中国城市化如何吞噬乡村
Construction sites are so common in China that most people pass them without a glance.
建筑工地在中国四处可见，因此大多数人路过时看都不看一眼。
At one point during the country’s multi-decade building boom, the joke was that the crane was the national bird.
在中国持续数十年的建筑热潮中，起重机一度被戏称为国鸟。
But behind the hoardings’ cheerful messages of luxurious lifestyles and the China Dream is another, darker story: of how villages become slums, of the corruption and deceit involved as homes for the poor give way to high-rises for the wealthy, and of the loss to China’s culture when its ancient communities disappear forever.
然而，在工地围挡上那些宣扬奢华生活方式和中国梦的喜兴字眼背后，隐藏着更为阴暗的故事：乡村如何成了城市贫民区？在穷人的房子被拆除、腾出土地盖只有富人才住得起的高楼的过程中，充斥着怎样的腐败和欺诈？当古朴的社区永远消失后，中国的文化是怎么消逝的？
David Bandurski, an independent writer living in Hong Kong, went behind the hoardings in the centre of Guangzhou (population: 13m) to track the fate of Xian village, a community that existed during the Song dynasty in the 13th century.
住在香港的独立撰稿人班志远(David Bandurski)来到有1300万人口的广州的市中心，从工地围挡背后追踪冼村的命运，这个村落的历史最早可以追溯到13世纪的宋代。
By the time Bandurski first visited, it was no longer a recognisable village but a thriving migrant neighbourhood, the streets smelling of urine and lit by bare lightbulbs strung on shop fronts.
班志远第一次到冼村时，这里已看不出乡村的模样，而是变成了一个兴旺的外来人口聚居地。街头弥漫着一股尿骚味，店铺门脸上挂着光秃秃的灯泡。
In other words, the last place most people would look for Chinese traditions that date back eight centuries.
换句话说，要追寻从800年前传承至今的中国传统，多数人是绝不会来这里的。
As China’s cities have expanded to accommodate hundreds of millions of new city dwellers, they have swallowed the surrounding countryside.
为了容纳数亿新涌入城市的居民，中国的城市大力扩张，吞噬了周边的乡村。
But the villages rarely disappear, at least at first, thanks to complex land laws that cede some measure of ownership to their inhabitants.
但村子很少会消失，至少一开始不会，这要归因于复杂的土地法，它将一部分所有权赋予住户。
Former farmers divide courtyards into dozens of rooms or bolt ramshackle second, third and even fourth stories on to the original footprint of their home.
曾经的农民在自家院子里盖起众多房间，或者在自家房子的原址上仓促盖起两三层甚至四层摇摇欲坠的楼房。
The rooms are let out cheaply to the migrant workers flooding into cities, neatly solving China’s housing shortage and allowing foreign visitors to come to the comfortable conclusion that China, alone among developing nations, lacks slums.
这些房子被便宜租给进城的农民工，正好解决了中国房子短缺的问题，也因此外国游客很容易得出这样的结论：中国没有贫民窟，这在发展中国家中是绝无仅有的。
Bandurski found himself in the heart of an epic of corruption and resistance thanks to his interest in the landlords of Xian village: peasant farmers who had found a niche providing housing in the metropolis.
由于对冼村的房东们感兴趣，班志远发现自己触到了一部关于腐败和抵抗的史诗长片的中心。当地农民早早发现了一个商机，就是在这个大城市里提供住屋。
Although they had been born far from the city, urban sprawl meant they were now smack in the middle of it, sitting on real estate valued at millions of dollars.
他们出生时离市区很远，但随着城市扩张，他们如今正处于城市的中心地带，坐拥价值数百万美元的房产。
Developers wanted the land; the city of Guangzhou was eager to give it to them, and the easily corruptible village headman (and the rapacious district government behind him) was all that stood in the middle.
开发商想要这里的土地，市政府也想卖给他们，很容易被收买的村长（以及他背后贪婪的区政府）也插足其间。
By following the villagers of Xian and similar communities in Guangzhou, Bandurski has been able to write an unusually thorough and readable book about how exactly China’s cities have grown.
通过关注冼村及广州其他类似地方的村民，班志远写出了一部全面探讨中国城市发展模式的可读性很强的著作。
Land grabs are the leading cause of unrest in China, both in the countryside and in city neighbourhoods earmarked for regeneration.
征地是中国导致骚乱的首要原因，不管是在农村还是在城市里被指定改造的区域。
One Chinese researcher who specialises in analysing local unrest on Beijing’s behalf has told the Financial Times he has a secret formula for starting his investigations: look for the unfinished construction site and ask the neighbours why it has been held up.
一位专门为北京方面分析地方不安定因素的中国研究员曾经告诉英国《金融时报》，他开展调查时有一个秘诀：找一个未完工的建筑工地，问问周边居民停工的原因。
The answer will almost always unlock an explanation for local grievances, as it does in Xian village.
答案几乎总是会揭开导致当地民众不满的一个原因，就像在冼村一样。
The layers of government interests and the thugs at officials’ command provide the punch for Dragons in Diamond Village.
关于层层的政府利益以及听命于官员的打手，《龙在钻石村》(Dragons in Diamond Village)一书中有引人入胜的描述。
Modern China has done its best to obliterate any forms of local culture in favour of a state-sanctioned sameness, free of dialects, ethnic identities or local loyalties.
现代中国竭尽所能地抹除任何形式的地方文化，而倾向于支持政府认可的统一性、抛弃方言、民族认同或地方忠诚。
What communism couldn’t uproot is now wilting under the force of urbanisation, as young migrants leave their homes and cities swallow traditional communities.
随着年轻农民工离乡背井、城市吞噬传统社区，曾经共产主义无法拔除的东西，如今正在城市化的力量之下枯萎。
There’s an internal truth that’s been paved over, says popular Chinese novelist Yan Lianke, whose latest (and banned) book explores the theme of urbanisation.
一个内在真相被掩盖了，人气颇高的中国小说家阎连科表示，你需要看看，为了创建今天的城市，多少人饱受折磨。
You need to see how many people have been torn apart to create today’s cities.
阎连科的新书（被禁）探讨了城市化主题。
The villagers of Xian did not just protest with lawsuits, banners and barricades.
冼村的村民采取了种种抗议方式，包括打官司、挂横幅、设路障等等。
They built dragon boats — the ceremonial wooden craft prized by the waterfront communities of southern China and Southeast Asia.
他们还造了龙舟，这是一种在中国南方和东南亚的沿海沿江地区广受重视的用在传统仪式中的木船。
Dragon boats stand for tradition and solidarity (they must be paddled by many men, in rhythm).
龙舟代表着传统和团结（它们必须由很多人有节奏的划桨）。
As Bandurski gets a ride in one, it also becomes a symbol of a rare triumph — the triumph of a small community’s fragile victory over the much larger forces seeking to bury it.
班志远就坐过一次龙舟，它也是一场罕见胜利的象征——一个小社区对寻求埋葬它的更强大力量的脆弱胜利。
