NBC：中国度过了“过山车”般的一年（中国2008大盘点）
来源：NBC新闻链接：http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28299697/
标题：China lives through 'year of extremes'
中国度过了“过山车一般“的一年
副标题：From the great highs of the Olympics to the lows of the Sichuan earthquake
从奥林匹克的高潮到四川地震的低谷
翻译：woodorw
正文：
BEIJING – The number eight is considered so auspicious here that the Chinese leadership decided to launch the Summer Olympic Games at 8 p.m. on the eighth day of the eighth month of the year.
The number eight has long suggested luck and good fortune because in Mandarin it sounds like the word for prosperity, as Raymond Lo, a feng shui expert, explained to us back in July. But, depending on the time cycle mapped out on the Chinese calendar of elements, eight could have positive or negative portents. “This year the earth is not stable,” said Lo. “And, also, the number eight also represents children.”
Indeed 2008 turned out to be a turbulent year for China — and two of the worst disasters befalling its youth were the Sichuan earthquake and the baby milk scandal.
The quake, which struck early on a May afternoon, destroyed thousands of classrooms and may have killed as many as 19,000 children out of the estimated 90,000 people killed or missing.
And in September, just two weeks after the Olympics ended, the public learned that a leading brand of powdered baby formula contained melamine (a chemical used to artificially boost the milk’s protein content), which was later reported to have killed at least six infants and sickened nearly 300,000 others.
Between the success of the Summer Olympics and everything else, 2008 was, as cultural critic Raymond Zhou observed, “a year of extremes” for China.
在中国，8这个数字意味着吉祥好运，于是中国的领导决定在今年8月8号的晚8点召开夏季奥林匹克运动会。
数字8一直以来都作为好运和财富的象征，七月份一位叫做Raymond Lo的风水先生告诉我们这是因为在普通话里8的发音听起来就像“发”，但是根据中国历书天干地支表，8有吉亦有凶。“今年土地不稳，”Lo说“而且8也孩子的意思。”
确实，2008对于中国来说是混乱的一年－两个最严重的灾祸降临到了孩子身上：四川大地震和幼儿奶粉丑闻。
五月的一个下午突然发生的大地震，造成了约90000多人死亡或失踪，上千间教室被摧毁，估计有19000名儿童在这次地震中遇难。
而在九月，奥运会结束仅仅两周后，公众得知一个婴幼儿奶粉著名品牌生产的奶粉中含有三聚氰胺（一种化学添加剂，可以人工增加牛奶中的蛋白质含量），随后的报道证实至少造成了六名儿童死亡，近三十万儿童患病。
面对着奥运会的成功和其他的一切，2008年，正如文艺批评家Raymond Zhou所认为的，是中国“极端”的一年。
The other lows
The year had a rocky start, with the country’s worst winter weather in 50 years striking southern and central eastern provinces, stranding millions of people trying to get back to their home villages for the Lunar New Year holiday.
In March, riots broke out in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, with Tibetans going on the rampage, destroying Chinese shops and attacking ethnic Chinese residents. The unrest stunned people everywhere in China, who later took umbrage at Western media coverage of the events.
In fact, even as Beijing Olympic officials prepared to welcome the world in August, sentiment here turned nationalistic and somewhat nasty. The patriotic fervor was heightened in April, following repeated attempts by human rights activists and protesters to disrupt the Olympic torch relay in Paris, London, and San Francisco.
Much less widely covered was the unrest which flared up in China’s other troublesome western region, Xinjiang, heavily populated by Uighurs, an ethnic Muslim minority group. In the weeks leading up to the Summer Olympics, a series of attacks, mostly on Chinese police, left more than 30 people dead.
At times, however, Chinese nationalism also found a more positive face.
其他的低谷
今年开年不顺，一场50年不遇的严寒席卷南方和中东部省份，数百万回家过农历新年的旅客被困。
三月，西藏自治区首府拉萨爆发叛乱，一些藏族人变的狂暴起来，摧毁汉人的店铺，攻击汉族的居民。中国各地都感到不安，并在随后转化成对西方媒体报道的不满和愤怒。
实际上，即使是在北京奥组委准备欢迎世界来宾的8月，这里的氛围也变的民族主义，甚至是恶毒。四月，随着人权活动家和抗议者不断尝试阻止奥运会圣火在巴黎，伦敦，旧金山传递，爱国热情在中国空前高涨起来。
而在中国的另外一个麻烦不断的西部地区，主要是信奉伊斯兰教的维吾尔族人组成的新疆所爆发的动乱倒没有引起广泛的关注。奥运会开始前几周，主要针对汉族警察的系列袭击，造成了30多人死亡。
然而，中国民族主义有时也能找到乐观的一面
‘A better society’
“The earthquake brought the best out of the Chinese people,” said the cultural critic Zhou, referring to the nationwide outpouring of volunteerism, charity and aid. “People were more spontaneous, especially in the first few weeks. It really showed humanity and humanitarianism in unprecedented and historical proportions.”
That was especially true among China’s youth, once viewed as dissolute and apathetic. “ has come out a better society, where younger people had the experience of looking at people less fortunate than themselves and wanted to do something about it,” agreed Jeremy Goldkorn, founder of danwei.org, a Web site about media, advertising and urban life in China.
The media also came out stronger, despite concerns about the government’s attempts to muzzle the press throughout controversial stories, as well as the Olympics.
“The fact that the Olympics was really a PR success for the country has given the government a little bit more confidence for dealing with the foreign media,” observed Goldkorn, citing the decision to loosen the rules governing foreign journalists conducting interviews and traveling around the country.
The same, unfortunately, can’t be said for the Chinese media. “This should be a record year for what got in terms of policy guidelines on what to say and what not to say,” laughed Hung Huang, a popular Chinese blogger and publisher.
It may, however, be a wasted effort by the government. “The Internet has become such an all-pervasive force,” said Goldkorn, “and has become so difficult to control.”Indeed, this year China surpassed the U.S. with the world’s largest number of Web users, and many events – including the quake, the melamine scandal, the boycott of French goods over the French government’s views on Tibet – inspired fierce debate among millions in online chat rooms.
“一个更好的社会”
“大地震引发了中国人最好一面”文艺批评家Zhou在谈及地震后全国范围内涌现的志愿者，慈善，和救援行动时说到。“人们更多的是自发的，尤其是在最初的几周内，它展现了空前的绝无仅有的人性和人道主义光辉”
这种说法在曾被认为浪荡和冷漠的中国年轻一代上得以印证。“当年轻人经历了看到那些比自己不幸的人，而且想要为他们做点什么的时候，中国社会进步了，”‘单位’网站（一个关于中国媒体，广告和城市生活的网站）的创始人金玉米同意这种说法。
尽管担忧政府会试图在像奥运会这样的争议性事件报道上设置障碍，媒体还是变的强壮了。
“奥运会确实是中国国家公关的胜利，这给了政府更多一点的自信来应付国外媒体”金玉米认为中国放松对国外记者采访和旅行监管说明了这一点。
不幸的是，同样的话却不能对中国媒体说。“国内记者按照发放的指导手册，该说的说，不该说的不说今年算是到了极点了”中国著名博主/发行人－Hung Huang大笑道。
然而官方的努力可能白费力气了。“互联网已经发展成了一股无孔不入的势力”金玉米说，“已经变的很难控制了”确实，今年中国超越美国成为了互联网用户最多的国家，包括地震，三聚氰胺丑闻，由法国对西藏事件的态度而引发的抵制法货运动都在在线聊天室中引起了激烈的大讨论。
China’s first successful spacewalk in September also brought the country glory, even if it occurred 40 years after America’s.
And then there was the success of the Olympics and the Paralympics – although Zhou described the Games as “the end of the beginning.”
“At the end of the first act, you see a big performance number, it crescendos. That’s the Olympics,” he said, adding, “Act Two starts with the economic downturn.”
九月，中国首次太空行走的成功也给这个国家带来了荣耀，即使它被美国整整晚了40年。
然后还有奥运会和残奥会的成功－尽管Zhou将其描述为：“开始就看到结局”
“在第一次演出结尾的时候，你能看到一个巨大的数字，逐渐增强。那就是奥林匹克，”他说，又补充到“演了两个开幕式，带来了经济低迷。”
The economy strikes
In fact, the global recession poses the Chinese leadership’s greatest challenge at a time when the government is trying to celebrate its 30th year anniversary of open-door reforms that have translated into three decades of nonstop, extraordinary growth.
This month, the country recorded its first drop in exports in 10 years.
“This is our first downturn,” said Hung, the blogger and publisher. “So how we handle it is going to be extremely critical for what kind of country, what kind of economic power China is going to be.”
经济冲击
实际上，在中国政府准备庆祝改革开放三十年来持续高速发展时，全球的经济衰退给中国领导人出了一个大难题。
这个月，中国出口额出现了十年来的首次下跌。
“这是我们第一次衰退，”Hung说，“因此如何处理这次危机对于中国要成为一个什么样的国家，发展什么样的经济有着至关重要的作用”
Exactly how Beijing will steer the course in an economic slowdown is the question gripping everyone, not least economists.“At the start of the year, everybody was worried about inflation ,” said Andy Rothman, China Macro Strategist at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. “Now everybody’s worried will growth be fast enough?”
The big question is will it be enough to absorb the increasing number of migrant workers being laid off from closing factories, as well as new college graduates entering the market. Labor officials have warned that 24 million people are expected to enter the job market next year, competing for half as many openings.
“In China, unemployment could deprive a lot of people of their ability of survival,” said Professor Hu Xingdou of the Beijing Institute for Technology. “So it could trigger social instability or even shake the rule of the Party.”
准确的说北京在经济下降中如何张掌控，不仅仅牵动着经济学家们，更牵动着每一个人的心。“年初，每一个人都在担心通货膨胀，经济过热，”里昂证券的宏观战略专家Andy Rothman说。“现在每个人又都在担心增长的还够快吗？”
最大的问题是随着工厂的关闭，失业的外来务工人员持续增加，再加上即将进入市场的毕业大学生，经济增长速度足够吸收他们吗？人力资源部的官员已经警告说，明年将会有2400万人进入人才市场，竞争只有约一半的工作机会。
“在中国，失业就意味着许多人失去了生存的可能，”北京技术学院的Hu XingdouJ教授是说，“所以它会带来社会的不稳定，甚至动摇共产党的统治。”
The government’s main challenge
Although some may not realize it, but this is a country accustomed to displays of anger or frustration – the Ministry of Public Security reported 87,000 so-called “mass incidents” during 2005 – and the Communist Party is keenly aware of the potential for rising social unrest exacerbated by rising unemployment. “The legitimacy of China's ruling party is not based on election, but on promises of high speed of economic growth,” explained Hu.
Also key, however, is the party’s response. “If they respond in a way that’s perceived as caring and supportive – the party makes sure I have a place to live, I have food on the table, my kids can still go to school, they can get access to medical care — if they can do a reasonable job of those things, then people will say, all right, they’re doing the best they can under the global circumstances,” said Rothman.
Of all the measures the leadership has rolled out to compensate for weakness in its export-reliant economy, its biggest is a massive fiscal stimulus plan worth nearly $600 billion that is designed to help create more jobs.
Various ministries have sought to reinforce the central government’s message that all its efforts, including the spending plan, will pay off by the second quarter of 2009.
But it is a highly contentious point. “We don’t know if is big enough, and we don’t know if it will happen quickly enough,” said Michael Pettis, who teaches finance at Beijing University.
In fact, Pettis is not terribly optimistic about how the global economy will play out. “I expect trade frictions next year are going to increase significantly and if they’re not dealt with very, very carefully, we will see a real contraction in international trade,” he said.
政府最大的挑战
尽管有些人没有意识到，这是一个习惯示威和表达不满的国家。来自公共安全部的报告称：2005年中国共发生87000次所谓的“群体性事件”。中国共产党对可能由失业恶化而引起的社会动荡的潜在威胁十分敏感。“中国执政党的合法性不是基于选举，而是基于其对经济快速增长的承诺”Hu解释说。
然而，关键在于党如何反应。“如果他们的反应能被民众察觉到是出自关怀和支持－党保证我有地住，有饭吃，孩子有学上，能得到医疗照顾－如果他们能在这方面作一些合理的工作，那么民众就会说，好吧，在目前这个全球环境下他们已经尽力了”Rothman这样认为。
在政府出台的一系列针对其出口依赖性经济的补救措施中，最大就是一个价值约6000亿美元的巨大经济刺激计划，这个计划的推出是为了创造更多的工作机会。
各个部门都力求能让中央的意思更明确：所有的努力，包括消费计划都会在2009年的第二季度收的效果。
但是有一种很具争议的观点，“我们不知道这个刺激计划是否足够，我们也不知道它是否能及时奏效”在北京大学教授经济的 Michael Pettis说。
实际上Pettis对全球经济走向并不十分乐观，“我估计明年的贸易摩擦会急剧上升，如果他们不能非常非常小心的予以处理的话，我们会看到国际贸易真正的畏缩萎缩”。
20th anniversary of Tiananmen in 2009
Tensions of another nature also threaten to resurface next year. March is the 20th anniversary of anti-government demonstrations in Tibet; the large-scale protests back then triggered a state of emergency in the region.
However, that situation was quickly eclipsed by the student movement that emerged in Beijing a month later, which eventually led to the June 4 military crackdown in Tiananmen Square.
Lastly, but least controversially, the People’s Republic of China turns 60 in October.
Even with all the uncertainty, many people here still hope for the best, with Lo, the feng shui expert, offering a reassuring forecast: “Next year will be a bit more calm, even with the financial crisis taking place.”
It would seem about time. As Zhou put it, “The kind of things that happened this year was just too much, even for people like me to take in.”
2009年天安门事件20周年
另外一种性质的紧张关系明年也似有抬头的可能。三月是西藏反政府示威游行20周年；当时大规模的抗议活动使得当地处于紧急状态。
然后，西藏的紧张局势很快就被一个月后在北京爆发的学生运动掩盖了，这场运动最终导致了6月4日天安门广场的军事镇压。
最后，毫无争议的，中华人民共和国要在10月迎来她的60岁生日。
即使有这么多的不安定因素，这里的许多人还是充满了希望。风水先生Lo对未来做了一个让人安心的预示：“明年会更太平一些，即使金融危机还在继续。”
似乎一切都是时间问题，正如Zhou所说的“今年发生的这些事太难以承受了，甚至像我这样的人都无法接受。”
[ 本帖最后由 woodorw 于 2008-12-22 23:51 编辑 ] 感woodorw您的辛勤翻译！
有点感概：这。。。新闻报道。。。为什么客观的事情总是要加上主观的解释？
请教下各位：
“但是根据中国历书天干地支表，8有吉亦有凶。“今年土地不稳，”Lo说“而且8也孩子的意思。””——天干地支是真的对8有这么一说么？——8真的也代表孩子么？
本人虚心求教。
回复 沙发 calmvoca 的帖子
由于表示时间的数字只是相对量，不是绝对量，所以其数字本身是无法代表任何吉凶的。 原帖由 yingyue02 于 2008-12-22 22:47 发表 http://bbs.m4.cn/images/common/back.gif由于表示时间的数字只是相对量，不是绝对量，所以其数字本身是无法代表任何吉凶的。
那任何数字都是这样啊，8没什么特殊吧？ ”国内记者按照发放的指导手册，该说的说，不该说的不说今年算是到了极点了”
想说什么，说全了，我们有什么不知道的啊？？你以为你是谁，nbc?
还有，nbc这句话恰恰应正了伱自己，在海外华人集体游行时，你们选择性失明，只报道藏独！无聊啊！ http://digg.com/world_news/2008_was_a_year_of_great_highs_and_terrible_lows_for_China
补充一个链接地址
这是本文在digg.com的网民留言，更多的是国外网民酸溜溜的回复，也有华人的奋起反击。 艰难困苦,玉汝于成. 啥时候都不忘扯上八九一杠子。。。 “演了两个开幕式，带来了经济低迷。”
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XXd,说这话的时候是不是没经过大脑，忘了次贷危机是从那个山沟冒出来的。 感woodorw您的辛勤翻译！
有点感概：这。。。新闻报道。。。为什么客观的事情总是要加上主观的解释？
请教下各位：
“但是根据中国历书天干地支表，8有吉亦有凶。“今年土地不稳，”Lo说“而且8也孩子的意思。” ...
calmvoca 发表于 2008-12-22 22:21 http://bbs.m4.cn/images/common/back.gif
主观唯心主义牵强附会 回想今年種種，感慨良多。 ……中国各地都感到不安，并在随后转化成对西方媒体报道的不满和愤怒。……
只说了一小半事实，首先不是转化（这里翻译本身没有错），这两者之间有关系，但不存在转化的关系；其次不是对西方媒体报道的不满和愤怒，而是对西方媒体“不实”报道的不满和愤怒。
……“中国执政党的合法性不是基于选举，而是基于其对经济快速增长的承诺”Hu解释说……
的确是“HU（胡）说”！不知此HU是哪HU？思想和观察都极其肤浅！ 还算客观.. 习惯了,能这样就算正常的了. 看到六四，我很自然的想到了五四，1970年5月4日，美国肯特州立大学美国政府屠杀手无寸铁学生的惨案。 看来老美是把此次金融危机转“送”给中国啦！~ “尽管担忧政府会试图在像奥运会这样的争议性事件报道上设置障碍，”
谁在担忧？中国媒体抑或是外国媒体，要求新闻报道必须客观、公正、真实就是设置障碍吗？
“在中国，失业就意味着许多人失去了生存的可能，”
太夸张了吧。在中国，失业会使人的生活水平大幅度下降，但不至于无法生存。
中国的失业救助和贫困家庭低保制度已基本建立，覆盖到了中小城镇的边角，农村有另一套机制，教授们不必如此夸大其词。 看完了只想笑~ 其实很多也都是实事，有自己的看法也挺好的，只不过外国人不知道怎样的才是对中国人最好的。
是八九？我深表怀疑 希望明年会好点