Taiwan's fabled night markets

Travel: Taiwan's night market

By John Boudreau, San Jose Mercury-News

Posted:   10/21/2012 03:41:34 PM PDT

Updated:   10/21/2012 03:51:09 PM PDT

Visitors to this vibrant democracy - known for its semiconductors and tech gadgetry - can be mesmerized by Taipei's swarming motorbikes, natural scenery along coastal beaches and mountains full of hiking trails.
There is also Taipei 101, one of the world's tallest buildings, which offers high-end shopping and dizzying high-level views. And the National Palace Museum, which displays some of the most important Chinese artifacts found anywhere.
But there are also Taiwan's night markets, among the best-kept secrets in the country.
As the sun goes down over Taiwan, the streets of this densely populated island come alive as thousands of people descend on streets and alleyways for some of the best and cheapest thrills one can find in Asia. The night markets serve up items ranging from tasty treats to inexpensive belts and sandals.
Sure, there are similar street scenes across the continent, from Cambodia to China. In Taiwan, however, night markets are a cherished cultural phenomenon that embraces traditions while remaining contemporary with quick-stepping, fashionably dressed young people who flood them.
Plunging into one of these body-bumping bazaars is a senses-awakening experience - wafting smells of good food, neon lights that dazzle like disco strobes, the singsong sales pitches of hawkers with bullhorns competing with throbbing techno music. This cacophony of street-side capitalism can last well past midnight.
As afternoon wanes, city streets are transformed into a highly festive nocturnal world aglow with charcoal fires and electronic billboards. A river of restless young Taiwanese flows through a warren of lanes filled with portable stands. They shop for Nike shoes, electric razors and even puppies. Vendors blend fruit and sugarcane drinks. Chicken and squid sizzle on grills.
Some night markets have foot massage parlors; others, snake restaurants.
In Taipei, about 20 night markets occur every day in addition to "floating" night markets, open occasionally or on fixed evenings, such as Saturdays, explained Lula Han, an expert on Taiwanese culture. There are as many as 100 major night markets across the island, she added.
"Every town, every city has two or three night markets," she said.
They are more than a place to pick up a pair of cheap sunglasses or grab a watermelon drink. For Taiwanese, they are equivalent to the corner pub where they meet friends and grab bites of handmade delicacies from curbside cooks.
Indeed, what really draws the jostling hordes is the xiaochi, or "small eats." In Taiwan, eating literally is a religious experience. That's because night markets initially sprang up around the

The entrance Kee Long Miao Kou night market, in Taipei, Taiwan on Monday, April 16, 2012. (LiPo Ching/Staff) (LiPo Ching)

many Buddhist temples in Taiwan, Han said. The Keelung market developed around Dianji Temple, which is more than a century old, to meet the eating needs of the faithful. "We always say, when you worship God in the temple, you worship your body, your temple," Han said as we eagerly made our way to one of the oldest night markets in northern Taiwan, in the harbor city of Keelung, on a misty spring evening. "After you give food to the god in the temple, you give food to yourself. So the food stalls originated with the temples."
These days, just as many Taiwanese visit the alleyways lined with food stalls as they do the temple to burn incense in the name of good fortune.
Even for non-Buddhists, the temples can offer

IF YOU GO

Getting there: EVA Airways (evaair.com) and China Airlines (china-airlines.com) offer flights to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
When to go: Fall, winter and early spring are cooler seasons in Taiwan. Summers are hot and humid.
Staying there: There is an abundance of hotels with varying price ranges in Taipei.
Less than $100: Forte Orange Business Hotel (Kaifeng), No. 41, Section 1, Kai-Feng Street, phone 886-2-2388-1523.
Midrange: Landis Taipei, 41 Min Chuan East Road, phone 886-2-2597-1234l; Novotel, 1-1 Terminal South Road, Taoyuan County, Dayuan Township, phone 886-3-398-0888. (This hotel has a great gym that's open 24/7.)
High end: Grand Formosa Regent, No. 3, Lane 39, Section 2, ZhongShan North Road, phone 886-2-2523-8000.

relief: They frequently are the easiest place to find a bathroom in a night market. The Keelung night market, near the Keelung train station, is one of the more traditional street markets in Taiwan. It has a neighborly feel to it - couples with young children stroll past the food stalls, students in their school uniforms cluster around an arcade. Its proximity to the harbor is reflected in the plethora of fresh seafood dishes. There is plenty of sushi and other Japanese-influenced food, harking back to the early 20th century, when Taiwan was ruled by Japan.
"Every time I come here, I think that my stomach is too small," Han said as we scanned scores of stalls selling everything from barbecued seafood to shaved-ice peanut desserts.
One can feast all night for as little as $4 to $10. It's not unusual to see a wealthy business executive in a suit and a customer of much less means sitting side by side on a wooden bench or on squat plastic stools to tuck into a bowl of rice noodles, purchased for a pittance.
What makes the food so appetizing is that the lightly pan-fried cabbage buns or oyster omelets smothered in soy and chili sauces have been made and sold in night markets by the same families for generations, explained Han, who once debated getting an apartment in Keelung simply so she could be in walking distance of its fabled night market.
In Taipei, one doesn't have to go out at night to enjoy night-market culture. Some day markets stay open into the evening. One of the most famous is the Dihua Street Market, a historic narrow brick lane surrounded by a mix of building architecture, from China's Fujian Province to Baroque and contemporary, located in the western part of this city of 2.6 million residents. It's a great place to buy Chinese medicine, bolts of cloth and lots of edible goodies.
A friend and I perused the dried-food stores lining the street late one afternoon. Merchants sold dried blueberries, mullet, green-tea pumpkin seeds and more. During the Lunar New Year, the area draws massive crowds who buy special holiday treats such as chewy candies and smoked duck.
As often is the case, whenever there is an abundance of good food around, a temple is not far away. In this case, the Hsiahai Cheng Huang Temple is just around the corner. The relatively small temple attracts many young people seeking advice and help in finding love.
The dried-food snacks served to awaken our appetite for another night market. This time we made our way to Shilin Night Market, the city's most famous, located near the Cicheng Temple, a subway station and a number of schools. It's something of an all-season night market: It has food stalls in alleyways as well as in an enclosed area, making it waterproof when it rains.
As the sky was darkening, pushcart vendors made their way to the area.
It doesn't take a food reviewer to find the best eats here: Just look for the long lines.

Taiwan's fabled night markets

By John Boudreau

jboudreau@mercurynews.com

Posted:   10/11/2012 03:00:00 PM PDT

Updated:   10/11/2012 03:27:43 PM PDT

 

4 of 25

Taiwan's night markets

The entrance to Kee Long Miao Kou night market, in Taipei, Taiwan on Monday, April 16, 2012. (LiPo Ching/Staff)

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TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Visitors to this vibrant democracy -- known for its semiconductors and tech gadgetry -- can be mesmerized by Taipei's swarming motorbikes, natural scenery along coastal beaches and mountains full of hiking trails. There is Taipei 101, one of the world's tallest buildings, which offers high-end shopping and dizzying high-level views. The National Palace Museum displays some of the most important Chinese artifacts found anywhere.

Taiwan's night markets, though, are among the best-kept secrets in the country.
As the sun goes down over Taiwan, the streets of this densely populated island come alive as thousands of people descend on streets and alleyways for some of the best and cheapest thrills one can find in Asia. The night markets serve up everything from tasty treats to inexpensive belts and sandals.
Sure, there are similar street scenes across the continent, from Cambodia to China. In Taiwan, however, night markets are a cherished cultural phenomenon that embraces past traditions while remaining contemporary with quick-stepping, fashionably dressed young people who flood them.
Plunging into one of these body-bumping bazaars is a senses-awakening experience -- wafting smells of good food, neon lights that dazzle like disco strobes, the singsong sales pitches of hawkers with bullhorns competing with throbbing techno music. This cacophony of street-side capitalism can last well past midnight.
As afternoon wanes,

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city streets are transformed into a highly festive nocturnal world aglow with charcoal fires and electronic billboards. A river of restless young Taiwanese flows through a warren of lanes filled with portable stands. They shop for Nike shoes, electric razors and even puppies. Vendors blend fruit and sugarcane drinks. Chicken and squid sizzle on grills.

Like the corner pub

Some night markets have foot massage parlors; others, snake restaurants.

In Taipei, about 20 night markets occur every day in addition to "floating" night markets, open occasionally or on fixed evenings, such as Saturdays, explained Lula Han, an expert on Taiwanese culture. There are as many as 100 major night markets across the island, she added. "Every town, every city has two or three night markets," she said.
They are more than a place to pick up a pair of cheap sunglasses or grab a watermelon drink. For Taiwanese, they are equivalent to the corner pub where they meet friends and grab bites of handmade delicacies from curbside cooks.
Indeed, what really draws the jostling hordes is the xiaochi, or "small eats." In Taiwan, eating literally is a religious experience. That's because night markets initially sprang up around the many Buddhist temples in Taiwan, Han said. The Keelung market developed around Dianji Temple, which is more than a century old, to meet the eating needs of the faithful.
"We always say, when you worship God in the temple, you worship your body, your temple," Han said as we eagerly made our way to one of the oldest night markets in northern Taiwan, in the harbor city of Keelung, on a misty spring evening. "After you give food to the god in the temple, you give food to yourself. So the food stalls originated with the temples."
Religious devotion never tasted so good.
These days, just as many Taiwanese visit the alleyways lined with food stalls as they do the temple to burn incense in the name of good fortune. Even for non-Buddhists, the temples can offer relief: They frequently are the easiest place to find a bathroom in a night market.
The Keelung night market, located near the Keelung train station, is one of the more traditional street markets in Taiwan. It has a neighborly feel to it -- couples with young children stroll past the food stalls, students in their school uniforms cluster around an arcade. Its proximity to the harbor is reflected in the plethora of fresh seafood dishes. There is plenty of sushi and other Japanese-influenced food, harking back to the early 20th century, when Taiwan was ruled by Japan.
"Every time I come here, I think that my stomach is too small," Han said as we scanned scores of stalls selling everything from barbecued seafood to shaved-ice peanut desserts.

A low-cost feast

One can feast all night for as little as $4 to $10. It's not unusual to see a wealthy business executive in a suit and a customer of much less means sitting side by side on a wooden bench or on squat plastic stools to tuck into a bowl of rice noodles, purchased for a pittance.

What makes the food so appetizing is that the lightly pan-fried cabbage buns or oyster omelets smothered in soy and chili sauces have been made and sold in night markets by the same families for generations, explained Han, who once debated getting an apartment in Keelung simply so she could be in walking distance of its fabled night market.
In Taipei, one doesn't have to go out at night to enjoy night-market culture. Some day markets stay open into the evening. One of the most famous is the Dihua Street Market, a historic narrow brick lane surrounded by a mix of building architecture, from China's Fujian Province to Baroque and contemporary, located in the western part of this city of 2.6 million residents. It's a great place to buy Chinese medicine, bolts of cloth and lots of edible goodies.
A friend and I perused the dried-food stores lining the street late one afternoon. Merchants sold dried blueberries, mullet, green-tea pumpkin seeds and more. During the Lunar New Year, the area draws massive crowds who buy special holiday treats such as chewy candies and smoked duck.

Temples often near

As often is the case, whenever there is an abundance of good food around, a temple is not far away. In this case, the Hsiahai Cheng Huang Temple is just around the corner. The relatively small temple attracts many young people seeking advice and help in finding love.

The dried-food snacks served to awaken our appetite for another night market. This time we made our way to Shilin Night Market, the city's most famous, located near the Cicheng Temple, a subway station and a number of schools. It's something of an all-season night market: It has food stalls in alleyways as well as in an enclosed area, making it waterproof when it rains.
As the sky was darkening, pushcart vendors made their way to the area. Those without permits plant their stalls in the middle of walkways -- and are ready to roll away the moment police show up.
It doesn't take a food reviewer to find the best eats here: Just look for the long lines.
We found one in front of Yuan Shanghai Pan-fried Buns, where a small assembly line of workers rolled small slabs of pork and cabbage into dough balls, which were then simultaneously steamed and fried in giant vats. Each cost about 40 cents.

'The traditional way'

"We put our heart in it," owner Yang Jing-Chiang said. "We follow the traditional way."

She said she sells about 1,500 buns a night, though she could increase that significantly by opening up other stalls or quickening the pace of cooking them. But, Yang said, that would risk lowering the quality of her buns, also known as Sheng Jian Bao.
"We don't cut corners," said Yang, who stuffed the steaming-hot buns into plastic bags before handing them to hungry customers.
As the night progressed, we increasingly had to thread a thickening crowd as we sampled many other small eats -- almond milk, candied covered fruits, milk tea, "cool" noodles, or noodles made with soy sauce, peanuts, garlic and vegetables.
As we were leaving, we noticed another crowd about a block away.
It was yet another night market, pulling in more hordes of Taiwanese looking for good eats, tasty drinks and another evening under neon lights.

張掛國旗的回憶/台北市民政局一組國旗 要價二千三

張掛國旗的回憶

十月快過去，才注意到新生南路中間滿是國旗。

50年代的大甲鎮主要街頭 (譬如說，國旗縱貫公路上的順天路)

張掛的方式是由各家自備；警察會巡街，提醒民家掛出國旗。我還記得幫祖母從舊櫃中取出國旗的那種興奮，而現在台北市由政府委外掛，很馬虎，因為那黃金色的圓頭旗頂都沒啦──這是玻璃製品，必須小心翼翼處理。

2012.10.13
民政局一組國旗 要價二千三

民政局掛的國旗，一組加組裝要價二千三百七十元，遠超過公園處插的國旗二十倍。（記者劉榮攝）

公園處插在仁愛路上的國旗，平均成本一百一十五元 。 （記者劉榮攝）

比公園處、新工處貴二十倍
〔記者劉榮／台北報導〕北市今年國慶和元旦懸掛國旗，總共花了二百廿四萬元，但同樣是國旗，民政局採購的國旗比新工處、公園處貴了二十倍，含吊掛費，一組竟然高達二千三百七十元，公園處插在仁愛路上的國旗，則被民眾檢舉發霉，國旗上的青天白日，變成了「黑斑白日」。
民政局：不鏽鋼旗桿較貴
民政局回應，懸掛在仁愛路的國旗，都是採用不鏽鋼旗桿，旗面是訂製買斷，加上需以吊車方式進行懸掛，與市府公園處及新工處插掛於綠地、安全島及聯外橋樑、人行陸橋之國旗施作方式不同，故經費較高。
但市議員童仲彥質疑，各局處掛旗工程都是租用旗插、旗桿、旗頭，為何民政局施工費要如此高，如以公園處平均掛旗一面一百一十五元，民政局掛一面旗兩千三百七十元計算，兩者相差二十倍，簡直就是天價。
民政局則稱，其他單位用的不是不鏽鋼，像公園處用的是木頭，材質不同，而且這個價格還包括回收費，所以無法相提並論。
公園處國旗掛兩週長霉 也挨批
對於新掛不到二週的國旗發霉，議員質疑是用了舊貨，公園處表示，國旗都是全新品，預計十月都會懸掛，公園處會全部清點，把發霉長斑的全部都換掉。

計程車服務

台北計程車服務讚 排名世界第7

〔記者蔡偉祺、黃忠榮／綜合報導〕全球線上飯店服務供應商 Hotels.com昨天公布二○一二年最新計程車服務調查，台北計程車服務名列世界第七，英國倫敦的計程車服務排名第一，其次為美國紐約，日本東京第三 名，中國上海和泰國曼谷分居四、五名，顯示亞太地區計程車服務品質頗受肯定。

Hotels.com七月邀請全球旅客根據各國主要城市計程車 的乾淨度、司機對當地環境熟悉度、具搭乘價值、品質、親切度、安全性，以及計程車普及率等七個評分選項，票選出全球最佳計程車服務，共有來自廿八個國家城 市、超過一千六百名旅客參與。台灣在七項領域均奪得高分，躋身全球前十名。

Hotels.com排名調查中，倫敦獲得百分之十一的票數，拔得頭籌，紐約拿到百分之六．四，第三名起為東京（五．六％）、上海（四．八％）、曼谷（四．三％）、柏林（三．九％），台灣第七，拿下百分之三．四選票，接下來依序為香港、布宜諾斯艾利斯和墨爾本。
去年前五名則為倫敦、紐約、香港、東京、新加坡，台北和上海連前十大都未列入，今年雙雙超越香港進榜，顯示各城市競爭激烈。

Hotels.com亞太區資深公關經理陳芷雅表示，計程車是旅客首選交通工具之一，也是影響旅客對當地好感度關鍵，希望未來每一年全球計程車服務評比中，台灣都會有更好成績。
計程車安全性 乘客最重視

調查顯示，全球旅客對計程車「安全性」最為重視，「司機對當地環境的熟悉度」次之，第三則是「具搭乘價值」。值得一提的是，調查發現澳洲人最敢花錢搭乘計程車，花費最少的則是義大利人。

Hotels.com調查中也揭露不少乘客有趣行為，像有超過一半全球旅客表示，曾經在搭計程車時睡著（五十六％），有旅客也透露曾在計程車上遺失用過尿布、鞋子，甚至是活蹦亂跳的魚！
韓港中國業者 曾來台取經......

台灣大車隊企劃部資深經理黃韋圜昨晚表示，包括韓國、香港、大陸等的計程車業者及交通部門都曾經來台灣向台灣大車隊取經，台灣的計程車在國際評比有好的成績，除了感到高興外，更要加倍努力。

From Paris to Perm and beyondThe New York Times: 36 Hours. 125 Weekends in Europe

	The New York Times: 36 Hours. 125 Weekends in Europe
	From Paris to Perm and beyond
	Dream weekends with practical itineraries in all corners of Europe Culture, history, natural beauty, fine cuisine, artistic masterpieces, cutting-edge architecture and style—Europe overflows with so many riches that a lifetime seems too short to appreciate them. But with the right guidance, you can go far in a single weekend. Stylishly written and carefully researched, this updated and expanded collection of the popular New York Times 36 Hours feature offers you 125 well-crafted itineraries for quick but memorable European trips, accompanied by hundreds of color photographs to fire your imagination. Explore the expected: the Renaissance in Florence, surfing in Biarritz, flamenco in Seville. And discover the unexpected: Sicilian mummies dressed in their Sunday best, a dry-land toboggan ride on Madeira, a hotel in Tallinn with a KGB spies’ nest on the penthouse floor. World capitals, ancient nations that once ruled wide domains, tiny countries with big personalities—it’s all Europe, and all fun to read about (whether you actually go or not) in this handsomely designed and illustrated book. Features: 4,500 hours worth of insightful itineraries to make the most of your stay 125 European destinations, from major cities to lesser known gems Practical recommendations for over 500 restaurants and 400 hotels Color-coded tabs and ribbons to bookmark your favorite cities in each region Nearly 800 photos Illustrations by Olimpia Zagnoli Easy-to-reference indexes Detailed city-by-city maps pinpoint every stop on your itinerary		The New York Times: 36 Hours. 125 Weekends in Europe Barbara Ireland Flexicover 6.6 x 9.4 in., 644 pages $ 39.99

南市府帶頭 鼓勵民宅種電

鼓勵民宅種電 南市府帶頭

未來包括台南市政府南區公所的建物樓頂，都將架設太陽光電系統。 （記者黃博郎翻攝）

這種鐵棟覆面式結構來架設太陽光電系統，可阻隔太陽熱能，降低建物熱度，且預留再使用的功能。 （記者黃博郎翻攝）

業者提供設備 區公所年賺6萬
〔記 者黃博郎／台南報導〕台南市政府積極推動「太陽光電城計畫」，南區公所率先與業者簽約，將在二百八十坪的屋頂裝設太陽能發電設備「種電」，自己不花半毛 錢，還可分配百分之六的回饋金，一年約賺六萬元。各里、社區活動中心也將跟進，帶動民宅「種電」風潮，希望讓台南成為太陽能示範之都。
台南地區雨水少、日照長，適合發展太陽能發電，台南市長賴清德就任後即宣示推動「太陽光電城計畫」，南區公所率先響應陽光屋頂百萬政策。
南區區長劉啟崇表示，第一階段將先裝置二十九．八Kwp之太陽能光電設備，產生電力由業者出售給台電，售電金額再撥出百分之六的回饋金，由區公所繳納市政府。後續再擴充到安裝三百九十片光電板，約發電九十一．六五Kwp，預估回饋金每年約六萬元。
負責裝設的廠商指出，為符經濟效益，該公司過去主要以大坪數廠房為主，裝設坪數以百坪起跳，一百坪的裝設成本約兩百一十萬，但為配合政府太陽能政策，投入小坪數市場，最少九坪即可施作。
因很多人希望頂樓還能做其他用途，改採鐵棟覆面式結構來架設太陽光電系統，對樓板覆蓋率達八十五％以上，還可阻隔太陽熱能，降低建物熱度，且預留樓頂再使用的功能。
百坪屋頂裝光電板 成本約210萬
民眾擔心裝設太陽能設備會否因計畫中斷讓投資血本無歸？業者解釋，參與太陽能發電有兩種方式，一是自行與台電簽約，再出錢請廠商裝設備，售電所得均歸自己，但要考慮多年後才能回收的問題。
二是比照南區公所，由廠商出資裝設，等於是出租頂樓，廠商售電後再回饋百分之六。但不管是民眾或廠商，都與台電簽約廿年，依簽約價執行，不會變動。
搶先在服務處裝設太陽能發電的文南里里長陳清泉說，服務處樓頂約廿坪，發電量約九．九Kwp，每年可獲一萬元回饋金，用於社區老人福利，不僅有利環保，更可造福社區。

Following Dickens Through Switzerland

旅遊

跟着狄更斯游瑞士

ADAM H. GRAHAM 報道 2012年10月11日

Elisabeth Real for The New York Times

聖伯納德大山口。

穿着雪鞋在阿爾卑斯山聖伯納德大山口(Great St. Bernard Pass)崎嶇的山路向上爬，本以為這段路只要走一個小時，現在已經走了90分鐘。我的瑞士導遊——納沙泰爾大學(Université de Neuchâtel)的文學教授帕特里克·文森特(Patrick Vincent)發誓說，我們要去的那座11世紀修道院就在下一個拐彎處。這座建築處在海拔8100英尺高處，位於瑞士、意大利和法國接壤的雪山地帶上， 有着豐厚的歷史：它是由聖伯納德本人創建的，修道士飼養的那種著名的聖伯納德犬也誕生在這裡；還曾經給拿破崙和大仲馬等傑出的訪客提供過食宿。不過，我想 參觀這個地方還另有原因。我正在追溯查爾斯·狄更斯(Charles Dickens)的足跡，1846年他居住在瑞士的時候，曾沿着這同一道大山口爬上了這座修道院。
儘管狄更斯最廣為人知的是他對倫敦街頭的生動刻畫，還有他的美國遊記，但他也同樣受到過瑞士的啟發。在這裡，他花了五個月時間寫出了《董貝父子》 (Dombey and Son)，找到了創作《小杜麗》(Little Dorrit)和《大衛·科波菲爾》(David Copperfield)的靈感，還寫了他的第四個聖誕故事。不過他不僅是作為一個作家在這裡休養，而是把妻子、六個孩子以及家裡的狗都帶到了洛桑 (Lausanne)，住在別墅里，雇了四個僕人。

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Elisabeth Real for The New York Times

狄更斯曾在洛桑停留了幾個月，並在這裡進行寫作。

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Elisabeth Real for The New York Times

狄更斯曾在拉沃的葡萄酒區作夜間漫步。

狄更斯抽出時間和家人、朋友一起探索了這個國家，並且在一大堆私人信件當中詳細描述了對這裡的印象，其中很多話語都滿帶諷刺，但仍然毫不掩飾地表達 了他對瑞士的鐘愛。“上帝啊！這是一個多麼美麗的國家！”他在寫給朋友（以及他後來的傳記作者）約翰·福士特(John Forster)的信中這樣明確地說道。他越來越喜愛瑞士，一生中一共四次到訪這裡，並且還在英格蘭建造了一個永久的紀念品：他讓朋友將一所16世紀的瑞 士小木屋郵寄給他，他再重新將它裝砌起來，用作書房，甚至挖了一條真正瑞士風格的地下隧道，將小木屋與他家的房子連接起來。
今年春天，我進行了一次為期四天的旅行，在瑞士探索狄更斯經常到訪的三個地方，希望能發現，到底是什麼讓他屢屢故地重遊。除了狄更斯在修道院過夜之 前走過的聖伯納德大山口之外，我還會在洛桑停留。在那裡，狄更斯一家人住在別墅里，眺望着日內瓦湖（Lake Geneva，也稱“萊芒湖”——譯註）和拉沃葡萄園(Lavaux Vineyards)，作家每晚都在這裡花很長時間散步。下面所描述的，便是這些曾經偶然成為作家靈感來源的地方。
聖伯納德大山口與修道院
我們從洛桑開車去聖伯納德大山口，這是沿着瑞士最東邊的山路大拐彎上一段60英里的路程，沿途會經過很多小木屋群，還有馬丘比丘(Machu Picchu)那樣的陡峭的葡萄梯田。
在廢棄的超級聖伯納德度假村停好車之後，我們開始沿着這條吹着猛風的小路向上爬。下山的滑雪者從我們身邊呼嘯而過，沿路扔下一句句歡快的 “Bonjours”（法語“你好”）。“狄更斯是9月份來的，所以當時沒有雪，”教授一邊繫緊雪鞋一邊大聲喊着，“而且當時他是騎着驢子走的！”
我們沒有驢子，而這也不是我們這趟旅程和狄更斯那次唯一的不同之處。他和其他10人（包括妻子凱特以及兩名僕人），是從洛桑坐蒸汽輪船到達大山口， 然後坐四輪大馬車，然後再騎驢子。來迴路程一共用了四天。他們最後穿過的“荒涼谷”(Valley of Desolation)，被狄更斯描述成“巨大而可怕”，現在這裡的路很可能也絲毫不比1846年時好走。
狄更斯很早就已經在阿爾卑斯山旅行。維多利亞女王爬上陡峭崎嶇的皮拉圖斯峰(Mount Pilatus)，標誌着探索瑞士阿爾卑斯山的黃金時代到達頂峰，而在那之前22年，狄更斯就已經來到這裡。在寫給福士特的另一封信中，狄更斯對於那座修 道院的描述流露了他對阿爾卑斯山的恐懼與敬畏。“除了一連串令人害怕的山脈，還有一個巨大的山谷，中間是一個黑色的湖泊，陰雲長期籠罩在上面。空氣是那麼 稀薄，連呼吸都困難……劇烈的寒冷尖銳鋒利得無法形容。”
我在路上吃力地趕過一群穿着雪鞋的年老的當地人，就來到修道院的門口，發現狄更斯的描述與我所看到的景象相去甚遠。意大利、法國和瑞士接壤的景觀全 然是一片寧靜祥和，但那一片湖既沒有烏雲，也不是黑色的，而是一片冰冷的藍色，天空也如寶石一般透着晶瑩的蔚藍。一位修道士出來迎接我們，堅持讓我們來幾 碗湯滋潤一下。爬過四英里的山路之後，我已經氣喘吁吁，於是便徑直走向石砌飯廳里的那張公用餐桌。菜湯還慷慨地配上了厚厚的一片香濃巴涅(Bagnes) 奶酪，還有蜜茶、厚厚的黑麵包切片，以及一瓶就在這座山下的瓦萊(Valais)區出產的得勒(Dôle)紅酒。
狄更斯在一封信中曾寫到，他“在一個凌亂的房間里吃了一頓30多塊錢的大餐，屋裡柴火燒得很好”。他很可能也是用今天的修道士們所提供的土產奶酪和 酒來給自己滋潤了一下。不過你並不會在以法國人為主、包括了查理曼大帝(Charlemagne)、拿破崙和大仲馬的“到訪名人”(Les passants célèbres)名冊上看到他的名字。但考慮到他多次在信中將這些修道士形容為“冷酷”、“懶惰”和“一群徹頭徹尾的騙子”，這也就不算什麼意外了。雖 然我也可以像狄更斯曾經做過的那樣在這裡過一夜，但我只停留了幾個小時，匆匆地參觀了一下修道院的古怪博物館。裡面展出了本地的動物標本、古老的錢幣還有 曾經用於指引行程的地圖。我還尋找了一下那個有800年歷史的地窖，據說裡面存放着那些在穿越大山口中喪生的古老旅行者們的屍體。
狄更斯對此尤其着迷，在好幾封信中描述過它，甚至在《小杜麗》中用一段文字描寫這些可怕的“住客”。“那個母親在多年前的冬天被風暴阻攔在這裡，如 今她仍然站在那個角落裡，她的嬰兒仍然倚靠着她的乳房；那個男人僵直在那裡，或因為恐懼，或因為飢餓，手臂提到了嘴巴前面，他乾涸的嘴唇仍然年復一年緊緊 地擠在手臂上。這是一場可怕的聚會，他們如此神秘地走到了一起！”
洛桑
瑞士的里維埃拉(Riviera)沿着日內瓦湖一直延伸到富裕的蒙特勒(Montreux)，而洛桑便是里維埃拉的起始點。這一片地區對於作家們來 說並不陌生。英國散文家約瑟夫·艾迪生(Joseph Addison)在1699年來到日內瓦湖邊的阿爾卑斯山脈，在遊記《意大利幾個地方的幾點評論》(Remarks on Several Parts of Italy)中，他形容這裡有一種“令人愜意的恐怖”，當時他或許並不知道，他正在文學領域開創一種風尚，後來讓-雅克·盧梭(Jean-Jacques Rousseau)、愛德華·吉本(Edward Gibbon)、拜倫(Byron)、雪萊(Shelley)一家、馬克·吐溫(Mark Twain)和海明威(Hemingway)等作家也相繼效仿。

當然了，還有狄更斯。當他來到洛桑時，迎接他的是一個在當地定居的英國人小社區。1846年的6月到11月，狄更斯每月支付10英鎊租住羅斯蒙特別 墅(Villa Rosemont)，從那裡可以眺望白雪皚皚的密迪齒峰(Dents du Midi)和旁邊的湖泊。他寄回英格蘭的第一批信件中說得很清楚：“湖上的月色很是瑰麗”，而那崎嶇陡峭的道路“就像夢中的街道一樣”。他對這片風景的鐘 愛越發強烈。

不過狄更斯所描述的那個田園牧歌般的洛桑如今已經改變了。就像瑞士的大多數城市一樣，現代主義在20世紀完全滲透進了洛桑。狄更斯曾經短暫居住過的 吉本斯酒店(The Hotel Gibbons)，如今是一家瑞士銀行(UBS)；羅斯蒙特別墅現在叫做“大羅斯蒙特”(Grand Rosemont)，是一座宏偉的粉紅色裝飾派藝術公寓樓，位於查爾斯·狄更斯大街(Avenue Charles Dickens)上。如今，那條“L”形的走廊已經是一系列高雅藝術宅邸的所在地，被芳香的橡膠樹和鐵門兩邊光亮的冬青灌木叢包圍。沿着烏契大道 (Avenue d’Ouchy)往下走，你會路過“57號別墅”，狄更斯的一個兒子就曾在這裡上法語課。在愛麗舍大道(Avenue de l’Elysée)上來一個左轉彎，便會來到綠樹繁茂的愛麗舍莊園(Elysée Estate)，狄更斯曾考慮過租住在這裡，但又覺得它太大了。這座鋪着破舊鑲木地板的建築里，有個名叫愛麗舍攝影館(Musée de l’Elysée)的地方，是藝術氣息濃厚的洛桑值得一去的眾多博物館之一。

如今，洛桑那些陡直的大街和人行道仍然保持着一種夢幻般的質感。一股年輕鮮活的創造力瀰漫在整座城市，讓它擁有“瑞士反傳統文化之都”的美譽。在這 裡當一天的浪蕩遊民也是一個不錯的選擇。在4月一個溫暖的下午，我在陡峭的烏契大道附近閑逛，這條路一直沿着諾拉山(Mount Jorat)直接俯衝到湖上，周圍有很多工作室，屬於那些邋遢不羈音樂家和戴眼鏡的建築師們。城中到處充滿着現代社會的反差對照：一位年老的修女穿過街 道，附近有三名包着頭巾的阿拉伯女人；一位穿着魚網襪的女商人滑步坐進一輛黑色奔馳的駕駛座上，與此同時，可以看到一根領帶被人遺棄在路邊，還打着一個鬆 動的溫莎結，彷彿是主人將它甩在那裡，永遠地放棄了工作。畢竟，這裡是瑞士靠近法國的那一邊。

拉沃
狄更斯喜歡散步，而他在寫給福士特的信中也透露了，在那個夏天，每個晚上，他都準時6點鐘開始一段9到10英里的徒步跋涉，穿過附近的“葡萄園、綠 草小徑、小麥田和干牧草地”。那“長長的暮光和美麗的夜晚”將他吸引到了拉沃。這是一個古老的地方，葡萄梯田從湖邊往山上延伸，如同山腰間一片綠色的迷 宮。在這裡，他可以看到變幻無窮的阿爾卑斯山最美的景觀，“山巒有時候是紅色、紫色或者黑色，有時候在雲朵和薄霧籠罩下又顯得非常陰森。”
拉沃在2007年被寫入聯合國教科文組織世界遺產名錄(Unesco’s World Heritage List)。它有着純凈的美，但要探索遊覽它卻並非易事。想進行輕鬆的單車旅行，它的道路太陡；而如果租用沒有上過保險的汽車，它的路又太窄。不過我在洛 桑火車站租的電動單車卻是再完美不過。由於這裡是服務至上的瑞士，那輛單車被保養得很好——輪胎充滿了氣，鏈條上足了油，電池也充夠了電。
這輛電動單車讓我得以在一天之內看到了狄更斯可能徒步一個月才能看到的拉沃景色，而我也得到了不少鍛煉。陡峭的山能讓人腎上腺素激增，但卻沒有讓我 汗流浹背，停下來時還是可以與當地人一起享受一杯埃佩斯(Epesses)葡萄酒。狄更斯描述的景色在現代的洛桑已經損失了很多，但卻可以在這裡重新找回 來。我騎車駛過格朗沃(Grandvaux)和沙爾多納(Chardonne)這些風景如畫的葡萄酒庄，它們如同手鐲上的掛飾一樣圍繞在山間。我傾慕那一 片晚霞，淡紅的日落在山峰上泛着光。還有那“暮色時刻”(l’heure bleue)，就是黃昏之後天邊呈現蔚藍光芒的那段時間。在維諾拉馬葡萄酒博物館(Vinorama Wine Museum)稍作停留，也是品嘗瑞士白葡萄酒的絕佳機會。如今瑞士的葡萄酒只有2%用於出口，而那些葡萄已經在當地培育生長了1000年。

你很難不因拉沃的美麗而變得柔和起來，狄更斯對於瑞士最溫和的評價也是在這裡做出的，並最終出現在了《小杜麗》的書頁上：“空氣中充滿豐收的葡萄香氣。籃子、水槽還有一桶桶葡萄囤在村莊昏暗的門道里。遠處很少能看得清楚的教堂屋頂在這一片風景中閃現着。”

然而就像艾米·杜麗穿越那片大陸的旅程一樣，狄更斯在瑞士的夏天也終告結束。他在離開之前寫了最後一封信：“當然沒有任何地方堪與倫敦比擬，這話我 似乎在童年時就已經聽說過了。但現在我幾乎可以肯定那是保姆的謊言。山脈、深谷、湖泊還有葡萄和綠草小徑，便是我如今所信奉的一切。”

本文最初發表於2012年7月8日。
翻譯: 邵智傑

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Footsteps

Following Dickens Through Switzerland

By ADAM H. GRAHAM October 11, 2012

旅游

跟着狄更斯游瑞士

A*DAM H. GRAHAM 报道 2012年10月11日

NINETY minutes into what was supposed to be an hourlong snowshoe walk up the craggy Great St. Bernard Pass in the Alps, my Swiss guide — Patrick Vincent, professor of literature at the Université de Neuchâtel — swore that the 11th-century monastery we’d set out for was just around the next bend. The structure, perched on this 8,100-foot-high pass where the snowy seams of Switzerland, Italy and France converge, has a storied history: it was founded by St. Bernard himself, is the birthplace of the iconic dog bred by the monks, and it provided room and board for illustrious visitors like Napoleon and Alexandre Dumas. But I wanted to see it for a different reason. I was retracing the steps of Charles Dickens, who ascended this same pass to get to the monastery while living in Switzerland in 1846.

穿着雪鞋在阿尔卑斯山圣伯纳德大山口(Great St. Bernard Pass)崎岖的山路向上爬，本以为这段路只要走一个小时，现在已经走了90分钟。我的瑞士导游——纳沙泰尔大学(Université de Neuchâtel)的文学教授帕特里克·文森特(Patrick Vincent)发誓说，我们要去的那座11世纪修道院就在下一个拐弯处。这座建筑处在海拔8100英尺高处，位于瑞士、意大利和法国接壤的雪山地带上， 有着丰厚的历史：它是由圣伯纳德本人创建的，修道士饲养的那种著名的圣伯纳德犬也诞生在这里；还曾经给拿破仑和大仲马等杰出的访客提供过食宿。不过，我想 参观这个地方还另有原因。我正在追溯查尔斯·狄更斯(Charles Dickens)的足迹，1846年他居住在瑞士的时候，曾沿着这同一道大山口爬上了这座修道院。

Though known mostly for his depiction of gritty London streets and of his travels to America, Dickens was also inspired by Switzerland, where he spent five months writing “Dombey and Son,” found inspiration for “Little Dorrit” and “David Copperfield” and finished his fourth Christmas story. His visit was no mere writer’s retreat: he temporarily moved his wife, six children and the family dog to Lausanne, where they lived in a villa staffed with four servants.

尽管狄更斯最广为人知的是他对伦敦街头的生动刻画，还有他的美国游记， 但他也同样受到过瑞士的启发。在这里，他花了五个月时间写出了《董贝父子》(Dombey and Son)，找到了创作《小杜丽》(Little Dorrit)和《大卫·科波菲尔》(David Copperfield)的灵感，还写了他的第四个圣诞故事。不过他不仅是作为一个作家在这里休养，而是把妻子、六个孩子以及家里的狗都带到了洛桑 (Lausanne)，住在别墅里，雇了四个仆人。

Dickens found time to explore the country with his family and friends, and recounted his impressions in a ream of private letters, many of them prickly, that nonetheless indicated his unabashed love for Switzerland. “Oh god! What a beautiful country it is!” he proclaimed in one letter to John Forster, his friend (and later biographer). He became so fond of Switzerland that over the course of his life he visited four times and created a permanent souvenir in England: he reassembled a 16th-century Swiss chalet that a friend had mailed to him. He used it as a study, even connecting it to his home via an underground tunnel in true Helvetic style.

狄更斯抽出时间和家人、朋友一起探索了这个国家，并且在一大堆私人信件 当中详细描述了对这里的印象，其中很多话语都满带讽刺，但仍然毫不掩饰地表达了他对瑞士的钟爱。“上帝啊！这是一个多么美丽的国家！”他在写给朋友（以及 他后来的传记作者）约翰·福斯特(John Forster)的信中这样明确地说道。他越来越喜爱瑞士，一生中一共四次到访这里，并且还在英格兰建造了一个永久的纪念品：他让朋友将一所16世纪的瑞 士小木屋邮寄给他，他再重新将它装砌起来，用作书房，甚至挖了一条真正瑞士风格的地下隧道，将小木屋与他家的房子连接起来。

This spring I set out on a four-day trip to explore three areas of Switzerland frequented by Dickens, in hopes of discovering what kept him coming back. In addition to the Great St. Bernard Pass, which Dickens took before overnighting at the monastery, I would stop in Lausanne, where the Dickens family stayed in a villa overlooking Lake Geneva, and the Lavaux Vineyards, where the writer took long nightly walks. These settings, described below, became an occasional writer’s muse.

今年春天，我进行了一次为期四天的旅行，在瑞士探索狄更斯经常到访的三 个地方，希望能发现，到底是什么让他屡屡故地重游。除了狄更斯在修道院过夜之前走过的圣伯纳德大山口之外，我还会在洛桑停留。在那里，狄更斯一家人住在别 墅里，眺望着日内瓦湖（Lake Geneva，也称“莱芒湖”——译注）和拉沃葡萄园(Lavaux Vineyards)，作家每晚都在这里花很长时间散步。下面所描述的，便是这些曾经偶然成为作家灵感来源的地方。

We traveled to the Great St. Bernard Pass from Lausanne by car, on a 60-mile route that hugged the easternmost hook of Switzerland, passing clusters of chalets and steep vineyard terraces that resembled Machu Picchu.

我们从洛桑开车去圣伯纳德大山口，这是沿着瑞士最东边的山路大拐弯上一段60英里的路程，沿途会经过很多小木屋群，还有马丘比丘(Machu Picchu)那样的陡峭的葡萄梯田。

After parking in the abandoned Super St.-Bernard Resort, we began a climb up the gusty trail. “Dickens came in September, so there was no snow,” shouted the professor, tightening his snowshoes as downhill skiers zipped past us, dropping chirpy “Bonjours” along the way. “And he traveled on mule!”

在废弃的超级圣伯纳德度假村停好车之后，我们开始沿着这条吹着猛风的小 路向上爬。下山的滑雪者从我们身边呼啸而过，沿路扔下一句句欢快的“Bonjours”（法语“你好”）。“狄更斯是9月份来的，所以当时没有雪，”教授 一边系紧雪鞋一边大声喊着，“而且当时他是骑着驴子走的！”

We didn’t have a mule, and that’s not the only difference between our journey and Dickens’s. He and his 11-member party (including his wife, Kate, and two servants), traveled to the pass from Lausanne by steamer, then coach, then mule. The round-trip journey took them four days, and the last leg through the steep Valley of Desolation, described by Dickens as “awful and tremendous,” is probably no easier to climb today than it was in 1846.

我们没有驴子，而这也不是我们这趟旅程和狄更斯那次唯一的不同之处。他 和其他10人（包括妻子凯特以及两名仆人），是从洛桑坐蒸汽轮船到达大山口，然后坐四轮大马车，然后再骑驴子。来回路程一共用了四天。他们最后穿过的“荒 凉谷”(Valley of Desolation)，被狄更斯描述成“巨大而可怕”，现在这里的路很可能也丝毫不比1846年时好走。

Dickens was an early Alpine traveler, arriving 22 years before Queen Victoria’s climb up toothy Mount Pilatus, which marked the apex of Switzerland’s golden age of Alpine exploration. In another letter to Forster, Dickens’s description of the monastery revealed his terror and reverence of the Alps. “A great hollow on top of a range of dreadful mountains, and in the midst, a black lake, with phantom clouds perpetually stalking over it. The air so fine, it is difficult to breathe ... the cold so exquisitely thin and sharp that it is not to be described.”

狄更斯很早就已经在阿尔卑斯山旅行。维多利亚女王爬上陡峭崎岖的皮拉图 斯峰(Mount Pilatus)，标志着探索瑞士阿尔卑斯山的黄金时代到达顶峰，而在那之前22年，狄更斯就已经来到这里。在写给福斯特的另一封信中，狄更斯对于那座修 道院的描述流露了他对阿尔卑斯山的恐惧与敬畏。“除了一连串令人害怕的山脉，还有一个巨大的山谷，中间是一个黑色的湖泊，阴云长期笼罩在上面。空气是那么 稀薄，连呼吸都困难……剧烈的寒冷尖锐锋利得无法形容。”

That description was a contrast to the scene that I took in when I reached the entrance to the monastery — just moments ahead of a group of older local snowshoers I’d barely managed to pass on the trail. The views of Italy, France and Switzerland were downright halcyon, and the lake was not cloudy and black but frost-blue under a hyacinth sky. We were met by a monk, who insisted we nourish ourselves over bowls of soup. Totally winded from the four-mile ascent, I made a beeline for the communal tables in the stone dining hall. The vegetable soup came with a generous slab of creamy Bagnes cheese, honey-sweetened tea, thick slices of brown bread, and a carafe of red Dôle wine produced in the Valais region just below us.

我在路上吃力地赶过一群穿着雪鞋的年老的当地人，就来到修道院的门口， 发现狄更斯的描述与我所看到的景象相去甚远。意大利、法国和瑞士接壤的景观全然是一片宁静祥和，但那一片湖既没有乌云，也不是黑色的，而是一片冰冷的蓝 色，天空也如宝石一般透着晶莹的蔚蓝。一位修道士出来迎接我们，坚持让我们来几碗汤滋润一下。爬过四英里的山路之后，我已经气喘吁吁，于是便径直走向石砌 饭厅里的那张公用餐桌。菜汤还慷慨地配上了厚厚的一片香浓巴涅(Bagnes)奶酪，还有蜜茶、厚厚的黑面包切片，以及一瓶就在这座山下的瓦莱 (Valais)区出产的得勒(Dôle)红酒。

Dickens wrote in a letter that he “supped thirty strong in a rambling room with a great wood-fire,” probably nourishing himself on the same local cheese and wine that the monks serve today. But you won’t find his name on the Franco-centric register of “Les passants célèbres,” which includes Charlemagne, Napoleon and Dumas. It’s no surprise, considering that in various letters he described the monks as “grim,” “lazy” and “a piece of sheer humbug.” Though it’s still possible to stay the night, as Dickens did, I stayed for just a few hours, filling my time with a quick tour of the monastery’s oddball museum, which showcased local taxidermy and ancient coins and maps, once used for passage. I also searched for the 800-year-old crypt, allegedly stuffed with the bodies of ancient travelers who didn’t survive the crossing.

狄更斯在一封信中曾写到，他“在一个凌乱的房间里吃了一顿30多块钱的 大餐，屋里柴火烧得很好”。他很可能也是用今天的修道士们所提供的土产奶酪和酒来给自己滋润了一下。不过你并不会在以法国人为主、包括了查理曼大帝 (Charlemagne)、拿破仑和大仲马的“到访名人”(Les passants célèbres)名册上看到他的名字。但考虑到他多次在信中将这些修道士形容为“冷酷”、“懒惰”和“一群彻头彻尾的骗子”，这也就不算什么意外了。虽 然我也可以像狄更斯曾经做过的那样在这里过一夜，但我只停留了几个小时，匆匆地参观了一下修道院的古怪博物馆。里面展出了本地的动物标本、古老的钱币还有 曾经用于指引行程的地图。我还寻找了一下那个有800年历史的地窖，据说里面存放着那些在穿越大山口中丧生的古老旅行者们的尸体。

Dickens was especially obsessed with it, describing it in several letters and even devoting a gripping passage of “Little Dorrit” to its grisly occupants. “The mother, storm-belated many winters ago, still standing in the corner with her baby at her breast; the man who had frozen with his arm raised to his mouth in fear or hunger, still pressing it with his dry lips after years and years. An awful company, mysteriously come together!”

狄更斯对此尤其着迷，在好几封信中描述过它，甚至在《小杜丽》中用一段 文字描写这些可怕的“住客”。“那个母亲在多年前的冬天被风暴阻拦在这里，如今她仍然站在那个角落里，她的婴儿仍然倚靠着她的乳房；那个男人僵直在那里， 或因为恐惧，或因为饥饿，手臂提到了嘴巴前面，他干涸的嘴唇仍然年复一年紧紧地挤在手臂上。这是一场可怕的聚会，他们如此神秘地走到了一起！”

LAUSANNE

洛桑

Lausanne marks the beginning of the Swiss Riviera, which stretches along Lake Geneva toward moneyed Montreux. The region is no stranger to writers. When the English essayist Joseph Addison visited Lake Geneva’s Alps in 1699, describing them as “an agreeable kind of horror” in his travelogue “Remarks on Several Parts of Italy,” he probably didn’t know he was kick-starting a literary trend that would later draw the likes of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Edward Gibbon, Byron, the Shelleys, Mark Twain and Hemingway.

瑞士的里维埃拉(Riviera)沿着日内瓦湖一直延伸到富裕的蒙特勒 (Montreux)，而洛桑便是里维埃拉的起始点。这一片地区对于作家们来说并不陌生。英国散文家约瑟夫·艾迪生(Joseph Addison)在1699年来到日内瓦湖边的阿尔卑斯山脉，在游记《意大利几个地方的几点评论》(Remarks on Several Parts of Italy)中，他形容这里有一种“令人惬意的恐怖”，当时他或许并不知道，他正在文学领域开创一种风尚，后来让-雅克·卢梭(Jean-Jacques Rousseau)、爱德华·吉本(Edward Gibbon)、拜伦(Byron)、雪莱(Shelley)一家、马克·吐温(Mark Twain)和海明威(Hemingway)等作家也相继效仿。

And, of course, Dickens. When he arrived in Lausanne, he was greeted by a small English community that had already settled there. From June into November of 1846, Dickens paid £10 a month to rent Villa Rosemont, which overlooked the snowy Dents du Midi and the lake. His first letters back to England were lucid: the “moonlight on the lake is noble” and the steep up-and-down streets are “like the streets in dreams.” And his love of the landscape only grew stronger.

当然了，还有狄更斯。当他来到洛桑时，迎接他的是一个在当地定居的英国 人小社区。1846年的6月到11月，狄更斯每月支付10英镑租住罗斯蒙特别墅(Villa Rosemont)，从那里可以眺望白雪皑皑的密迪齿峰(Dents du Midi)和旁边的湖泊。他寄回英格兰的第一批信件中说得很清楚：“湖上的月色很是瑰丽”，而那崎岖陡峭的道路“就像梦中的街道一样”。他对这片风景的钟 爱越发强烈。

But Dickens’s bucolic Lausanne has changed. Like most Swiss cities, Lausanne embraced modernism in the 20th century. The Hotel Gibbons, where the writer briefly stayed, is now a UBS bank; Villa Rosemont is now the Grand Rosemont, a brawny pink Art Deco condominium on Avenue Charles Dickens. Today, the L-shaped lane is home to a string of Beaux-Arts mansions shaded by sweet gum trees and glossy spikes of holly bushes pushing through iron gates. A walk down Avenue d’Ouchy brings you past La Villa at No. 57, where one of Dickens’s sons took French lessons. A left turn on Avenue de l’Elysée leads to the leafy Elysée Estate, which Dickens considered renting but thought too large. The creaky parquet-floored building houses a photography museum (Musée de l’Elysée), one of many museums in arty Lausanne worth visiting.

不过狄更斯所描述的那个田园牧歌般的洛桑如今已经改变了。就像瑞士的大 多数城市一样，现代主义在20世纪完全渗透进了洛桑。狄更斯曾经短暂居住过的吉本斯酒店(The Hotel Gibbons)，如今是一家瑞士银行(UBS)；罗斯蒙特别墅现在叫做“大罗斯蒙特”(Grand Rosemont)，是一座宏伟的粉红色装饰派艺术公寓楼，位于查尔斯·狄更斯大街(Avenue Charles Dickens)上。如今，那条“L”形的走廊已经是一系列高雅艺术宅邸的所在地，被芳香的橡胶树和铁门两边光亮的冬青灌木丛包围。沿着乌契大道 (Avenue d’Ouchy)往下走，你会路过“57号别墅”，狄更斯的一个儿子就曾在这里上法语课。在爱丽舍大道(Avenue de l’Elysée)上来一个左转弯，便会来到绿树繁茂的爱丽舍庄园(Elysée Estate)，狄更斯曾考虑过租住在这里，但又觉得它太大了。这座铺着破旧镶木地板的建筑里，有个名叫爱丽舍摄影馆(Musée de l’Elysée)的地方，是艺术气息浓厚的洛桑值得一去的众多博物馆之一。

Today Lausanne’s vertical, steep streets and sidewalks retain a dreamlike quality. A youthful creative energy pervades the city, earning it the distinction of Switzerland’s counterculture capital, and not a bad place to be a flâneur for a day. On a warm April afternoon, I strolled past the ateliers of scruffy musicians and bespectacled architects near steep Avenue d’Ouchy, which plunges down Mount Jorat to the lake. The city bursted with modern contrasts: an elderly nun crossed the street near three Arab women in headscarves; a businesswoman in fishnets slinked into the driver’s seat of a black Mercedes, while a tie lay abandoned on the sidewalk in a loosened Windsor knot, as if its owner had flung it off, renouncing work forever. This was the French side of Switzerland after all.

如今，洛桑那些陡直的大街和人行道仍然保持着一种梦幻般的质感。一股年 轻鲜活的创造力弥漫在整座城市，让它拥有“瑞士反传统文化之都”的美誉。在这里当一天的浪荡游民也是一个不错的选择。在4月一个温暖的下午，我在陡峭的乌 契大道附近闲逛，这条路一直沿着诺拉山(Mount Jorat)直接俯冲到湖上，周围有很多工作室，属于那些邋遢不羁音乐家和戴眼镜的建筑师们。城中到处充满着现代社会的反差对照：一位年老的修女穿过街 道，附近有三名包着头巾的阿拉伯女人；一位穿着鱼网袜的女商人滑步坐进一辆黑色奔驰的驾驶座上，与此同时，可以看到一根领带被人遗弃在路边，还打着一个松 动的温莎结，仿佛是主人将它甩在那里，永远地放弃了工作。毕竟，这里是瑞士靠近法国的那一边。

LAVAUX

拉沃

Dickens was fond of walking, and his letters to Forster reveal that every evening that summer at 6 o’clock sharp, he set off on 9- to 10-mile treks through the neighboring “vineyards, green lanes, cornfields, and pastures of hay.” The “long twilight and delicious evenings” lured him to Lavaux, an ancient clover-green labyrinth of mountainside grape terraces that cobbles up the mountain from the lake. There he got a vantage view of the ever-changing Alps, “which were sometimes red, purple, or black and sometimes very ghosts in the clouds and mist.”

狄更斯喜欢散步，而他在写给福斯特的信中也透露了，在那个夏天，每个晚 上，他都准时6点钟开始一段9到10英里的徒步跋涉，穿过附近的“葡萄园、绿草小径、小麦田和干牧草地”。那“长长的暮光和美丽的夜晚”将他吸引到了拉 沃。这是一个古老的地方，葡萄梯田从湖边往山上延伸，如同山腰间一片绿色的迷宫。在这里，他可以看到变幻无穷的阿尔卑斯山最美的景观，“山峦有时候是红 色、紫色或者黑色，有时候在云朵和薄雾笼罩下又显得非常阴森。”

Lavaux, inscribed on Unesco’s World Heritage List in 2007, has a rarefied beauty but is cumbersome to explore. Trails are too steep for a leisurely bike ride and too narrow for an uninsured rental car. But they’re perfect for an e-bike, which I rented at the Lausanne train station. And because this is service-forward Switzerland, the bike was fine-tuned — tires inflated, chain oiled and batteries charged.

拉沃在2007年被写入联合国教科文组织世界遗产名录 (Unesco’s World Heritage List)。它有着纯净的美，但要探索游览它却并非易事。想进行轻松的自行车旅行，它的道路太陡；而如果租用没有上过保险的汽车，它的路又太窄。不过我在 洛桑火车站租的电动自行车却是再完美不过。由于这里是服务至上的瑞士，那辆自行车被保养得很好——轮胎充满了气，链条上足了油，电池也充够了电。

The e-bike allowed me to see as much of Lavaux in one day as Dickens might have seen in a month on foot, and I got plenty of exercise too. The steep hill still got the adrenaline flowing, but not so much that I was too sweaty to enjoy a glass of Epesses with locals when I stopped. Whatever bits of Dickens were lost in modern Lausanne were rediscovered here. I rolled through picturesque wine villages like Grandvaux and Chardonne, which dangle from hillsides like charms on a bracelet. I admired the alpenglühen, a pinkish sunset glow atop the peaks, and l’heure bleue, that sapphire hour after dusk. A stop at Vinorama Wine Museum was an excellent way to sample flinty Swiss whites. Though only 2 percent of Swiss wines are exported today, the grapes have been cultivated there for 1,000 years.

这辆电动自行车让我得以在一天之内看到了狄更斯可能徒步一个月才能看到 的拉沃景色，而我也得到了不少锻炼。陡峭的山能让人肾上腺素激增，但却没有让我汗流浃背，停下来时还是可以与当地人一起享受一杯埃佩斯(Epesses) 葡萄酒。狄更斯描述的景色在现代的洛桑已经损失了很多，但却可以在这里重新找回来。我骑车驶过格朗沃(Grandvaux)和沙尔多纳 (Chardonne)这些风景如画的葡萄酒庄，它们如同手镯上的挂饰一样围绕在山间。我倾慕那一片晚霞，淡红的日落在山峰上泛着光。还有那“暮色时刻” (l’heure bleue)，就是黄昏之后天边呈现蔚蓝光芒的那段时间。在维诺拉马葡萄酒博物馆(Vinorama Wine Museum)稍作停留，也是品尝瑞士白葡萄酒的绝佳机会。如今瑞士的葡萄酒只有2%用于出口，而那些葡萄已经在当地培育生长了1000年。

It’s hard not to be softened by Lavaux’s beauty, and Dickens’s warmest observations of Switzerland were made here, and ended up in the pages of “Little Dorrit”: “The air there was charged with the scent of gathered grapes. Baskets, troughs, and tubs of grapes stood in the dim village doorways. Church-roofs, distant and rarely seen, had sparkled in the view.”

你很难不因拉沃的美丽而变得柔和起来，狄更斯对于瑞士最温和的评价也是在这里做出的，并最终出现在了《小杜丽》的书页上：“空气中充满丰收的葡萄香气。篮子、水槽还有一桶桶葡萄囤在村庄昏暗的门道里。远处很少能看得清楚的教堂屋顶在这一片风景中闪现着。”

But just like Amy Dorrit’s journey though the Continent, Dickens’s Swiss summer came to an end. Before he left, he wrote in a final letter: “Surely there is no such place as London. I seem to have heard of it in my childhood, but I am pretty sure it was a lie of the nurse’s. Mountains, valleys, lakes and vines and green lanes, are all I believe in.”

然而就像艾米·杜丽穿越那片大陆的旅程一样，狄更斯在瑞士的夏天也终告 结束。他在离开之前写了最后一封信：“当然没有任何地方堪与伦敦比拟，这话我似乎在童年时就已经听说过了。但现在我几乎可以肯定那是保姆的谎言。山脉、深 谷、湖泊还有葡萄和绿草小径，便是我如今所信奉的一切。”

本文最初发表于2012年7月8日。
翻译: 邵智杰

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 Taiwan to ask Apple to blur satellite images of top-secret base available on ...
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TAIPEI — Taiwan said Tuesday it will ask US tech giant Apple to blur satellite images of sensitive military installations which are freely available to iPhone 5 users. The defence ministry reacted after the Liberty Times newspaper printed a satellite ...


Taiwan to ask Apple to blur satellite images of top-secret base available on iPhone 5

• From AFP
• Last Updated: 12:46 PM, October 10, 2012
• Posted: 12:45 PM, October 10, 2012

TAIPEI — Taiwan said Tuesday it will ask US tech giant Apple to blur satellite images of sensitive military installations which are freely available to iPhone 5 users.
The defence ministry reacted after the Liberty Times newspaper printed a satellite picture, downloaded with an iPhone 5, showing a top-secret long-range radar base in the northern county of Hsinchu.
"Regarding images taken by commercial satellites, legally we can do nothing about it," the ministry's spokesman David Lo told reporters.
"But we'll ask Apple to lower the resolution of satellite images of some confidential military establishments the way we've asked Google in the past," he said, referring to the Google Earth programme.

Apple has not yet received a formal request, according to Bravo, a Taiwan PR company handling its media relations. It declined to speculate how Apple would respond to a request.
The Hsinchu base houses a cutting-edge long-range radar procured from the United States in 2003. Construction of the radar is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The ultra-high-frequency radar, supplied by US defence group Raytheon, is capable of detecting missiles launched as far away as Xinjiang in China's northwest, military officials say.
They say the radar, which cost Tw$36 billion ($1.23 billion), is designed to give Taiwan minutes of extra warning in case of a Chinese missile attack.
Taiwanese experts estimate China currently has over 1,600 ballistic missiles aimed at the island.
The number appears to have continued to rise despite improved relations since 2008 when Ma Ying-jeou of the China-friendly Kuomintang party became Taiwan's president.
Beijing still sees the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary, even though Taiwan has governed itself since 1949 at the end of a civil war.

「台湾と米国の秘密施設」がアップルとMSの地図に

マイクロソフトの「Bing Maps」上では、米海軍の特殊部隊がリハーサルに使った、ビン・ラディン邸宅のフルスケール・モデルが見つかった。アップルの「Maps」では、台湾で最高機密とされる基地が明らかに。

1 2

米国ノースカロライナ州に建てられていた、ビン・ラディン邸宅のフルスケール・モデル。 Image: Microsoft

政府が隠しておきたいものを衛星写真が明らかにするというケースがまた生じた。アップルの「Maps」によって、台湾で最高機密とされる基地が明らかになったのだ。また10月9日にはマイクロソフトの「Bing Maps」上で、米海軍の特殊部隊「SEALs」がオサマ・ビン・ラディン急襲のリハーサルに使ったビン・ラディン邸宅のフルスケール・モデルが見つかった。

この邸宅モデルについては、急襲作戦に参加していたマット・ビソネットが、その回想録『No Easy Day』で明かしている。ただ、その場所についてはノースカロライナ州某所とだけしていた。

今回、この米中央情報局（CIA）の訓練施設は、ノースカロライナ州のハーヴェイ・ポイントにあったことが判明した。DigitalGlobe社の人工衛星が2011年の初め、施設が取り壊される前に写真を撮影していたのだ（同施設はその後、ほとんど跡形がなくなるまで破壊された）。

一方、台湾で問題になった基地は、AP通信によるとまだ建設中で、同国北部の新竹県にある。12億4,000万ドルのUHFレーダーを備えており、これが完成すると台湾政府は中国のミサイル攻撃に対処するための時間が増えることになる。

「商業衛星によって撮影された画像について、われわれが法的にできることは何もない」と、台湾軍部の広報は報道に対して述べている。「しかしわれわれはアップルに対し、軍事上の秘密施設については解像度を下げるよう依頼するつもりだ。過去にもグーグルに対して同様の依頼を行ったことがある」

 “台灣與美國秘密設施”是蘋果和MS地圖在微軟的“必應地圖”，發現在美國海軍特種部隊使用的彩排，本·拉登豪宅的全比例模型。在“地圖”的蘋果，這是一個絕密基地在台灣透露。1 2建於美國北卡羅萊納州本·拉登的豪宅，全面的模型。圖片：微軟案件也時有發生，表明政府希望保持隱藏的衛星照片。 “地圖”蘋果是在台灣很明顯的絕密基地。 “微軟的Bing地圖”，9月10日被發現的房子本·拉登的“海豹突擊隊”美國海軍特種部隊突襲奧薩馬·本·拉登還排練的全比例模型。這座豪宅，馬特Bisonetto參加的RAID策略，模型，揭示了在“不容易”的回憶錄。然而，這是我一直在某處，只是北卡羅萊納州。現在，培訓機構（CIA）已經發現，有一個點哈維NC的這個CIA。 2011年初，它是DigitalGlobe公司的衛星拍攝前的設備被拆除（當時，該設施被摧毀，直到沒有一絲的大部分）。另一方面，仍在建設中，基地成為一個問題，在台灣，位於該國北部的新竹縣，根據通信AP。配有一個超高頻雷達美元，1.24億美元，台灣政府將增加中國的導彈攻擊完成的時間來處理。“關於商業衛星拍攝的圖像，我們可以在法律上沒有，說：”軍方發言人說，台灣的記者。 “對於蘋果來說，我們可能會要求您作出了相同的Google'm，要求他們降低分辨率有關秘密軍事設施。在過去”，但

カリフォルア州パームデールにある「Skunk Works」の施設。画像は別の英文記事より

Image: Google Earth

衛星画像やそれを使った地図が、秘密とされてきた軍事施設を明らかにしたケースはこれまでも数多い。

2009年には、パキスタンの報道機関が「Google Earth」にある現地の空軍基地の画像を公開し、米国がパキスタンで行っていた無人機の作戦を暴露した。滑走路に米国の無人機「プレデター」が駐機していたのだ。

また今年の夏には、それまで秘密にされていたロッキード・マーティンの新型無人機「Skunk Works」の施設が人工衛星から撮影された画像が、Google Earthで発見された。

米軍は2001年、アフガニスタン派兵の直前に、市販されているアフガニスタンの衛星画像を買い占めた。しかし2003年のイラク侵攻の時には、衛星画像はすでに非常に一般的になっており、米国政府も、もう一度買い占めを行おうとはしなかった。

副大統領の公邸（日本語版記事）も、ディック・チェイニーが住人だった期間にはぼかされていたが、その後はカメラのピントが合うようになった。

機密と見られる中国の施設のいくつかも、衛星写真によって明らかになっている。

TEXT BY NOAH SHACHTMAN
TRANSLATION BY ガリレオ -緒方 亮/合原弘子

 設施“臭鼬工廠”的的狀態Kariforua的帕姆代爾。從英語的另一篇文章中圖片
圖片：谷歌地球

地圖衛星圖像，並使用它，已發現的情況下，一直保持秘密的軍事至今，而且有很多。

發布當地空軍基地設在“谷歌地球”的媒體組織在巴基斯坦的形象，在2009年，我們接觸到的美軍無人駕駛飛機在巴基斯坦的戰略。 “捕食者”無人駕駛飛機的美國，他在跑道上的停機坪。

在今年夏天，“洛克希德·馬丁公司的新型無人飛機一直秘而不宣，直到它被從衛星已發現在谷歌地球圖像的”臭鼬設施工程。

在2001年，美國軍方購買了阿富汗衛星影像在阿富汗的部隊在部署之前，市場上購得。衛星圖像已經變得非常普遍，美國政府在2003年對伊拉克的入侵的時候，他也不會做到這一點，但買斷。

已經模糊了，迪克·切尼在副總統官邸，以及在日本（第）的居民，現在，然後將相機的對焦。

在中國的一些設施可能被視為機密，這是通過衛星照片顯示。

TEXT BY NOAH沙特曼
裕子相原/晃緒方 - 伽利略的翻譯

Tawang 達旺 still recovering 50 years after Chinese occupation

维基百科，自由的百科全书

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達旺城

達旺（城鎮）是達旺地區的一個鎮，屬中印爭議地區，目前由印度實際控制。

• 按中國劃分，屬中國西藏自治區山南地區錯那縣達旺鎮
• 又按中國劃分，屬中國西藏地方
• 按印度劃分，屬印度阿魯納恰爾邦達旺區首府達旺城

達旺位於阿魯納恰爾邦西北角，海拔2669米，人口4456人（2001年）。1681年，藏傳佛教格魯派在此創建達旺寺，後圍繞該寺形成城鎮，達旺寺是格魯派主要寺院之一。

外部連結

• 達旺區官方網站
• Tawang holiday
• Tawang
• [1]

TOP STORIES / World / Asia

India

Tawang still recovering 50 years after Chinese occupation

Just 25 miles from the Chinese border in northeast India, Tawang is a disputed city. A brutal war took place here 50 years ago. Now, it is filled with pilgrims, tourists and memories - and troops from the Indian army.

The small city of Tawang sits 3,000 meters above sea level at the foot of the Himalayas. Here, the chants of holy Buddhist monks echo across the mountains and valleys of the region. The monks here belong to the Mahayana, one of the principle branches of Buddhism.

Tawang is quiet now, but maintains a large Indian troop presence

The Buddhist monastery in Tawang is the biggest in India, and for a long time was one of the most important spiritual centers in the world. For all that, Tawang is still a quiet, secluded city. But when war broke out 50 years ago between India and China, Tawang found itself caught in the middle due to its militarily strategic and central location.
Chinese troops occupied large portions of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh on October 20, 1962, and Tawang was first bombed, then rocked by mortal shells and sprayed with machine gun fire. Tawang remained under Chinese control for one month, until China declared an armistice on November 20, 1962 and withdrew from Indian territory.
Memories live on

The Tawang monastery is a symbol of India's still smoldering border conflict with China

Sanga Tsering was 25 when the war broke out. Today she can still see the day of occupation clearly before her eyes. "The city was officially overrun by the Chinese army," said the 75-year-old. "They came onto us like a flock of birds onto a rice paddy. Many soldiers lost their lives on both sides. People were scared and fled into the forests. They hid in caves and underneath large trees. I prayed to God that we would never have to live through another war."
Many of the older citizens of Tawang still remember the period of occupation. Tashi Gombu belongs to a group of citizens who personally experienced the invasion 50 years ago. "We were surrounded by Chinese army units. They were shooting at us from everywhere," he said in an interview that today is preserved in the city archives. The interview with Gombu was taken just a few days before his death in 2004. "The small Indian army unit that was stationed here fired back. Suddenly a bullet hit me in the hand and I passed out," Gombu saiid. "When I regained consciousness it was deathly still. All the soldiers from my unit were dead. But after a while I heard a noise that slowly came closer. As I wrapped myself up I saw that it was the Chinese soldiers impaling the dead Indian soldiers with their bayonets." Tashi Gombu was taken as a prisoner of war and was only released years later - severely traumatized.
A one-of-a-kind culture

The Dalai Lama brushed off Chinese protests to visit Tawang

The citizens of Tawang are, for the most part, Monpas. The Monpa ethnic group is comprised of approximately 80,000 people on both sides of the India-China border. They are proud of their independent culture. "The people in this region are Buddhist," said Keshang Dhondup, vice director of the city's cultural ministry. "They live mostly from cattle breeding and farming and, on top of that, are known for their paper manufacturing, wood carving and carpet manufacturing."
Today, Tawang is a popular tourist destination. The Buddhist monastery was founded in 1680 and at times has sheltered up to 600 monks. In 2009, the monastery was completely renovated. During that time, the Dalai Lama came to visit. Around 30,000 people came to hear his teachings.
End of a nightmare

Thousands of Buddhist monks joined the Dalai Lama for prayers in Tawang

Superficially, the wounds from the war appear to have healed in Tawang. Only the Indian army's strong presence in the region serves as a reminder of the still-smoldering conflict. China continues to claim the land as belonging to its "south Tibet region". In all, around 180,000 Indian soldiers are stationed in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. In the 10,000-person city of Tawang, the Indian army has constructed a training academy aimed at deploying soldiers at high altitudes.
The people in Tawang have grown used to the strong military presence. People still meet each other at the weekly markets; children play light-heartedly in the street. Life in the small mountain city goes on no differently than anywhere else in India. The citizens of Tawang are proud of their Indian identity. They feel safer having the army there - or, at least according to new home owner Sonam Tsering, who, for more than 100,000 rupees, just finished building his first house for his family. "I'm very happy because the kind of Chinese invasion that happened 50 years ago will never happen again," he said. "Today many people are paying out of pocket to build their own houses. That shows that we have faith in the soldiers stationed here."

Piraeus, Greece

• 

  Chinese Company Sets New Rhythm in Port of Piraeus

   

   

   

   中文

   

   

  Piraeus Πειραιάς
  View of Mikrolimano, Piraeus.
  Location
  Piraeus
  Coordinates	37°57′N 23°38′ECoordinates: 37°57′N 23°38′E
  Location within the region [show]
  Government
  Country:	Greece
  Region:	Attica
  Regional unit:	Piraeus
  Mayor:	Vasileios Michaloliakos  (ND) (since: 2011)
  Population statistics (as of 2001)[1]
  Urban
  - Population:	466,065
  - Area:	50.417 km2 (19 sq mi)
  - Density:	9,244 /km2 (23,942 /sq mi)
  Municipality
  - Population:	175,697
  - Area:	10.865 km2 (4 sq mi)
  - Density:	16,171 /km2 (41,882 /sq mi)
  Other
  Time zone:	EET/EEST (UTC+2/3)
  Elevation (min-max):	0–87 m ­(0–285 ft)
  Postal code:	185 xx
  Telephone:	21
  Auto:	Υ
  Website
  www.pireasnet.gr

   

   比雷埃夫斯（希臘語：Πειραιάς）位於希臘雅典以南薩羅尼科斯灣畔，是阿提卡大區比雷埃夫斯州的首府。比雷埃夫斯自古就是雅典的港口，如今依然是主要的造船和工業中心，也是地中海沿岸重要的商業港口。