新疆遊客人數因安全形勢惡化銳減

KANAS LAKE, China — The two amateur photographers stood on a hill overlooking the sparkling river in this remote alpine park, waiting for nomads to emerge from their white yurts and herd cows across a bridge.

中國喀納斯湖——在這個偏遠的高山公園，兩名攝影愛好者站在一座小山上，俯瞰着波光粼粼的河流，等着遊牧民走出他們白色的圓頂帳篷，趕着牛羣過橋。

The men, both age 60, were driving on a one-month road trip through the western region of Xinjiang to capture scenes like this one.

同爲60歲的這兩名男子，正在西部新疆地區進行爲期一個月的自駕遊，以捕捉這樣的場景。

“Don’t listen to what other people say about Xinjiang and don’t believe what you read,” said Sun Jingchuan, a retired aircraft maintenance worker from Sichuan Province in southwest China. “It’s very safe here.”

“別聽其他人說的關於新疆的事情，別相信你在報紙上看到的東西，”來自四川的退休飛機維修人員孫京川（音譯）說。“這兒非常安全。”

Many other Chinese would dispute that assessment. This year, after a stream of news reports of rioting, terrorist attacks and deadly police shootings linked to ethnic conflict in towns across Xinjiang, tourism has plummeted, the first drop in 20 years.

許多中國人可能會懷疑這樣的評價。今年，在一連串新聞報道介紹新疆各地城鎮發生的和民族衝突有關的暴亂、恐怖襲擊和警方擊斃暴徒事件後，新疆的旅遊業大幅下滑，這是20年來的首次下滑。

Xinjiang, the size of Western Europe, has long been considered one of China’s most exotic destinations. Chinese tourists, usually traveling in tour groups, visit the grasslands and Siberian forests here in the north and desert oasis towns in the south, along the old Silk Road.

長期以來，面積和西歐一般大的新疆，一直被認爲是中國最具異域風情的旅遊目的地之一。國內遊客通常會跟着旅行團，沿着古代的絲綢之路，遊覽北疆的草原和西伯利亞森林，以及南疆的沙漠綠洲城鎮。

Among the locals, an estimated 1.5 million people have some tie to Xinjiang’s tourism economy, and many were hoping for a big surge in visitor numbers during the National Day holiday week in China, which began Wednesday. But given reports in late September of dozens killed in clashes, there is little expectation that the numbers will match those of previous years.

在新疆的當地人中，估計有150萬人與新疆的旅遊經濟有着某種關聯，而且許多人本希望在從週三開始的國慶節長假期間，遊客人數能大增。但考慮到9月末有關幾十人在衝突中死亡的報道，現在幾乎沒人指望今年的遊客人數能達到往年的水平。

On the morning Mr. Sun and his friend were photographing cows and Kazakh nomads, a report on an official Xinjiang news website said multiple explosions days earlier in Luntai County had killed two people and wounded many others. The website later reported that 40 rioters had died — some were shot by the police, others blew themselves up — while six civilians and four police officers and auxiliary employees were killed. Radio Free Asia, financed by the United States government, said the attackers were furious over land seizures by officials. It was the deadliest burst of violence in Xinjiang in weeks, but was not atypical.

就在孫京川和朋友拍攝牛羣和哈薩克遊牧民的那個上午，新疆一家官方新聞網站上的一篇報道稱，幾天前輪臺縣發生的多起爆炸導致兩人死亡，其他許多人受傷。該網站後來報道稱，有40名暴徒死亡——部分是被警方擊斃的，其他人是自己引爆了炸彈——還有六名平民、四名警察和協警。接受美國政府資助的自由亞洲電臺(Radio Free Asia)表示，襲擊者對官員的徵地行爲感到憤怒。這是數週來新疆發生的人員傷亡最慘重的暴力事件，但卻並非罕見。

In the first half of this year, visits from domestic tourists dropped 7 percent, to 20 million, compared to the same period last year, according to official statistics. The revenue from domestic tourists fell nearly 6 percent, to $3.5 billion.

官方統計數據顯示，今年上半年，來新疆的國內遊客人次跌至2000萬，與去年同期相比減少7%。國內遊客帶來的收入跌至35億美元（約合214億元人民幣），降幅接近6%。

Foreign tourism, which is a fraction of the total, also dropped, by nearly 1 percent, to 619,300, with revenue falling 1 percent, to $161 million. The Xinjiang Regional Tourism Bureau blames “influences from recent terrorist attacks” for the downturn.

在新疆總體旅遊業中僅佔一小部分的涉外旅遊也出現了下滑，降至61.93萬人次，降幅接近1%，收入也減少了1%，跌至1610萬美元。新疆維吾爾自治區旅遊局將其歸咎於“受暴恐案件影響”。

In early August, some Chinese-language news websites published an open letter deploring the “great harm” done to the Xinjiang tourism industry by “violent terrorism attacks.” The letter said it represented the 400,000 people directly employed in Xinjiang tourism. Shen Qiao, the deputy chief editor of the Xinjiang bureau of the official Xinhua news agency, said that “people from the mainland feel scared when talking about Xinjiang.”

8月初，部分中文新聞網站刊登了一封公開信，譴責“暴恐案件”給新疆旅遊業帶來了“巨大的傷害”。該信稱自己代表新疆旅遊業的40萬從業者。官方通訊社新華社新疆分社副總編沈橋稱，“說到新疆時，來自內地的人會感到害怕。”

On online travel forums, the question “Is it safe to travel in Xinjiang?” is common. On one forum, people wrote that it was better to go to northern Xinjiang, where there are fewer Uighurs, a minority ethnic group whose clashes with the Han majority account for much of the violence, and more Kazakhs, Mongolians and other ethnic minorities. Violence in Urumqi, the regional capital, and in the south has been greater.

在網上旅遊論壇中，“去新疆旅遊安全嗎”這個問題很常見。在其中一個論壇上，人們寫道，最好去北疆，那裏的維吾爾族更少，哈薩克族、蒙古族和其他少數民族更多。維吾爾族是一個少數民族，其與人口占多數的漢族的衝突，造成了許多暴力事件。

So desperate are Xinjiang officials to draw tourists that they issued $3.2 million worth of “travel cards” from January to April to tourists visiting with tour groups. The cards, worth $80 each, could be used to pay for hotels, attractions and local products.

新疆官員極度希望能吸引遊客，從1月到4月，他們甚至向隨團來的遊客發放了價值2000萬元的“旅遊卡”。這些旅遊卡每張面值500元，可以用來支付酒店、旅遊景點和當地產品的費用。

Many Han have long held negative stereotypes of Uighurs, as petty thieves, for example, but attitudes hardened after rioting in 2009 in Urumqi resulted in at least 200 deaths, most of them Han. Uighurs say much of their anger grows from long-running discrimination by the Han. The government blames Uighur separatists for most of the attacks.

長期以來，許多漢族人都對維吾爾族人持有偏見，例如，有人總把他們視爲小偷。但是，在2009年烏魯木齊發生暴亂之後，這種觀點得到了強化。當時，暴亂共導致至少200人死亡，其中大多是漢族人。維吾爾族人稱，他們之所以感到憤怒，主要是因爲漢族人長期的歧視。政府則始終認爲，維吾爾族的分裂分子應該對大部分襲擊負責。

Even in northern Xinjiang, far from the Uighur heartland, tourism workers say business is suffering. “This year has been slow,” said Chen Yan, 37, a masseuse from Sichuan who works every summer at a hotel in Burqin, a mostly Kazakh town that is the gateway to Kanas Lake.

即便在遠離維吾爾族中心地帶的新疆北部，旅遊工作者都表示他們的業務比較慘淡。“今年人很少，”37歲的陳燕（音譯）說。她是四川的一位按摩師，每年夏天都會到布爾津的一家酒店工作。這個縣在通往喀納斯湖的入口，居民主要是哈薩克人。

Ms. Chen said she had made about $650 a month this season, compared with about $1,000 a month last summer, earnings that help support a 14-year-old son and a husband who does odd jobs, both in Sichuan.

陳燕說，這一季，她每個月能掙大約650美元，去年夏天則大約能掙1000美元，這些錢能幫她養活一個14歲的兒子和打零工的丈夫，他們都在四川。

A Kazakh driver in the town, Sailin, said, “Each year, business gets worse.”

縣裏的哈薩克族司機賽林（Sailin，音譯）說，“生意是一年不如一年。”

As Kanas Lake has become more popular with tourists in recent years — in part because of the legend of a Lochness-style monster that lurks in the waters — hotel construction has boomed in the park and on its periphery. But managers say occupancy rates are low this year.

近年來，隨着喀納斯湖越來越受遊客歡迎——部分是因爲湖水裏有個類似尼斯湖水怪的怪物傳說——人們開始在公園及其附近興建酒店。但管理人員說，今年的入住率較低。

At the lake, dozens of visitors boarded white speedboats one afternoon for a tour. But in past years, there were many more people, said Sultanate, a Kazakh man who worked at the park entrance. “The captain of one of the boats spends all day wiping the windows,” he said.

某天下午在喀納斯湖，數十名遊客登上白色快艇觀光。但是在公園入口工作的哈薩克族人蘇爾塔納提（Sultanate，音譯）說，往年遊客要多很多，“有條船的船長整天都在擦窗戶。”

Employees at Koktokay, or Kekutuohai in Chinese, a park in the far north, said they had noticed a decline in visitors from outside Xinjiang.

可可托海國家地質公園(Koktokay)位於新疆北部偏遠地區。這裏的工作人員說，他們注意到來自新疆以外地區的遊客人數減少了。

But overall numbers are up this year compared to last, reflecting an increase in visitors from Xinjiang, possibly because more are choosing to visit the north since it has fewer Uighurs.

但是與去年相比，遊客人數總體還是增加了，這反映了來自新疆的遊客出現增加，或許是因爲越來越多的人都選擇前往北部旅遊——因爲那裏的維吾爾族人較少。

There were exceptions, of course. One afternoon, a group of seven men who worked for Baosteel Group in different parts of the country rode together on a golf cart through the park’s central valley, carved by the Irtysh River as it flows to the Arctic Ocean.

當然也有例外。一天下午，在中國不同地區爲寶鋼集團工作的七名男子乘坐同一輛高爾夫球車穿過了公園的中央谷地。額爾齊斯河經過這裏，最後流入北冰洋。

On a bus ride, a 30-year-old woman from Zhejiang Province who was traveling with friends for three months across Xinjiang, Tibet and Nepal said the park was beautiful, but other parts of Xinjiang held less appeal. “I’m afraid Kashgar is too dangerous,” she said, referring to the fabled Uighur caravan town in the south that has been a site of attacks.

一名來自浙江省的30歲女子是乘大巴前來的，她說這個公園很美，但新疆其他地方並沒有太大的吸引力。她與朋友一道，花三個月時間穿越了新疆、西藏和尼泊爾。“我擔心喀什會太危險，”她說。她指的是新疆南部有名的維吾爾族聚居城鎮，那裏曾出現過襲擊事件。

Mr. Sun, the photographer in the Kanas Lake area, said only a handful of Uighurs were to blame. “In southern Xinjiang, a few violent individuals were able to coerce others into taking part in violence,” he said. “One person would come to your home and say, ‘You’re a Uighur — do this or I’ll put a knife to the throat of your mother or sister.’ ”

喀納斯湖地區的攝影師孫京川說，這隻能怪少數維吾爾族人。“在南疆，一些暴力分子能夠強迫他人蔘與暴力活動，”他說。“有人會來到你門前說，‘你是維族人——要麼這樣做，要麼我把刀架你母親或姐妹的喉嚨上。’”

He had waited for the morning to get the shot of cows crossing the bridge, but they had not budged from their pasture. He packed up his photo equipment and walked with his friend to their car to drive to an ethnic Tuvan village. “Next year, we’ll go to southern Xinjiang,” he said. “I’ve never been there.”

他整個上午都在等待，希望能拍到牛羣通過橋樑的照片，但它們並沒有離開牧場。他收拾好自己的攝影器材，與朋友一起走到車旁，開車前往一個圖瓦村莊。“明年，我們要去南疆，”他說。“我還從來沒去過那裏。”