经济学人：奥-运-日-记

Wednesday 星期三

JUAN ANTONIO SAMARANCH, a former president of the International Olympic Committee, once said that "without a lively, visible cultural programme that reflects the spirit of the host country, the Olympic games would be incomplete". Finding such a programme in Beijing is a challenge. Spontaneous fun is even more elusive.

前任奥委会主席萨马兰奇说："没有生动、显见，能够反映主办国精神的文化节目，奥运会将是不完整的"。在北京寻找这样的节目是一项挑战。自发组织的玩乐活动更是稀有。

Veteran Olympic-games correspondents (these games are my first) speak enthusiastically of street and beach parties at the games in Athens (2004) and Sydney (2000). With perhaps a touch of hyperbole, one tells me that Sydney was taken over by Norwegians with Viking hats and painted faces. I have yet to hear of, let alone encounter, any such revellers in Beijing.

一些见多识广的奥运记者在谈到2004年雅典和2000年悉尼的街头和海滩派对时，显得非常兴奋和狂热。其中一位甚至略显夸张地对我说，整个悉尼当时都被带着海盗帽，涂着大花脸的挪威人占领了。在北京我还没听说过这样的狂欢，更不要说亲自碰到了。

Beijing's Olympic organisers promised the "biggest ever" cultural festival built around the Olympics―the "richest and most diverse in Olympic history" as one official described it. Journalists have been given a "culture guide" containing 100-odd pages of non-sporting events, from traditional Chinese opera to New Orleans jazz.

"Our purpose is to entertain our guests and visitors from all over the world", wrote the chief organiser, Liu Qi, in a foreword.

北 京 奥 组 委曾经许诺，一场有史以来规模最大的文化盛会，将围绕奥运展开――"奥运史上最丰富多彩的"，如一位官员所描述的。记者们拿到了一本200多页的"文化指南"，内容从传统京剧到新奥尔良爵士，但没有一项和赛事有关。

"出版的目的是为了款待我们来自世界各地的贵宾和游客"，它的前言这样写道。

Sadly, the official guide to cultural events is a minefield of inaccuracies. When I try to buy tickets to some of the foreign musical performances, I am told they have been cancelled or rescheduled.

令人难过的是，这本官方指南内容有很多错漏。当我按它的指引去购买几张国外音乐演出的门票时，被告知被取消或者改时间了。

There are fewer people around to be entertained, anyway. China has tightened visa requirements for foreign visitors in order to keep "undesirables" out. At lunchtime on Sunday, my family and some friends are the only group at a normally popular Thai restaurant on the edge of the city. The manager says business has been getting slower and slower for the last few weeks.

总之，极少有人能够享受到所谓的款待。外国游客的签证难度开始加大，不少人以"不被欢迎"为由拒签。周日午餐时间，我和家人及朋友，来到城边一家平日很热闹的泰国餐厅，这里显得冷清。经理说，从几个星期前开始，生意就越来越惨淡。

Beijing's bars and nightclubs are doing somewhat better (apart from the ones that have been closed because they are deemed too close to Olympic facilities, or because they are just too seedy). Many of them had expected the police to start enforcing a long-forgotten rule that they close by 2am during the Olympics. So far, at least, the authorities have restrained themselves.

北京的酒吧和夜总会相对好一些（除了一部分被认为太靠近奥运设施或太破旧被迫关门的）。他们当中的曾有很多人预计，奥运期间，警察可能会执行一条被遗忘很久的规定――凌晨两点关门。不过到目前为止，至少在这一点上当局还比较克制。

But some bar owners say they expected more customers. China's visa clampdown appears to have kept out the young, boisterous Norwegian-Viking types. And plenty of foreigners already in Beijing seem to have decided to stay at home and watch the Olympics on television, perhaps deterred by security measures on public transport and traffic snarls around Olympic venues. Taxi drivers complain that the bonanza they expected during the games has not materialised.

一些酒吧经理以为他们在奥运期间会有更多的客人，可惜新的签证政策早已经把那些年轻喧闹的"挪威海盗们"拒之门外了。另外那些呆在北京的外国人，很多到最后还是决定呆在家里，从电视上看奥运，大概因为公交安检和场馆区的交通让他们望而却步了。出租车司机抱怨说，他们想在奥运期间发财的美梦落空了。

There is little feel in Beijing that a huge international event is underway. The ubiquitous Olympic banners and posters, and the crowds outside venues, remind people that something big is happening. But many parts of the city are quieter than normal, with factories closed (to avoid pollution), street vendors and beggars less visible (officials have put pressure on migrants from elsewhere to leave), outdoor markets shuttered and some citizens wangling a few days at home.

在北京，你很难感觉到一场巨大的国际盛会正在举行。无处不在的奥运条幅、海报以及场馆外面拥挤的人群，时时提醒着人们，某个大事件正在进行当中。但是城市中的很多地方显得比平日更为安静，很多工厂被关闭（为减少污染），街头小贩和乞丐难见踪影（很多外地人被劝离），露天市场关门，部分市民被劝导呆在家中。

Tight security is also deterring many people from visiting the Olympic Green in the north of the city, where many of the stadiums are located. This annoys corporate sponsors, who had hoped to attract big crowds to displays they have erected there. The IOC says it has asked the organisers to allow more people into the heavily guarded zone (to add to the festive mood, armoured personnel-carriers have been deployed there).

严格的安检同样也阻止了人们造访城北奥林匹克公园的热情，很多体育场馆都坐落在这里。这让赞助商感到沮丧，他们原本在这里立起来展架，指望在奥运期间向巨量涌入的人群展开宣传。国际奥委会说他们已经要求组织者允许更多的人进入重点安防区，已增进节日气氛（那里布置着装甲车）。

The top priority of China's leaders is to ensure the games pass without major incidents (terrorism or protests) and that the sporting events are run smoothly. A Chinese friend tells me that he tried to climb a particularly scenic part of the Great Wall just outside Beijing, and was blocked by local vigilantes. They were on the lookout for people who might try to hang subversive banners from the edifice. Mr Liu's professed wish that all of us are "blessed with the best in entertainment" mainly applies, it seems, to what goes on in the stadiums.

领导们最优先考虑的是确保奥运期间没有大的意外（恐怖袭击或者抗议活动）发生，以及比赛项目的平稳运行。一位中国朋友告诉我，当他尝试爬上北京郊外长城上的个别景区的时候，曾遭到当地安保的阻止。他们的任务是防止一些不和谐条幅被挂在上面。刘先生宣称的，我们全体将见到"最盛情的款待"，看起来这种款待只限于比赛场内。