《经济学人》中文版

日本商界：漫画偶像，商界楷模

经济学人 — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:10:42 +0800

[2008.08.07]Take a leaf out of his book 漫画偶像，商界楷模

Business in Japan 日本商界
Take a leaf out of his book 漫画偶像，商界楷模

Aug 7th 2008
From The Economist print edition
Japanese bosses can learn from the country’s favourite businessman—even if he does not exist
从这位最受欢迎的商人身上，日本的老板们大有可学--尽管他并不真实存在

Kenshi Hirokane-Kodansha Ltd
弘兼宪史讲谈社出品

YAMATO, the ancient name of Japan, essentially means “big harmony”. To achieve such balance, Japanese society has refined a plethora of cultural traits: humility, loyalty, respect and consensus. In the field of business, however, this often results in a lack of leaders who are willing to stand out from the crowd, promote themselves and act decisively. “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down” is a common Japanese refrain; “the hawk with talent hides his talons” is another. Whereas American and European bosses like to appear on the covers of global business magazines, their Japanese counterparts are comfortable in their obscurity. Business in Japan is generally run as a group endeavour.
大和，日本旧称，本意为“大同和谐”。为了达到这种平衡和谐，日本社会提炼出了诸多文化特点，有：谦逊、忠诚、尊重、共识。然而，在商界，这种平衡常常意味着领导缺位，没有人愿意脱颖而出，尽显锋芒，敢作敢当。日本有一句俗语，“枪打出头鸟”劝诫人们不要出风头，“有干将器,不露锋芒”也是一例。不同于欧美商人好在全球商业杂志封面上一展英姿，日本同仁更喜欢默默无闻。通常，日本的企业的成就都是得益于团队的努力。

Such democratic virtues served the country well in the post-war period. But today they hold too many Japanese firms back. Japan boasts some of the best companies in the world: Toyota, Canon and Nintendo are the envy of their industries. But they operate on a global scale and have tentatively embraced some unconsensual American methods. In much of the Japanese economy—especially its huge domestic services sector—managers are in something of a funk. Firms do not give promising youngsters responsibility early on, but allocate jobs by age. Unnecessarily long working hours are the norm, sapping productivity. And there are few women and foreigners in senior roles, which narrows the talent pool.
这样的民主主义作风在战后的日本是如鱼得水。而如今这种作风却阻碍了日本公司的发展。该国拥有不少世界顶级公司, 如丰田、佳能、任天堂等，都算的上是业界翘楚。这些公司业务遍布全球，而对接受打破均衡的美国方式却是心存疑虑。在绝大部分日本企业中，特别是庞大的国内服务业，经理们多少都有些诚惶诚恐。他们铁了心不会提早重用青年才俊，而是按年龄分配工作。加班本不必要，却成为常态，导致生产率受损。而在公司高层中，也鲜有女士、外国人，这也导致了人才匮乏。

So how pleasing it is to be able to report the success of a business leader who breaks the mould. Young, dynamic and clever, he is not afraid to push aside old, conservative know-nothings. He disdains corporate politics and promotes people based on merit rather than seniority. He can make mistakes (he got involved in a questionable takeover-defence scheme), but he is wildly popular with salarymen: his every move is chronicled weekly. In June he was given the top job at one of Japan’s biggest firms. Kosaku Shima of Hatsushiba Goyo Holdings has only one serious shortcoming: he is not a real person, but a manga, or cartoon, character (see article).
For many critics of Japan, that says it all: Mr Shima could exist only in fiction. In fact there is room for the country’s managers and even its politicians to learn from him.
可想而之，如果能有一位商界领导成功挣脱桎梏，将多让人兴奋。他年轻、聪明，充满活力，敢于让那些保守固执、思想僵化的老家伙靠边站。他对公司政治不屑一顾，超越年龄限制按才取人。他会犯错（卷入了问题重重的反并购案），但在员工中仍是大受欢迎：他的一举一动在员工周记中无一遗漏。六月，他成为了日本一家知名企业的高管。初芝电产株式会社的课长岛耕作只有一个致命缺点：他不是真人，而是个漫画人物。日本的批评家口径一致地说道：岛耕作只能是个想象中人。事实上，该国的经理们却有改进余地，甚至政客们都应该向岛耕作好好学学。

Most of the lessons are for Japan’s managers. At present, bosses rarely say what they think because it might disrupt the harmony, or be seen as immodest. Their subordinates are reluctant to challenge ideas because that would cause the boss to lose face. So daft strategies fester rather than getting culled quickly. There is little risk-taking or initiative. The crux of the problem is Japanese companies’ culture of consensus-based decision-making. Called nemawashi[1] (literally, “going around the roots”) or ringi (bottom-up decisions), it helped to establish an egalitarian workplace. In the 1980s Western management consultants cooed that it was the source of Japan’s competitive strength. Sometimes it can be, as in periods of crisis when an entire firm needs to accept new marching orders quickly. But most of the time it strangles a company.
最应该学习的还是那些日本经理们。时下，经理们都不敢直言不讳，恐破坏和谐气氛，落得个桀骜不驯之名。他们的下属更是不敢提出异议，恐怕老板颜面不保。故此，低劣战略腐坏流脓，不见有人开刀剔除。冒险，首创更是无从谈起。问题的症结就在于日企的共识决策文化。名为"根回"（字面意思为：绕着根部进行）（自下而上的决策）的文化旨在营造平等工作氛围。上世纪八十年代，西方的管理顾问将其奉为日本竞争力的源泉。在全公司需要快速接受全新运行规则，面对危机之时，此种文化不无道理。但大多时候，这一文化却是将公司束缚得几近窒息。

Relying on consensus means that decisions are made slowly, if at all. With so many people to please, the result is often a mediocre morass of compromises. And with so many hands involved, there is no accountability; no reason for individuals to excel; no sanction against bad decisions so that there are fewer of them in future. Of course, sometimes the consensus of the Japanese workplace is just a veneer and decisions are still made from on high. But then why persist with the pretence, particularly if it drains a company’s efficiency?
倚仗共识就意味着决策缓慢，如果有决策的话。众口难调，结果常常是平庸的折中主义纠集一处。人人都插上一手，责任无人承担；个人无须标新立异；失败的决策也不会面临制裁，将来失败决策也少不了。当然，有时日本职场的共识只是一个假象，真正决策的还是高层。此种做法已是妨碍了公司效率，又为什么要自欺欺人？

Time to turn the page
向前一步走

If the onus is on Japanese managers to change, then it is fair to say that the government does not make it very easy for them to do so. The biggest problems lie in the labour market. Change jobs in mid-career and you risk losing your pension. The rigid seniority system also discriminates against women: if they get off the ladder to have children, they cannot get back on. And although there is no law against closing down loss-making businesses, most bosses and politicians act as if there were. If Japan’s leaders decide their country needs more people like Mr Shima—and it surely does—then they might reflect on all the ways that they prevent him from becoming a reality.
如果说改变是日本经理们的责任，那么也该说政府为改变所做的还远远不够。最大的问题就是劳动力市场。在职业生涯中期换工作很可能会失掉退休金。这个僵化死板的尚老体系还歧视妇女：女人一旦退出职场回家生子，就别再想恢复原职。尽管没有法律反对关闭亏损企业，绝大多数业主、政客还是会坚持到底。如果该国领导人承认日本需要更多人如岛耕作一般--确实如此--那么他们无疑应该反思阻碍这位漫画人物走向现实的种种行径。

[1]传统日本人的做事方式被称为“根回”(Nemawashi,指园丁在移植树木时小心翼翼地将所有跟须都包缠起来),意思是领导人在做重要决定时,必须设法将所有成员的意见都统一起来。

随机文章：

朝美:文化外交 2008-05-07

企业重组：欧洲一起生动活泼的案例 2007-12-24

减息:经济正处在痛苦下坠的边缘 2007-12-08

[2007-05-19]中美贸易:在折算中迷失 2007-05-23

[2007.3.15] 消费者电子学：意念游戏 2007-03-21

收藏到：Del.icio.us

中国龙回归

经济学人 — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:09:56 +0800

[2008.08.14] Re-enter the dragon 中国龙回归

The Shanghai Stock Exchange
上海证券交易所

Re-enter the dragon
中国龙回归

Aug 14th 2008 | HONG KONG
From The Economist print edition

After almost 70 years, Shanghai’s stock exchange is reopening to the world
近70年之后,上海证券交易所再度对世界开放

FROM the 1860s until the Japanese invasion of China in 1941, Shanghai’s bustling stock market listed not only domestic companies but also foreign firms, such as those now known as HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank, which operated out of the international concession特权. When trading resumed in 1992, only domestic firms could list. But many foreign ones have been eager to join them, and after a change in securities laws announced on August 6th, some may now have the chance.
自19世纪60年代至1941年日本侵华（英国人不熟悉中国近代历史？晕！），上海证券交易所均是一派繁忙景象。不光国内公司可以在此上市，外资公司，像现在的汇丰银行，渣打银行也可以在这里上市。这些公司都是通过国际特权来进行运作的。然而该交易所在1992年重新运作后，只有国内公司可以在此上市了，而外资公司亦急于加入。8月6日，官方公布对证券相关法规进行了修订，之后部分外资公司便可获得上市的机会。

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) hopes to be the first foreign firm to list in Shanghai, and may have the blessing of the regulators, according to Chinese press reports. But there is competition. HSBC and Standard Chartered are also reportedly angling to return, and other big banks have put out feelers.
纽约证券交易所有望成为第一家在上海上市的外资公司。据中国媒体报道，纽约证券交易所此番上市还有可能享受到中国监管机构的优惠政策。但是这其中还存在竞争。据报道，汇丰银行和渣打银行均千方百计地试图重返上海证券交易所，其他一些大银行也已对此进行了试探。

Had the opening come in 2007 when the Shanghai market was riding a wave of euphoria for much of the year, the motivation for a listing by any Western company would have been self-evident: money—and lots of it. Conditions, however, have nosedived. Corporate profits may have risen since but share prices are down by half, and there is little appetite left to provide capital to domestic companies.
2007年上海的证券市场可谓是全线飘红。倘若在那时对外资企业开放，那么，任何一家西方公司在此上市的动机将会不言自明——盈利，大规模的盈利。然而现在情况陡转急下。公司利润可能自此上浮，但是股票价格却下跌过半，为国内公司提供资金的能力已所剩无几。

The first foreign firms to list may be luckier, however, because they offer Chinese investors a rare opportunity to diversify into non-Chinese shares. With lower portfolio risk, local investors would also theoretically be able to pay more for Chinese companies, says William Goetzmann, a professor at Yale University who has published a rare paper on the pre-war ties between China’s financial markets and the rest of the world.
首批上市的外资公司也许会是个幸运儿，因为他们能为中国投资者带来一个经营非中国股票的难得机会。在投资组合风险较低的环境中，国内的投资者从理论上也会增加对中国公司的投资。耶鲁大学的威廉•高兹曼教授说道。高兹曼教授就二战前的中国金融市场同世界其他各国的联系这一生僻主题发表了一篇论文。

For the newcomers, there would be many potential benefits including, above all, in marketing themselves to the Chinese. For example, just as a listing by the NYSE would confer some status on Shanghai, so would it also encourage Chinese firms to use New York’s main exchange as their market of choice. (The big state-owned ones have largely ignored the Big Board since a listing in 2003 by China Life, an insurance firm, was met by a barrage of American lawsuits, partly because of poor disclosure.) The NYSE’s own members may also find it easier to list in China. As a fringe benefit, it may be able to sell China its trading technology. For other companies, the shares issued in China could be used as a form of currency to provide performance-linked pay to local employees, as well as to buy Chinese companies.
对于新加入的公司，这将会有诸多潜在的好处，尤其是在打开中国市场方面。例如，纽约证券交易所的上市会提升上海的地位，同样，这也会鼓励中国的公司选择纽约主要的交易所作为他们专用的市场。（2003年，中国人寿在美国上市。由于信息缺乏透明度——这是部分原因——该公司在美国不断受到起诉。此后，大型国有公司基本上把大盘忽略了。）纽约证券交易所自己的成员也将会感到在中国上市会较为容易一些。此外，向中国出售他们的贸易技巧也会成为一项额外的收益。对其它公司而言，他们在中国发行的股票可以当作货币形式既可以作为绩效工资支付给本地员工，也可以收购中国公司。

But there are pitfalls. Exchange rules may permit the Chinese authorities to attend the board meetings of listed companies, something that might not bother the NYSE, which does not face competition from Chinese exchanges in its home markets of Europe or America, but would probably horrify a global bank. More importantly, the financial barriers that surround China’s economy, such as its closed capital account, restrictions on currency trading, and prohibition on short-selling, mean that shares in China trade at different prices from those with identical rights listed on other overseas exchanges.
但这其中亦有隐患。证券法规可能会允许中国当局加入上市公司的董事会。对于纽约证券交易所，这无甚大碍。因为在欧洲或美国的本土市场上它无须面对来自中国证券交易所的竞争。但对于跨国银行来说，这可能会让其担惊受怕。更重要的是，环绕中国经济的金融壁垒，譬如封闭资本账户、禁止货币交易、禁止卖空，意味着在中国，股票交易的价格会异于在其他海外证券交易所上市的拥有同等权利的股票的价格。

That kind of trading inefficiency looks bad for China and would be an embarrassment for the NYSE, which prides itself on its ability to price shares cleanly. To solve it, the potential entrants are considering how to issue other types of shares known as depository receipts—but that is complicated by China’s trading and capital restrictions. To find a solution, they may have to help China to liberalise its financial markets even further. That would not only benefit the foreigners, but China too—which is probably the main reason it is courting them in the first place.
此种低效率的贸易对中国不利，而且还会令纽约证券交易所感到难堪，因为该所对其干净利落的给股票定价的能力颇为自豪。要解决这一问题，未来的新成员就要考虑如合发行被称为存托凭证的其他种类多股票。但是，中国对于贸易和资本的种种限制会使其变得十分繁琐。为了找到一个解决的办法，他们也许不得不帮助中国进一步放开其金融市场。此举不仅会使外商受益，也会使中国受益——也许这正是中国起初吸引外资公司的主要原因。

随机文章：

中国的环境保护：不要喝水，也不要呼吸 2008-02-01

金融市场:2008年最需关注的危机 2007-12-22

伊朗：双重制裁 2007-10-11

[2007.3.29]退休，为了再就业 2007-04-07

[2006.03.23]中国：持续增长的神话 2007-03-22

收藏到：Del.icio.us

土耳其“人肉”中转站

经济学人 — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:07:25 +0800

【2008.8.14】Transiting through Turkey土耳其“人肉”中转站

Transiting through Turkey
土耳其“人肉”中转站

A tragic crossroads
中转路上的惨案
Aug 14th 2008 | ISTANBUL
From The Economist print edition

The luckless folk who try to get to, and through, Anatolia
小伙子没运气，来到了小亚细亚
THANKS to history and geography, Turkey serves as a way-station between continents and cultures. But not all the people who transit through that country see it in such a romantic way.
土耳其独特的历史和地理位置使其成为了连结亚欧大陆以及各个文明之间的通道，可并不是所有路经土耳其的人们都有这么浪漫的心情。
Take Mohammed Homadu, a young Somali who fled a homeland ravaged by Islamist insurgency. He paid $230 to a smuggler who promised to get him to Greece. After three harrowing weeks on a ramshackle boat, he and 72 fellow Africans were dumped in the sea by their captain off Turkey’s Aegean cast. “We were rescued by Turkish fishermen,” says Mr Homadu, who now earns $4 per day doing odd jobs in Istanbul. “But four of my friends, they drown.
以一个索马里青年Mohammed Homadu的遭遇为例，当初为了逃出饱受伊斯兰叛乱分子蹂躏的故土，背井离乡的他付给一名蛇头230美元，希望能偷渡到希腊。他和另外72名非洲人在一张破船上苦挨了三周后，他们的船长将他们扔进靠近土耳其海岸的爱琴海里。“我们被土耳其渔民救起，”Homadu说道，他现在在伊斯坦布尔干点杂活，一天能挣4美元。“但是我有四个朋友当时就淹死了。”
Wedged between Europe and Asia, Turkey serves as a big transit route for people-smuggling. It also serves the darker business of bringing sex workers westwards from the ex-Soviet republics of the Caucasus and Central Asia.
处于亚欧大陆的交界处，土耳其成了许多偷渡者的必经之地。另外，它也是运送性奴自前苏联联邦的高加索地区以及中亚地区西行的中转站。
Tens of thousands of illegal migrants are thought to cross Turkey every year. And some have it worse than Mr Homadu. Last month 14 illegal migrants, mostly Pakistanis, suffocated in the back of a lorry taking them to Greece. The bodies were left near Istanbul, giving police (see picture) a grisly forensic task.
每年估计有数以万计的偷渡者经过土耳其。有人的遭遇比Homadu先生来要惨得多，上个月多达十四名偷渡者（多数为巴基斯坦人)在一辆运送他们去希腊的卡车上窒息而死。尸体被抛在伊斯坦布尔市郊，现场惨不忍睹，警方的尸检工作十分沉重。
There is pressure on Turkey, an aspiring European Union member, to curb the twin evils of smuggling and trafficking. Results are mixed. The harsh terrain dividing Turkey from Iran and Iraq (from where most illegal migrants sneak in) is hard to control; so too is corruption.
由于渴望加入欧盟，土耳其承受着打击贩卖人口和偷渡等问题的压力。造成这些问题的原因有很多：由于与伊朗、伊拉克（这两个地区的偷渡活动最为猖獗）接壤，种种犯罪活动防不胜防；另外贪污腐败也是难以根除。
Western governments say Turkish practice is haphazard, letting some illegal entrants in while using arbitrary force to keep others out. In April four people drowned after Turkish police allegedly pushed a group of refugees into a river and made them swim back towards Iraq. The incident (corroborated by witnesses) prompted a harsh rebuke from the United Nations refugee agency; Turkey denies any wrongdoing.
许多西方政府把土政府的管理方法批作杂乱无章：先是开门放偷渡者进来，然后又用武力强制别人离开。据称，今年四月土尔其警方将一群难民推下河，命令他们游回伊拉克，结果造成四人死亡。该事件（有目击者证明）招致联合国难民署的强烈谴责，土方矢口否认有任何过错。
Police in Istanbul have been accused of detaining and beating illegal migrants, especially those with black skins. Some of them are forced by police to do heavy manual jobs, says Ozlem Dalkiran, who runs an EU-funded project for refugees. As for trafficking, the picture is brighter. Recent data suggest a drop in
the number of foreigners trafficked to Turkey to provide sex, says Maurizio Busatti of the International Organisation for Migration. The number of victims identified by Turkish officials fell from 246 women in 2006 to 148 last year. Over the same period, the number of convictions of suspected traffickers quadrupled.
土耳其警方还被指关押、殴打偷渡者，黑人遭受的不公正待遇更是严重。欧盟资助的一个难民项目的负责人Ozlem Dalkian称，有些偷渡者在警方的胁迫下从事重体力活。现在贩卖人口活动已有所减少，国际移民组织的Maurizio Busatti称，最近的数据表明贩卖到土耳其进行性交易的外国人人数有所下降。据土官方于2006年确定的女性受害者人数达到246人，去年这一数目降低到了148。在同一时期，抓获的人口贩子人数增加了三倍。
The authorities have used television ads to challenge the macho Turkish myth that sex workers “ask for i and want it”. “Did you know that over half of trficked women are mothers too?” asks one spot. Having been ensnared by talk of work as “fashion model” or “dancers”, a growing number of such women are rescued by semi-chivalrous male customers, who alert the police. Customers, says Mr Busatti, are not just part of the problem, but also part of the solution.
土官方用电视广告发起攻势，挑战土耳其国内许多男子认为性工作者“想要做，需要做”的观念。“你知道被贩卖妇女中有过半数身为人母吗？”其中的一个广告如是质问道。许多女子是被人贩子打着招聘“时装模特”或是“舞蹈演员”的旗号中了圈套，现在其中越来越多的受害者由于一些小有骑士风度的嫖客向警方报警而获营救。正如Busatti先生所言，解铃还需系铃人。

随机文章：

尼日尔地区：疯狂的叛乱 2007-09-18

宾西法尼亚控制枪械:拉大栓，发大火 2007-09-07

中国新劳动法：自相矛盾 2007-07-29

俄罗斯提出帮助欧洲免受导弹攻击的建议之谜 2007-06-19

[2006.03.23]中国政治民主：星星之火 2007-03-27

收藏到：Del.icio.us

<纽约邮报><每日新闻>：做爱还是做战？

经济学人 — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:12:55 +0800

[2008.8.7]Make love—and war 一半是伙伴，一半是对手

Dealing with the downturn

应对衰退

Make love—and war

一半是伙伴，一半是对手

Aug 7th 2008 | SAN FRANCISCO
From The Economist print edition

Tough times are producing some surprising business bedfellows

时事艰难，昔日刀戈相向，今朝把手言欢

插图：彼得沙朗克

COMPETITORS often find it hard to be civil to one another in public. But few rivalries have been as nasty as that between two New York newspapers, the New York Post and the Daily News. The “Daily Snooze”, as the Post dubs its rival, takes great pleasure in rubbishing its arch-enemy, and vice versa. Scurrilous gossip about the Post’s owner, Rupert Murdoch, is avidly reported by the Daily News; its proprietor, Mortimer Zuckerman, has been the target of less than flattering coverage in the Post. And the two titles like to bicker over which has the bigger circulation.

在公众场合，竞争者们通常不会给对手好脸看。但最龃龉的一对莫过于两家纽约的报纸：“纽约邮报”和“每日新闻”。“纽约邮报”批评“每日新闻”是“每日白日梦”。“每日新闻”则把自己的劲敌贬得一钱不值，两家报纸都很热衷这种互相诋毁。“每日新闻”用不堪入目的文字连篇累牍的刊载有关“纽约邮报”的老板Rupert Murdoch的传言，“纽约邮报”则以不那么礼貌的方式来报道“每日新闻”的所有者Mortimer Zuckerman。两家报纸还经常争论谁拥有更大发行量，吵的口沫横飞。

Yet behind the scenes executives from both papers are talking about working together in some areas, such as distribution, in an effort to slash costs. Nor are they the only rivals thinking the previously unthinkable. With the global economy on the rocks, businesses everywhere are desperately searching for ways to save money or boost revenue—even if they require collaboration with the enemy.

然而，在公众视线之外，两家报纸的总裁们却在讨论在报纸发行等方面进行合作，以削减成本。这种竞争者间的合作在以前是难以想象的，而他们并非是唯一的一对。当世界经济一路滑坡时，全球的企业都在拼命想法子去省钱或是增加收益——即便这需要你与敌人合作。

Arrangements in which firms compete vigorously with one another, while also co-operating in specific areas—known in management jargon as “co-opetition”—are not new. Carmakers have long collaborated on vehicle platforms, engines and so on to achieve economies of scale. And airlines have shared check-in, gate management and other facilities.

彼此间激烈竞争的公司同时在一些领域中展开合作，这种情况并不新鲜，它在经营管理的行话里叫做“合作竞争”。汽车厂商长期来一直在车辆底盘、发动机等部件上合作，以达成规模经济。航空公司则共用服务台、安检门和其他设施。

But given the dire state of both those industries there are likely to be more such deals. In July BMW, which makes the Mini, and Fiat, which produces the rival MiTo under its Alfa Romeo brand, said they were considering joint production of components and systems for their vehicles. “There has definitely been an uptick in co-opetition,” says Barry Nalebuff, a professor at Yale School of Management and the co-author of a book on the subject.

但是这些行业都不景气，所以类似的合作会越来越多。在七月，生产Mini的宝马和生产Mini的竞争车型MiTo的Fiat（其商标是Fiat持有的Alfa Romeo），放风说他们在考虑为双方的车型合作生产零部件及电子系统。“毫无疑问，合作竞争的数量有所上升。” Barry Nalebuff如是说。他是耶鲁管理学院的教授，还是一本探讨合作竞争的著作的共同作者。

Let’s be frenemies

既是敌人，也是朋友

Economic pressures have also brought New York’s feuding dailies to the negotiating table. Even in good times, the Post lost millions of dollars a year and the Daily News struggled to turn a modest profit. Now, with advertising migrating to the internet and the economy slowing, things look even bleaker. (On August 5th News Corporation, the Post’s parent, reported healthy profits for the last quarter of its fiscal year, but warned that next year’s growth would be “less robust”.)

迫于经济压力，这两家纷争不断的纽约报社坐到谈判桌前。即便在好年景，惨淡经营的“每日新闻”也只能勉强糊口，而“纽约邮报”一年则还要亏损几百万美元。而现在，广告大量流向网络，经济驶入慢车道，两家报纸的前景更为暗淡。（在8月5日，“纽约邮报”的母公司新闻集团报告了本财年上一季度的颇为可观的利润，但警告说明年的增长可能“缺乏动力”。）

While newspapers are already carrying fewer ads, parcel-delivery companies fret they may soon be carrying fewer packages. Faced with an ailing American economy, two such firms, DHL and UPS, are planning to collaborate in the express-delivery market there. Under the terms of a proposed ten-year deal, UPS, which has some excess capacity in its American air-freight network, would carry DHL’s packages on its planes inside America—and between the United States, Canada and Mexico—for a fee of up to $1 billion a year.

报纸上的广告已经缩水，快递公司则担心很快他们的业务量会遭同样命运。为应对萧条的美国经济，两家快递公司DHL和UPS，正计划在美国市场上展开合作。UPS在其美国空运网络中有一些多余运力。根据提议中的为期十年的合作计划，UPS将使用其往返于美国、加拿大和墨西哥三国间和美国国内的飞机来帮助运送DHL的包裹。DHL则将为此每年向UPS支付至多10亿美元的费用。

The impetus for the deal came from DHL. Its American express-delivery business is bleeding red ink. By working with UPS and restructuring its own ground-delivery network, the German-owned firm plans to slice its losses in America from a forecast $1.3 billion this year to $300m by 2011. As for UPS, it could do with the cash: its second-quarter operating profit shrank by 18%, to $1.45 billion, owing to rising fuel costs and the stagnant American economy.

这次合作是DHL发起的，此前它在美国的快递业务部门赤字累累，亏损严重。通过与UPS合作以及重组其地面物流网络，这家德国人控股的公司计划到2011年时将其在美国的亏损额从今年预计的13亿美元削减至3亿美元。UPS参加合作则是为了增加收益：受累于攀升的燃料成本和美国经济持续低迷，UPS二季度的经营利润减少了18%，为14.5亿美元。

Crafting co-opetition deals is a tricky business, not least because potential partners need to swallow their pride first. Firms also need to be very clear about what will and will not be covered by a deal. “You have to figure out exactly where you are co-operating and where you are competing, and not get your staff confused,” says Harold Sirkin of the Boston Consulting Group.

安排“合作竞争”是很讲究的一门学问，一个重要原因是潜在的合作伙伴必须先收起自己的傲慢。公司们还要特别明确哪些领域可以合作，哪些不可以。“你需要弄清楚你们什么时候是伙伴，什么时候是敌人，别把你的员工绕晕了。” 波士顿咨询集团的Harold Sirkin说。

Newspapers, for instance, tend to differentiate themselves by their editorial content and the quality of their advertising-sales operations. So editorial and advertising departments of rival papers must be kept separate if they are to retain their distinctive identities. But distribution, printing and back-office operations are easier to consolidate without blurring brands—which is why the Post and the Daily News are exploring such possibilities.

举例来说，报纸间的差异主要体现在社论和广告版面的销售情况上。因此相互竞争的报纸如果想坚持自己的特色，就必须保证社论和广告部门不受合作影响。印刷和后勤部门则可以加以合并：它们的合并对报纸的个性影响不大。基于此，“纽约邮报”和“每日新闻”正在探讨这类合作的可行性。

Clarity is also essential when it comes to persuading antitrust watchdogs that a link-up is benign. Sometimes even the whiff of co-opetition can cause other firms to cry foul—as Microsoft did a few months ago when it emerged that Yahoo!, an internet firm, was planning to outsource a chunk of its search-advertising business to Google, its main rival. Would-be partners must be able to show that it is in customers’ best interests for them to co-operate.

在向反垄断监管部门说明这种协作不会危及市场竞争时，透明性就显得格外重要。有时这边不过传言可能合作竞争，那边其他公司就已经大喊垄断犯规。比如，几个月前，当网络公司Yahoo!计划将自己的搜索广告业务的一大块外包给Google时，Google的主要竞争对手Microsoft就喊出了类似的抗议声。潜在的合作伙伴们必须证明他们的合作是为了替消费者着想。

UPS and DHL stress that their proposed deal just covers air freight; they will still compete in all the other bits of the express-parcel business, including ground collection and delivery. (They also point out that FedEx, another competitor, carries express packages by air for the US Postal Service.) “When this deal is finalised, nothing will change the fact that we are a rabid competitor of DHL,” says a UPS executive. DHL says it will bite back by using the savings from the UPS deal and from reconfiguring its ground network to offer a cheaper alternative to services from UPS and FedEx.

UPS和DHL强调说它们提议中的合作仅局限在空运领域；在快递业务的其他所有领域里，他们仍然是对手，比如在地面的包裹集中和分发上。（它们还指出另一位对手FedEx正为美国邮政服务公司空运快件。）“即便当合作敲定后，我们仍将全力与DHL竞争，”UPS的一位负责人如是表态。DHL则说，通过这次合作与地面物流网的重组，自己减少了成本，因而将提供更便宜的服务来抗衡UPS和FedEx，展开反击。

Frank Appel, the boss of Deutsche Post World Net, DHL’s parent, is confident that a deal with UPS can be reached before 2009. But it could be blocked by a legal challenge from unions which are furious that the firm is closing its air hub in Wilmington, Ohio, triggering thousands of lay-offs. Mr Appel says he needs to stanch DHL’s huge losses in its American express service now to prevent many more job losses in future.

DHL的母公司德国世界邮网的老板Frank Appel认为与UPS的合作有把握在2009年前达成。但是DHL计划关闭其设在俄亥俄州Wilmington的空运中心，这会导致数千人的裁员，激怒了工会。因而DHL与UPS的合作可能会受到工会在法律上的阻挠。Appel先生说他需要现在来减少DHL在其美国快递业务上的巨额亏损来避免未来削减更多的岗位。

As for the Post and the Daily News, it seems unlikely that any deal would encompass areas, such as advertising, that would worry trustbusters. And merging the editorial teams would be unthinkable—which means readers will still be able to enjoy the tabloids taking potshots at one another in print.

对“纽约邮报”和“每日新闻”来说，由于他们的合作不可能包括广告等领域，因而不大可能遭到反垄断人士的抗议。至于合并二者的社论团队则简直是天方夜谭，这就是说，读者们可以继续享受两份报纸上对彼此的谩骂。

随机文章：

中国西南：传统带来的震撼 2008-07-14

乌干达:恐惧 2007-12-08

欧洲移民：对外国人的恐惧 2007-11-26

机器人：展翅高飞 2007-11-05

法国外交政策：他在飞奔，但要去哪儿呢？ 2007-09-03

收藏到：Del.icio.us

中国：更快，更高，却更弱！

经济学人 — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:19:48 +0800

[2008.08.07]Swifter, higher, weaker

China

Swifter, higher, weaker
更快，更高，更弱
Aug 7th 2008 | BEIJING
From The Economist print edition

Behind the sporting glitz, anxieties about minorities and the economy
奥运盛会如火如荼，少数民族和经济令人担忧

AFP

An enveloping gloom

CHINA’S Olympic pageantry is under way. Dozens of dignitaries, presidents and prime ministers have gathered in Beijing for an extravaganza that many Chinese see as a celebration of their nation’s rise. But for all their professed joy at the spectacle, China’s own leaders are fretful.
中国的奥运盛事正如火如荼的进行。数位名人、国家要人都集聚北京参加在许多中国人看来这场庆祝中国崛起的盛事。中国领导人自然是喜形于色，但也不免烦燥不安。

The massive security around Beijing and the authorities’ strenuous efforts to keep potential protesters at bay is evidence of nervousness. These measures have gone beyond what might be expected for an event attended by so many bigwigs. In the past few months, instability has roiled Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited areas. Anti-Chinese resentment has been simmering in neighbouring Xinjiang too. Though sparsely populated, these regions make up around 40% of China’s land mass.
北京戒备森严，政府也下大力气防止可能发生的抗议，这都将中国的紧张表露无遗。对于由许多要人出席的运动会而言，这些措施已经超过了范围。在过去的几个月里，西藏和藏人居住区不稳定。邻省新疆也有反华情绪。尽管这些地区人口少，但整体面积占国土面积的的40％。

On August 4th, four days before the start of the games, 16 policemen were killed in Kashgar in Xinjiang by two men suspected by the authorities of being Muslim separatists. It was one of the bloodiest attacks blamed on terrorists in recent years in China. Their weapons were crude: a lorry used to slam into the jogging officers, machetes and home-made explosives. Kashgar’s party chief, Shi Dagang, said terrorists were “trying to turn 2008 into a year of mourning and a year of terror”.
8月4日，也就是奥运会开幕前4天，在新疆喀什有两名嫌疑穆斯林分裂分子杀害了16名警察。这是近几年来在中国恐怖分子发起的最为血腥的袭击。他们所用了用来冲撞训练部队的卡车、砍刀和自制炸药等残忍手段。喀什的党委书记说恐怖分子妄想“将2008年变成哀悼和恐怖的一年。”

The threat of violence is probably being overstated by the authorities to justify suppressing any kind of peaceful protest during the games. Given the level of security in Beijing, few expect more than occasional small incidents. These are most likely to involve foreign supporters of various human-rights causes in China, particularly those relating to Tibetans, Xinjiang’s Uighurs and religion. On August 6th two Americans and two British citizens raised banners calling for a “free Tibet” on poles close to the main stadium. They were ordered out of the country.
或许中国政府对暴力的威胁有点夸大其词，以便为镇压一切奥运期间的和平抗议正名。北京重兵把守，因此最多只会发生小动乱，很可能由那些中国人权事业的外国反对者，尤其是与西藏人、新疆维吾尔人和新疆地区有关的人所为。8月6日两名美国人和两名英国公民在主体育场附近的杆子上拉起横幅，叫嚣“解放西藏”。事后，他们被勒令回国。

The state of the economy, though not yet as clear a challenge as that posed by restless minorities, is worrying China’s leaders too. They have long been trying to prevent it from growing too fast, but now they fear that growth is slowing and may slow further. National income grew by 10.1% in the year to the second quarter, compared with 10.6% in the year to the first quarter and 11.2% to the last quarter of 2007 (see chart).
尽管经济所带来的挑战不及不安分的少数民族那么明显，但也同样让中国领导人忧心忡忡。他们一直以来都在防止经济过热，但担心增速减缓，而且可能还会更慢。到第二季度，中国国民收入增长10.1％，到第一季度是10.6％，2007年最后一个季度是11.2％。

Exporters are anxious. Much of the fall results from a big decline in net exports. Reasons for this include an appreciating yuan, cuts in export-tax rebates and recession or slowdown in China’s main export markets. Manufacturers of low value-added export goods such as clothes and textiles, which employ millions of workers, are among the hardest hit. The state-controlled media have reported many closures of small and medium-sized businesses in coastal areas. Chinese leaders, previously more eager to nurture high-tech industries, toured textile factories last month in a show of political support.
出口商焦虑不安。大部分的出口下降都是因为净出口的大幅下降。原因在于：人民币升值、出口退税减少和中国主要出口市场的萧条或是增长减缓。其中受影响最大的就是服装和纺织品等低附加值产品的制造商，他们雇佣了多达几百亿工人。国家控制的媒体已经报道了很多沿海城市中小企业倒闭。中国领导人，此前更急于培育高新产业，上个月也视察了纺织加工厂，以显示政治支持。

Later in July, a meeting of the ruling Politburo signalled a policy shift. The formerly oft-repeated injunction to prevent overheating was dropped. Instead the leadership decided to focus on maintaining “steady and fast” economic growth, though it said it would continue its efforts to combat inflation.
7月下旬，执政的政治局召开会议，发出政策转变的信号，放弃了之前所反复强调的防止经济过热的政策，而是更加注重“又快又稳”的增长，但同时将继续控制通货膨胀。

Since the meeting there have been moves to placate exporters, such as easing controls on lending to small and medium businesses. Officials are relieved that the rise in the consumer-price index has slowed from a 12-year high of 8.7% in February to 7.1% in June, thanks partly to a decline in meat prices. But growth-boosting measures risk fuelling inflation. Wholesale prices are rising ominously fast, and big increases in state-controlled fuel prices have raised fears of worse to come.
这次会议采取了一些举措来安抚出口商，如缓解对中小企业借贷的控制。由于猪肉价格有所回落，消费者指数增幅从2月的全年最高8.7％下降到6月的7.1％，这让中国领导人松了口气。但是刺激增长的措施可能会加剧通货膨胀。零售价格增长极快，国家控制的燃油价格的大幅增长，这让人们担心情况可能会越来越糟。

Continued high growth would be good news for the middle classes—a constituency regarded by the party as vital to its grip on power. The past few months have been testing times for them. Contrary to widely held expectations that the stockmarket would keep on booming until the games, valuations have plummeted since their peak last October. A side-effect of this has been the shift of some small investors’ money into other risky ventures. In early July the founder of a company involved in commodities-futures trading allegedly fled to America with millions of dollars of customers’ money. Angry investors gathered at its headquarters in Beijing to the consternation of officials anxious to ensure a trouble-free Olympics.
持续高增长对于中产阶级而言可能是个好消息，中国政府将中产阶级看作是掌权的至关重要的因素。过去的几个月对他们来讲是一个试验期。过去他们普遍认为股市在奥运期间也会一直红火，但事与愿违，市值在去年10月达到高峰后就一落千丈。这产生的负作用就是一些小的投资者将资金转用于风险投资。7月初，有报道称，一家进行商品期货交易的公司创始人携消费者的数百万美元潜逃到美国。愤怒的投资者在北京总部集会，这使渴望奥运会平安无事的中国官员惊惶失措。

There are growing worries too in some parts of China about the once seemingly irrepressible property market. Officials from the National Bureau of Statistics quoted by the state-controlled media this week said huge profits reaped by many in this sector over the past decade had come to an end. In Beijing residential apartments sales (measured by floor space) fell almost 50% in the first half of the year compared with the same period a year ago.
中国的一些部门对于曾经看起来无法控制的房地产市场也越来越担心。本周，媒体援引国家统计局官员的话称，过去十年在房地产市场赚得瓢满钵满，但这种情况寿终就寝了。在北京，今年上半年的居民房（以占地面积计算）比去年同期下降将近50％。

Chinese leaders can console themselves with the thought that the country as a whole is unlikely to suffer the problem endured by some previous Olympic hosts: a post-games downturn brought on by a sudden drop in investment and consumption. Beijing’s economy accounts for less than 5% of China’s GDP. But President Hu Jintao, at a rare press conference a week before the games, spoke of “greater challenges and problems” confronting China’s economy as a result of global uncertainty. It has already begun to feel them.
中国领导人或许可以自我安慰，认为中国从整体而言不会面临前奥运会主办国的问题：奥运过后，投资和消费嘎然而止导致经济下滑。北京市的GDP还不到全国的5％。尽管如此，胡绵涛在奥运会召开前一周不同寻常的召开了一次记者招待会。会中他称全球的不确定性使中国经济面临“更大的挑战和更多的问题”。中国已经开始有所体会了。

随机文章：

中国:消费时代来临 2008-02-20

世界杯：任意球，回传球 2007-11-05

谁将迎战希拉里？ 2007-11-05

伊拉克:这是赤裸裸的谋杀 2007-08-21

[2007.3.22]马哈·哥沙纳达:柬埔寨甘地 2007-03-25

收藏到：Del.icio.us

中台关系：第一步，攻占百货商店

经济学人 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:17:26 +0800

[2008.07.10]First, we take the department stores中台关系：首先，我们攻占百货商店

China and Taiwan
First, we take the department stores…
中台关系：首先，我们攻占百货商店...

Jul 10th 2008 | BEIJING AND TAIPEI
From The Economist print edition, the original post is here.
Translation by misser.

After decades worrying about a mainland invasion, Taiwan is now courting one
数十年来台湾担心大陆入侵，如今却汲汲以求

IT WAS listed on the information board at Beijing's Capital Airport as an international flight. It departed from the international terminal. Passengers had to clear customs and immigration before boarding. Upon landing in Taipei, the crew of Air China 185 made a cabin announcement warning passengers against taking fruit into the "country" they were about to visit. But on no account would anyone in China dare call this non-stop journey an "international" flight. Like the check-in clerk and the immigration official at Beijing's airport, the flight's co-pilot can only giggle uncomfortably when asked to explain the contradictions. It is, after all, an article of faith in Beijing that "Taiwan is part of China".

在北京首都机场的信息公告板上这次航班被列为国际航班。它从国际航空站离开，登机前乘客需办理清关和出境手续。着陆台北后，国航185的乘务员在机舱宣布中警告乘客不要带水果进入这个他们即将访问的"国家"。然而在中国的任何人都决不敢称此次直达旅行为"国际"航班。当被问起这些自相矛盾之处，航班的副驾驶员只能尴尬地傻笑，一如北京机场的地勤人员和出入境官员。毕竟，"台湾是中国的一部分"是北京不言自明的信念。

The delicate and sometimes bellicose wrangling between China and Taiwan has long demanded painstaking terminological finesse. The opening on July 4th of regular direct charter flights between China and Taiwan marks important progress between the two sides. But the stubborn persistence of such word games also shows how far apart the two sides remain.

长期以来，中国与台湾地区间微妙（有些时候甚至敏感）的争执，需要令人痛苦的术语技巧。7月4日，中台开通了定期的直达包机航线，这标志着双方的重大进展。不过上述文字游戏棘手依旧，显示双方距离依然遥远。

As indeed do the "direct" flights. For a variety of reasons, suchas national security concerns and the lack of standard cross-strait aviation agreements, these charters must still take a lengthy detour through Hong Kong airspace. This is less cumbersome than the normal routine, which requires a landing and brief stopover in Hong Kong (or nearby Macau). But it still adds an hour and nearly 1,000km (625 miles) to the journey from Beijing to Taipei.

所谓的"直达"航班也是如此。出于一系列理由，如国家安全问题，如海峡两岸缺乏飞行协议标准，这些包机航班必须照旧大老远绕行香港航区。这比通常的旧例还是少了一些麻烦，旧例要求在香港（或附近的澳门）着陆并短暂停留。不过即便只是绕行，也给北京到台北的航程增加了1个小时，近1, 000公里（625英里）。

Niggling details aside, the arrival of the first flight on July 4th was treated as a big breakthrough. The plane was greeted in Taipei with celebratory arches of water blasted from airport fire-engines. Bigwigs on both sides were also in full-gush mode. Lien Chan, former chairman of Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party, said the flights "would make people around the world proud of this generation of Chinese." Wang Yi, Beijing's senior official dealing with Taiwan saw off the first flight from Beijing, speaking of "a new start" and "a rare opportunity for development".

抛开细节不谈，7月4日首航的到来被认为是一大突破。为向该航班致意，台北动用机场消防车，喷出欢迎的水龙。双方要人亦倾巢而出。台湾执政党国民党前主席连战说，该次航班"将使世界各地人民为这一代中国人而骄傲。"北京对台事务高级官员王毅在北京为本次首航送行，称之为"一个新的开始"和"两岸关系发展难得的机遇"。

For all the hullabaloo, though, these flights marked only an incremental advance. Similar flights began running five years ago during limited holiday periods, and have increased in frequency since. None of that dimmed the enthusiasm of the mainland tourists who enjoyed the chance to see for themselves a place they had heard so much about-for good and ill. Nearly 700 made the trip during the first weekend. They spent a short time taking in a carefully selected set of sights in Taipei before heading off to other parts of the island. One sensitive site they were not allowed to visit was the memorial to Chiang Kai-shek, a former KMT leader and bitter foe of Mao Zedong who brought his government to Taiwan in 1949 after losing China's civil war.

然而，虽然动静如此之大，这些航班也只是标志着更进一步而已。类似航班从5年前便开始在特定假日时段运行，此后还增加了班次。不过这一切并没有减弱大陆游客的热情，他们兴致勃勃地借此机会亲眼目睹这个听闻已久（毁誉参杂）的地方。在第一个周末，有近700人加入了这一旅行。启程前往岛内其他地方前，他们在台北一些仔细挑选好的景点短暂停留。有个敏感的景点他们不许参观：蒋介石纪念馆。蒋介石是前国名党领袖，***死敌，在输掉中国内战后于1949年率领他的政府退至台湾。

The Chinese tourists were also prohibited from leaving their chaperoned groups. Taiwanese travel agents said this reflected concerns on both sides. Mainland authorities did not want to run the risk of attempted defections, and Taiwan wanted to keep potential spies from roaming where they should not. Exceptions, however, were made for shopping. Johnny Tsai, manager of the China Times Travel Service, said his group of 109 mainlanders were allowed to run off on their own at a department store in the southern city of Kaohsiung, and spent heroically there.

中国游客亦不得离开受监护的旅游团。台旅行社说这反映了双方的顾虑。大陆当局不愿冒有人试图叛逃的风险，而台湾则想让潜在的间谍无法去他们不应该去的地方瞎逛。不过，购物除外。中国时代旅行社(意译)的Johnny Tsai说，他的旅行团109名大陆游客都被允许在南部城市高雄的百货商店自由活动，结果是大肆血拼。

For the newly installed KMT government, that may be as important as any boost to the politics of cross-strait relations. Since taking office in May, President Ma Ying-jeou has faced pressure to reinvigorate the economy. Annual growth remains above the 4% mark and inflation below it, but share prices have been tumbling and concerns are growing over widening inequality and looming economic stagnation. Soaring fuel prices and a global slowdown limit Mr Ma's room for manoeuvre. An influx of well-heeled, free-spending mainland tourists therefore seems just the ticket. Some economists predict it could add as much as 0.5 percentage points to the annual growth rate.

对于履新的国民党政府来说，这可能与两岸政治关系的任何进展同样重要。马英九"总统"自5月上任后，面临使经济复兴的压力。台湾经济年增长率停留在略高于4%大限，通胀则略低4%，然而股价正在下跌，对贫富差距扩大和经济停滞隐现的担忧在加剧。高涨的油价和全球经济放缓限制了马英九先生的操作空间。因此，衣着光鲜、挥金如土的大陆游客的流入，就像天赐尤物。有经济学家预计他们将为台湾的年增长率增加多达0.5个百分点。

Others doubt that. Mr Tsai wonders whether his first carefully selected group of the rich and "high-level" will be typical of future visitors. Chen-wei Lin of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) says that the economic benefits of mainland tourism are unknown and that Mr Ma is overstretching when he promises worried Taiwanese that Chinese tourism will save their economy. Mr Lin also faults Mr Ma for failing to secure a matching cargo-flight arrangement, which he believes would be far more lucrative for Taiwan.

其他人对此有所保留。Tsai先生就怀疑他这个精挑细选、富有且"高端"的首航旅游团是否会成为未来游客的主流。对手民进党的林陈威说，大陆游客带来的经济效益尚未明了，马先生承诺忧心忡忡的台湾民众中国旅游团将拯救台湾经济，实属言过其实。同时，林先生指责马先生未能促成同等的货运航班安排，他相信这对台湾来说有利得多。

Nevertheless, the talk of new beginnings is not all hype. After eight years in which it shunned and berated the previous president, Chen Shui-bian of the more independence-minded DPP, China was pleased to see the KMT return to power in March with the election of Mr Ma.

不管如何，"新的开始"的言论并非纯属虚构。8年来，中国回绝并严厉斥责前"总统"陈水扁（他出身更倾台独的民进党），如今乐于见到马先生在3月的选举获胜，使国民党重掌政权。

By the time he took office, China had suffered a string of setbacks. Deadly unrest in Tibet had brought tension with the outside world. International sourness still lingers over its human-rights record, its links with repugnant regimes in Myanmar, Sudan and elsewhere, and its fitness to host the Olympics. It gained much kudos for its handling of the devastating earthquake in Sichuan in March. But in international affairs, China still badly needs to see something go right somewhere, and for the moment Taiwan is going least wrong.

在马英九上台之前，中国遭遇一系列不顺。西藏致命的骚乱让它与外部世界的关系骤然紧张。国际上对其不满依旧着眼于人权纪录，它与缅甸、苏丹和其他地方恶政权的联系，以及它是否适合举办奥运。在5月四川的毁灭性地震灾难中，它处理得当，赢得了巨大的声誉。但在国际事务中，中国依然极度需要让事情对路。此时此刻，台湾事务最对路。

Welcome for bricks.

Thanks to 7colorwolf, jyjnl, rushor, brightu, houyhnhnm.

随机文章：

网络乌托邦 2007-12-08

Nyet对中国汽车制造商说“不” 2007-10-06

达能：国家经济主义的庇护 2007-07-29

耶稣会在哪儿排队？ 2007-07-11

泰国：经济动力——亚洲的底特律 2007-06-26

收藏到：Del.icio.us

中国西南：传统带来的震撼

经济学人 — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:16:19 +0800

[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。