble along the streets with time to spare.
在到达桂林时，我仍能感觉到此处的生活节奏比较缓慢。在桂林，推动中国经济发展的重工业几乎没有，而是依赖茶叶，旅游业和传统药物。这些产业一同兴旺发展,使桂林变得富庶安逸。闲暇之余，当地人便沿街悠闲地散步。
Watch for the birdie
Even the name of the town suggests a more gentle pace: Guilin means “forest of osmanthus trees”—and osmanthus wait until fall to blossom, rather than bursting into flower in spring. But modernisation has not bypassed the town entirely. It may be more than 2,000 years old and boast 600-year-old Ming-era buildings, but little of the town looks like it has passed its twentieth birthday. One local proudly points out an expensive new apartment block just being finished near the town centre.
这座城市的名字甚至都在暗示一种悠闲的生活步调：桂林取自“桂树成林”。桂树要盼到秋天方可开花，而不是在春天突然绽放。不过，这座城市也全面开始了现代化。桂林或有超过2000年的历史，有600多年的明朝建筑，但多数城市里的建筑看似刚建不到20年。一名当地人自豪地向市中心附近一栋刚要竣工的昂贵的新公寓楼指去。
But along the Li river, which runs through the centre of town, fishermen ply their trade in the same odd manner they always have. They battle the current in bamboo boats—flat platforms of up to a dozen thick bamboo trunks lashed together.
漓江穿过这座城市的中心。不过，漓江沿线的渔民还在以传统的奇特的贸易方式进行买卖。渔民搭乘竹筏（用多达十几只的粗大竹干编凑而成），搏击湍流。
Instead of rods, they fish with trained cormorants, which dive into the water for fish and return to deliver them to the fisherman on the boat. Strings tied around their necks mean they can only swallow the smallest—anything larger and more saleable get no further than their throats. A cormorant can catch 15kg of fish a day, but only after three to five years of training.
渔民逮鱼不是用钓竿，而是用训练有素的鸬鹚。鸬鹚潜入水中捉鱼，然后回到竹筏上把鱼交给渔民。鸬鹚的颈部被绳子系住，他们只能吞食小鱼，更大和更易出售的鱼将无法吞下。一只受训三到五年的鸬鹚一天可捉到15公斤鱼。
Similarly venerable is the local tea ceremony, which can last several hours. Bundles of leaves are dropped into small clay pots, which are filled with hot water. The outside of the pots are also doused in the water, which drains down into the slats of a wooden tray. The tea is ready when the outside of the pot is dry.
历史同样悠久的当地茶道要持续数小时。人们把几包茶叶放进装有热水的陶器茶壶。茶壶的外围也浸在水中，这些水再慢慢流进一个木制托盘的空条板中。在茶壶外侧的水流干时，茶便给沏好了。
The choice of tea is mind-boggling to my coffee-soaked palate. Each stage of a leaf's growth can provide a different style of drink, with only the toughest, oldest leaves being relegated to the humble teabag. Long before that, leaves can be pressed together into bricks from which you can chip off a lump to produce a striking orange brew, or bundled into small balls and mixed with the flowers of the town's ubiquitous osmanthus trees, which give a sweet, perfumed taste. The liquid served later that day at a local restaurant is thin and underwhelming.
品茶比我喝咖啡更为复杂。一片茶叶生长的每个阶段都可提供一个不同样式的喝法，只有最硬的，最老的茶叶片会被放入粗糙的茶袋。在此之前，茶叶可压成砖块形状，从中切一小块便可泡制一壶不同寻常的橙色佳茗，或捆绑成球状同城中无所不在的清新芳香的桂花相混合。当地餐厅出售的香茗味道淡薄，令人难以流连。
I am told to consume the small cups offered for tasting in three sips. Apparently, only water buffalo down a drink in one go, and dogs take two sips.
人们告诉我，这些小杯茶要品三小口。很显然，一口而进是牛饮,两口喝完是家犬。
The limestone mountains surrounding the town have been eroded away into strangely shaped fingers of rock, which locals have taken to identifying with some imagination. Their perspective eludes me. Camel Hill looks to my eye like a fist, closed except for a thumb pointing to the sky, while Elephant Trunk Hill looks like a simple arch. My concerns are soothed when I spot a hill which really does look like an elephant, but dashed again when I find out it is actually meant to resemble a tortoise.
城市周边的石灰岩山区已侵被蚀成相当数量奇形怪状的岩石，当地人已对山石发挥想象颇感兴趣。不过，他们的观点令我困惑不解。在我看来，骆驼山就像一只四指朝天的拳头，而象鼻山看起来像是一座简陋的拱桥。起初，在发现一座确实像是一只大象的小山后，我的疑虑有所缓解。但随后我确定这座小山其实像是一只乌龟，我的希望再次破灭。 |
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