KASHGAR, China – A thousand years ago, the northern and southern branches of the Silk Road converged at this oasis town near the western edge of the Taklamakan Desert. Traders from Delhi and Samarkand, wearied by frigid treks through the world’s most daunting mountain ranges, unloaded their pack horses here and sold saffron and lutes along the city’s cramped streets. Chinese traders, their camels laden with silk and porcelain, did the same.
一千年前，絲路的南北兩道，在這個鄰近塔克拉馬干沙漠西側的綠洲城市會合。來自印度德里和烏茲別克撒馬爾罕的商旅，穿越舉世最令人視為畏途的高山大脈，帶著沿途顛簸的疲憊，在此地卸下馬上的馱包，然後在窄街上，叫賣番紅花與魯特琴。以駱駝馱著絲綢與瓷器的中國商旅，也是這樣來到此地交易。

The traders are now joined by tourists exploring the donkey-cart alleys and mud-and-straw buildings once window-shopped, then sacked, by Tamerlane and Genghis Khan.
現在，這裡除了商旅，還有想參觀驢車胡同與泥巴茅草屋的觀光客。這些泥巴與茅草壘起的房舍，在帖木兒或是成吉思汗時代，曾經是商店櫥窗，隨後被摧毀。

Now, Kashgar is about to be sacked again.
現在，喀什又要被毀了。

Nine hundred families already have been moved from Kashgar’s Old City, “the best-preserved example of a traditional Islamic city to be found anywhere in central Asia,” as the architect and historian George Michell wrote in the 2008 book “Kashgar: Oasis City on China’s Old Silk Road.”
已有九百家住戶搬離喀什的舊城，建築師與歷史學家喬治‧米契爾在2008年出版的《喀什：中國舊絲路的綠洲城市》中寫道，喀什舊城為「中亞地區保存最完好的傳統伊斯蘭城市」。

Over the next few years, city officials say, they will demolish at least 85 percent of this warren of picturesque, if run-down homes and shops. Many of its 13,000 families, Muslims from a Turkic ethnic group called the Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gurs), will be moved.
喀什的官員說，未來數年，這個美麗如畫，但顯得破落的城區，至少有85%的房屋與商店會被剷平。這裡的1萬3000戶居民（信奉伊斯蘭的土耳其維吾爾族），許多將必須搬遷。

In its place will rise a new Old City, a mix of midrise apartments, plazas, alleys widened into avenues and reproductions of ancient Islamic architecture “to preserve the Uighur culture,” Kashgar’s vice mayor, Xu Jianrong, said.
代之而起的將是一個新的古城，喀什市副市長徐建榮說，它將是一個樓高五到十層的公寓與廣場的混合體，而胡同將拓寬為街道，另有仿古的伊斯蘭建築，「藉此保存維吾爾文化」。

Demolition is deemed an urgent necessity because an earthquake could strike at any time, collapsing centuries-old buildings and killing thousands. “The entire Kashgar area is in a special area in danger of earthquakes,” Mr. Xu said. “I ask you: What country’s government would not protect its citizens from the dangers of natural disaster?”
當局將拆除計畫視為緊急的必要措施，理由是地震隨時可能會來，已有數百年歷史的建築可能倒塌，數千人因而死亡。徐建榮說：「整個喀什地區是地震的高危險區。我問你，哪個國家的政府不保護自己的人民，遠離天災的危險？」

Critics fret about a different disaster. “From a cultural and historical perspective, this plan of theirs is stupid,” said Wu Lili, the managing director of the Beijing Cultural Protection Center, a nongovernmental group devoted to historic preservation. “From the perspective of the locals, it’s cruel.”
令批評家憂心忡忡的，是另一種災難。致力於歷史保存的非政府組織「北京文化遺產保護中心」執行主任吳莉莉（譯音）說：「從文化和歷史的觀點，他們的這項計畫愚蠢透頂。從當地人的觀點，則是殘酷無比。」

Urban reconstruction during China’s long boom has razed many old city centers.
盛世的中國大舉重建都市，許多舊的市中心因此遭到拆除。

Kashgar, though, is not a typical Chinese city. Chinese security officials consider it a breeding ground for a small but resilient movement of Uighur separatists who Beijing claims have ties to international jihadis. So redevelopment of this ancient center of Islamic culture comes with a tinge of forced conformity.
不過，喀什並非典型的中國城市。在中國安全官員眼中，它是一小撮但頑強的維吾爾分離主義運動分子的溫床。北京當局說這些人與跨國的伊斯蘭聖戰組織掛。因此，這個古老的伊斯蘭文化中心的重新開發，透著一種強迫順從的意味。

Chinese officials have offered somewhat befuddling explanations for their plans. Mr. Xu calls Kashgar “a prime example of rich cultural history and at the same time a major tourism city in China.” Yet the demolition plan would reduce to rubble Kashgar’s principal tourist attraction, a magnet for many of the million-plus people who visit each year.
中國官員對拆除舊城計畫的解釋，也令人困惑。徐建榮稱喀什「是中國固有豐富文化歷史，又是重點觀光城市的典範」，但是拆除計畫卻是將喀什最主要的觀光景點化為瓦礫，喀什每年觀光客逾百萬，許多是衝著舊城而來。

China supports an international plan to designate major Silk Road landmarks as United Nations World Heritage sites – a powerful draw for tourists. But Kashgar is missing from China’s list of proposed sites.
中國支持國際間一項將絲路重要地標列定為聯合國世界遺產遺址的計畫，對觀光客很有吸引力。不過，喀什不在中國建議的遺址清單上。

Although the city offers the displaced residents the opportunity to build new homes on the sites of their old ones, some also complain that the proposed compensation does not pay for the cost of rebuilding.
雖然喀什讓搬遷的居民有機會在舊址上重建家園，但有人抱怨政府給的補償金不夠讓他們重建房屋。

“My family built this house 500 years ago,” said a beefy 56-year-old man with a white crew cut, who called himself Hajji, as his wife served tea inside their two-story Old City house.
56歲，白髮小平頭，身材肥胖，自稱哈吉的人說：「我的祖先500年前蓋了這棟房子。」他的妻子在他們位於舊城的這棟兩層樓房中替客人沏茶。

But Hajji and his wife lost their life’s savings caring for a sick child, and the city’s payment to demolish their home will not cover rebuilding it. Their option is to move to a distant apartment, which will force them to close their shop, their only source of income.
哈吉與妻子為了照顧生病的一個孩子，花光他們畢生的積蓄，市政府的拆遷補償，不夠他們另起新屋，他們只好選擇搬到偏遠的一棟公寓去，且將被迫關掉是他們唯一收入來源的商店。

“The house belongs to us,” said Hajji’s wife, who refused to give her name. “In this kind of house, many, many generations can live, one by one. But if we move to an apartment, every 50 or 70 years, that apartment is torn down again.
拒絕透露姓名的哈吉太太說：「這房子是我們的。這種房子可以住好幾代，一代接一代。搬到公寓，每隔50或70年，公寓就會被拆。」

“This is the biggest problem in our lives. How can our children inherit an apartment?”
「這是我們的最大問題。我們的孩子要怎麼繼承一棟公寓呢？」

關鍵字句

新疆的喀什市，為絲路（Silk Road）的地標（landmark）之一，也是古絲路兩北兩道的會合（converge）城市。由於喀什同時處於地震高危險區，當局因此以協助人民躲避天災危險（protect citizens from the dangers of natural disaster）為由，準備拆除（demolish）喀什舊城。

批評人士對此憂心忡忡（fret about），認為從文化歷史或從當地人的觀點（perspective），皆有可議之處。當局的解釋，也令人困惑（befuddling），他們既認為喀什是文化古城與重點觀光城市（major tourism city），卻準備根據拆除計畫（demolition plan）將喀什的最主要觀光景點（tourist attraction）， 亦即舊城，化為瓦礫（reduce to rubble）。

喀什的舊城確實是個擁擠雜亂的居處（warren），商店、房屋荒廢破敗（run-down），但也景象如畫（picturesque），它每年有如磁石（magnet）般，吸引逾百萬人（million-plus）前往觀光。驢車（donkey cart）胡同（alley, hutung）以及泥巴茅草屋（mud-and-straw building）是觀光客的最愛。

原文參見：
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/world/asia/28kashgar.html 

Audio Slideshow: A city, and people, at a crossroads http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/05/28/world/asia/20090528-kashgar-audioss/index.html 

2009-06-09/聯合報/G5版/UNITED DAILY NEWS 王麗娟 原文請見6月9日紐時周報四版左