平昌崛起 | 紐約時報
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Lee Ji-seol was in elementary school when her hometown, Pyeongchang, first applied to host the Winter Olympics. During a visit by Olympic officials, she recalled, her entire class lined up on a street to cheer and wave flags.
韓國平昌。家鄉平昌第一次申辦冬季奧運會時，Lee Ji-seol還在上小學。她回憶有一次奧委會官員來訪，全班在街上列隊搖旗歡呼。
Their enthusiasm notwithstanding, the bid hardly seemed promising. Located 50 miles from North Korea and the world』s most heavily fortified border, Pyeongchang was known mainly as a mountain backwater that produced potatoes and cattle. The town center was a nondescript crossroads, going to seed with 「love motels」 and karaoke bars. The area boasted two ski resorts, but they struggled to muster enough snow to attract visitors.
儘管熱情很高，但申辦希望渺茫。這裡距離朝鮮五十英里，是世界上最重兵把守的邊疆。平昌也歷來以偏僻的山鄉聞名，靠種土豆和放牛為生。城中心不過有幾個不起眼的十字路口，有幾家「情侶旅館「和卡拉OK廳。這裡有兩個滑雪場，但總蓄不夠雪以吸引遊客。
That first bid for the 2010 Games failed, as did a second bid to host in 2014, but the International Olympic Committee finally gave Pyeongchang, population 43,000, the nod for the 2018 Winter Games, which open next week. It was a victory for those who never stopped believing in the obscure little town, one of the most unlikely hosts of the Games in Olympic history.
第一次申辦2010年冬奧會失利，第二次申辦2014年冬奧會也鎩羽而歸，但國際奧委會終於同意這座有43000人的城市舉辦2018年冬奧會，運動會本周即將開幕了。一個名不見經傳的小鎮能夠舉辦奧運會，這本是奧林匹克運動史上最不可能發生的事，對那些從未放棄這一夢想的人而言，這是一場勝利。
「The entire town was out dancing,」 Ms. Lee, 22, said of the day they heard the news. 「Before we started our Olympic campaign, few South Koreans, much less any foreigners, even knew we existed.」
「全城的人都上街跳舞，」22歲的Lee女士談起聽到這個消息的那一天時說。「我們申辦奧運會前，很少有韓國人，更別提外國人，知道還有我們這麼個地方。」
Pyeongchang』s obstacles were both economic and physical. It is one of the poorest places in Gangwon, South Korea』s most isolated and least developed province, which shares a long border with the North. And though it is just 80 miles from Seoul, getting to Pyeongchang from the capital used to take hours on mountain roads that twist like 「a sheep』s intestines,」 as the locals say.
平昌的阻力既是經濟上的，也是地理上的。這裡是江原道最貧窮的地方，江原道又是韓國最偏遠和欠發達的地區，和朝鮮大片接壤。儘管距離首爾不過80英里，從首都到平昌卻要幾個小時，翻山越嶺走在「羊腸小道」上，當地人這樣說。
The provincial governor, Choi Moon-soon, called it 「the last place the government thought of when it thought of investment,」 adding, 「We hoped an Olympics would change that.」
江原道知事崔文洵稱這裡是「政府投資最不會考慮的地方」，並且說，「我們希望奧運會能改變那種情況」。
Even the town』s name was a problem. Originally spelled 「Pyongchang」 in English, it was often confused with Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. So in 2000, the town added a letter, capitalized another and changed its name to 「PyeongChang,」 though most foreign news agencies declined to use the capital C.
就連這個鎮子的名字都曾是個問題。原來英語「Pyongchang」，常常與朝鮮首都平壤搞混。2000年，這個鎮子加了一個字母，大寫了一個字母，變成了「PyeongChang」，儘管多數外國媒體都拒絕大寫「C」。
Despite the rebranding, a Kenyan man registered to attend a United Nations meeting in Pyeongchang in 2014 made headlines after heflew to Pyongyangby mistake.
儘管重新命了名，2014年一個註冊參加聯合國會議的肯亞人錯飛到平壤，還上了頭條新聞。
In time, though, South Korea embraced Pyeongchang』s bid for the Games as its own. The nation』s leaders were eager to build global prestige and saw the Winter Games as a chance to become one of only a handful of countries that have hosted a 「trifecta」 of international sports events. (The World Cup took place in South Korea and Japan in 2002, and Seoul hosted the Summer Games in 1988.)
可後來，韓國還是把平昌申辦冬奧會當做國家大事。國家領導人期望獲得全球美譽，把冬季運動會看做韓國成為舉辦國際運動會「三連勝」的為數不多幾個國家之一的機會。（2002年世界盃在韓日舉辦，1988年韓國主辦了夏季奧運會。）
In a country where winter sports never quite caught on, only one other town with ski slopes, Maju, was interested in hosting the Olympics. Pyeongchang edged it out for national support, perhaps because it sits in a province that has been a major electoral battleground.
在一個冬季運動不怎麼流行的國家，只有另外一個有滑道的城鎮Maju對舉辦奧運會有興趣。結果平昌勝出，獲得全國支持，可能因為它所在的省選戰競爭激烈。
The government has poured $13 billion into the region, building a new bullet train and highway — and 97 tunnels and 78 bridges — to improve access to Pyeongchang from Seoul, as well as sporting facilities such as ice rinks and ski slopes.
政府向該地區投資130億美元，新建高速鐵路和列車，包括97個隧道和78座橋樑，以改善平昌到首爾的交通，並支持修建冰場和滑道等運動設施。
While some residents worried about the impact on local forests, support for the Olympic bid has been almost universal in Pyeongchang: A poll taken at the time of the first bid showed nearly 94 percent support, and it has not wavered.
雖然有居民擔心對當地森林造成影響，但在平昌，幾乎所有人都支持冬奧會：第一次申辦時一項民調顯示，支持率近94%，且從未下跌。
Many believe the area』s future lies in bolstering tourism and are hopeful the Winter Games will help. The service sector already accounts for 70 percent of the local economy, in part because of vacationers drawn to the province』s scenic coast. But inland Pyeongchang has not really benefited; it』s betting that the Olympics will change that.
許多人認為該地區的未來在於發展旅遊業，希望冬奧會能有所助益。服務業已經佔了當地經濟的70&，部分原因是度假者來到該省風景優美的海灘。但位於內陸的平昌並沒有得益，它押寶奧運會會改變這一切。
In lobbying for its bid, South Korea used a potential handicap — Pyeongchang』s proximity to the North Korean border, in a region bristling with troops and weaponry — as a selling point. Holding the Games in Pyeongchang, officials argued, would promote peace between two nations still technically at war.
在遊說過程中，韓國變不利為賣點，平昌接近朝鮮邊境，這裡有大量駐軍，部署了大量軍備。官員稱，在平昌舉辦奧運會，將促進在技術層面仍處於戰爭狀態的兩個國家實現和平。
The North did agreeto send 22 athletes to the Games, and the two countriesagreed to field a joint women』s ice hockey team.
朝鮮的確同意派22名運動員參加比賽，兩國還同意聯合組成女子冰球隊。
A third of South Korea』s 600,000 military personnel are based in Gangwon Province. Many who were posted here as conscripts — all men in South Korea are required to serve about two years in the military — say they never want to see it again, so rugged are its hills and cold its winters.
韓國60萬軍事人員，有三分之一駐紮在江原道。許多人在這裡服兵役，所有韓國男子都要求在軍隊服兩年兵役，他們都說再也不想看到那裡了，那裡山巒崎嶇，冬季嚴寒。
Suspicion of North Korea is deeply etched here, as nowhere else in South Korea. The mountainous border is scarred with barbed wire, tank traps, land mines and guard posts. Hilltoploudspeakers blare K-pop songsdaily toward the North, which counters bysending propaganda leafletsfloating on balloons into the South.
對朝鮮的疑慮在此地刻骨銘心，韓國其他地方都無法比擬。山巒疊嶂的邊疆線布滿鐵絲網、坦克陷阱、地雷和崗哨。山頂的高音喇叭每天向朝鮮播放著韓國流行歌曲，那邊則用氣球把宣傳單投擲過來。
Dreams of easing tensions and reunifying with the North one day are also more acutely felt here than anywhere else in South Korea. Many older people in the area came from the North as war refugees, settling near the border in hopes of returning quickly once the Koreas were reunified.
緩解緊張態勢以及有一天統一朝鮮的夢想在這裡也比韓國其他地區更加真切。該地區許多上了歲數的人是朝鮮的戰爭難民，他們就在邊境安頓下來，希望能在半島統一後馬上回去。
」Our dream is to one day take the train to go to North Korea and all the way across Siberia and to Berlin,」 said Noh Yeon-su, curator of the DMZ Museum, referring to roads and rail lines that stop at the border, essentially making South Korea an island.
「我們的夢想是有一天能坐著火車去朝鮮，一路跨過西伯利亞到柏林去，」非軍事區博物館館長Noh Yeon-su指著終止在邊境線的公路和鐵路說，這讓韓國成為一座孤島。
The province is also home to the so-calledPeace Dam, a towering structure built on the Han River because of fears that another dam upstream in North Korea might release a killer flood, by accident or on purpose.
江原道還有所謂的和平大壩，那是漢江邊一座大型的建築物，其建造原因是擔心朝鮮在上游的一座大壩不小心或有意泄洪造成傷亡。
And it was in nearby Gangneung, where the ice hockey and speedskating events are scheduled to be held, that a North Korean submarine ran aground in 1996. Twenty-six crewmen and agents spilled out, setting off a huge manhunt in the area.
But Mr. Choi, the governor, shrugs off such concerns.
就在不遠的江陵市，將舉辦冰球和速滑比賽，1996年，一艘朝鮮潛艇在這裡擱淺。26名船員和特工漂了上來，還引發了該地區展開一場大搜捕。但知事崔文洵不認為值得擔憂。
「Those of us who live here are not afraid of North Korea because the North, despite all its missile tests and bombast, doesn』t have an ability to fight a war,」 he said. The economic output of his province, the South』s poorest, he noted, exceeds that generated by all of North Korea.
「我們住在這裡的人不害怕朝鮮，儘管朝鮮不斷試射導彈，氣勢洶洶，但他們沒有打仗的實力。」他說江原道是韓國最窮的省，但經濟產出也超過朝鮮全國。
He added, 「The happiest thing about the Olympics is that when foreigners see the Games taking place here, we can shake off our stigma as a dangerous place.」
他說，「奧運會最好的東西是，如果外國人看到運動會在這裡舉辦，我們就能甩掉這裡是危險地區的恥辱。」
推薦閱讀：