旅游热升温 中国游客涌入帕劳

Chinese tourists are flocking to the remote Palau islands as China's growing number of rich seek new frontiers abroad, but not everyone in the Micronesian paradise is happy about it.

随着中国的富人越来越多，这些富人便开始寻求新的国外旅游胜地。于是大批的中国游客成群结队地涌向偏远僻静的帕劳群岛。不过，居住在这个被誉为“密克罗尼西亚天堂”岛上的人们并不开心。

Strapped into life-jackets and screaming with excitement, groups of boisterous Chinese thrill-seekers tear around Palau's "Milky Way" lagoon on a flotilla of speedboats -- a spectacle unfamiliar to locals just a few months ago.

吵吵嚷嚷的中国探险者们成群结队地乘坐快速游艇在帕劳群岛的牛奶湖上四处穿梭。他们穿着救生衣，兴奋的尖叫声回荡四周。几个月前，这样的场景在当地并不常见。

Residents of the archipelago, part of the larger island group of Micronesia, are baffled as to why Chinese travellers represented almost 62 percent of all visitors in February -- up from 16 percent in January 2017.

居住在密克罗尼西亚岛群中的居民对如此多的中国游客蜂拥而至感到困惑。为何中国游客总数能从2017年1月的16%上升到今年2月的62%？

For businessman Du Chuang from Chengdu in China's Sichuan province, it is because his increasingly wealthy countrymen are becoming more adventurous, smashing the stereotype of the herded package tour.

在成都商人杜闯（音译）看来，造成这种现象的原因在于中国人变得越来越有钱，他们更喜欢冒险刺激的旅行，不再满足于成群结队的包团旅游。

Du first started to travel by visiting Hainan, the Chinese island in the South China Sea currently witnessing a massive development of hotel resorts. He then ventured to Thailand before branching out to the Maldives.

杜闯第一次出门旅游是去位于中国的海南岛。现在的海南正在大规模地开发度假酒店。在这之后他又去了泰国，还去了马尔代夫。

"The corals here are more beautiful than Sanya (on Hainan)," the 46-year-old told AFP, scrolling through photos on his phone of a $1,400 helicopter trip over Palau's Seventy Islands that he took his family on.

46岁的杜闯在接受法新社的采访时说：“帕劳群岛上的珊瑚比海南三亚的好看多了。”他边说边翻看手机里存着的和家人一起在帕劳七十群岛直升机之旅的图片。这一直升机之旅需花费1400美元。

"Palau is small and magnificent," added the owner of a successful IT company.

这位成功的IT公司老板说：“帕罗群岛虽然不大，景色却十分壮丽。”

Hoteliers are catching on, with some establishments focusing on Chinese clientele booked out months in advance. At "Sea Passion Hotel" in Koror, 74 of their 75 rooms were occupied by Chinese visitors when AFP visited.

岛上酒店的老板们抓住中国游客这一商机，他们的酒店早在几个月前就被中国游客们订满了。当法新社的记者到达位于科罗尔的百悦大饭店时，该饭店的75间客房中就有74间住着中国游客。

On a beach Chinese women wearing full body suits to protect themselves from the sun pose for selfies with husbands and boyfriends in sleeveless vests, which they send to their friends back home in China's grey megacities.

沙滩上的中国女性把自己捂得严严实实以遮挡阳光。她们同身穿无袖背心的丈夫或是男朋友摆出各种姿势自拍，并将这些照片传给生活在国内空气质量不太好的大都市的朋友们。

- 'It's like paradise' -

这里像是一个天堂

Jia Yixin, a 30-year-old from Shanghai, didn't think twice about paying $1,133 (1,000 euros) for a six-day trip to Palau that she found online.

来自上海的贾艺馨（音译）今年30岁，当她在网上看到帕罗群岛6日游只需要1133美元时，她便毫不犹豫地选择了付款。

"It is like paradise here," she beamed. "In Shanghai the air is polluted but here people respect the environment," Jia added.

她笑着说：“帕罗群岛像是天堂一般的地方。上海的空气被污染了，而岛上的人们却很爱护当地的环境。”

Ironically it is the potential environmental impact of the Chinese invasion that is at the forefront of the minds of many of the islands' 18,000 population.

讽刺的是，大量中国游客到这里旅游对当地来说是一种潜在的环境影响。这正是岛上1.8万名居民所担心的问题。

Palau welcomed just shy of 141,000 visitors last year, up 34 percent on 2013, largely on the back of the Chinese visitors. But in February this year, mainland Chinese visitors leaped more than 500 percent year-on-year to 10,955 –- more than half Palau's total population.

帕罗群岛去年的游客数量还不到14.1万人，与2013年的游客数量相比上升了34%，其中大部分为中国游客。然而今年二月，中国的游客数是去年同期的5倍，达到10955人，比帕劳群岛总人口数的一半还要多。

Tourism accounts for close to 85 percent of Palau's gross domestic product (GDP), and while profits are up, some are worried the long-term damage may be too great.

帕劳群岛的旅游收入将近占其国内生产总值的85%。虽然当地的利润增加了，但一些民众还是很担心这种长期潜在的危险会越来越严重。

"This is a very sudden influx, so we are trying to understand the situation" said Nanae Singeo, managing director of the Palau Visitors Authority, the local tourist board.

当地旅游委员会——帕劳旅游局的常务董事Nanae Singeo说：“这种人潮的大量涌入太突然了。我们正试着去了解情况。”

"We have never experienced this much tourism before and the magnitude is really giving us a lot of pressure. We are a very tiny country with scarce resources so this sudden increase is an unknown challenge for us," she added.

她还说：“在此之前我们从未遇到过这么庞大的旅游人数，这让我们倍感压力。我们国家的面积不大，资源匮乏，因此旅游人数突然增加对我们来说是一种未知的挑战。”

Palau has long catered for a particular type of visitor, with up to 70 percent of tourists coming for world-famous diving in stunning blue waters with pristine corals.

长久以来，帕劳群岛为有特殊需求的游客提供他们所需。帕劳蔚蓝色的海水中遍布着原始珊瑚群，举世闻名。70%的游客正是慕名而来，想在此潜水嬉戏。

Japanese were traditionally the largest contingent, followed by Taiwanese and Korean visitors. But the majority of the new wave of Chinese tourists seem more interested -- for now at least -- in lounging on the beach.

这里潜水的游客中日本游客占大部分，其次是来自台湾和韩国的游客。但是最近涌入的中国游客似乎更喜欢在沙滩上悠闲地躺着，至少现在看起来是这样。

"We are not seeing a growth rate to match the number of visitors," said Singeo. "Tourists are up 34 percent so technically we should see economic benefits at the rate of 30 percent or more, but that's not the case."

Singeo说：“我们并未发现游客数量的增加带动了经济的增长率。现在的游客数量上升了34%，从学术角度来说，经济效益至少应该要增加30%，但是目前并没有出现这样的情况。”

- 'They wreck corals' -

游客破坏了珊瑚

On the streets of Koror, some accused Chinese people of being noisy and disrespectful towards the environment.

在科罗尔的街头，许多当地居民对吵吵嚷嚷、不爱护环境的中国游客颇有不满。

"They wreck corals and throw their rubbish in the sea," chided Norman, a taxi driver.

出租车司机诺曼斥责道：“他们不仅破坏珊瑚，还把垃圾丢到海里。”

In another recent example, a Chinese tour operator named "Yellow Skin Tour" caused outrage in Palau with leaflets including photos of grinning Chinese tourists holding up turtles they had removed from the water -– in one case by its flippers.

除此之外，近日还发生了一起事件。一个名为“黄种人旅游团”的中国旅行社在帕劳激起了民愤。原因是他们的宣传册子上印有中国游客笑着举着从水里捞出来的乌龟的照片。

Residents have also accused Chinese tourists of being responsible for the deaths of some jellyfish at the natural wonder "Jellyfish Lake".

还有一些当地居民认为中国游客要对水母湖中部分水母的死亡负责。

Visitors are encouraged to marvel at the harmless creatures by floating on the surface, but some locals complain that many Chinese lack swimming skills and thrash around, disturbing the wildlife.

游客可以漂浮在海面上，近距离欣赏这种无害生物的美妙。但是，当地居民抱怨许多中国游客不太会游泳，猛烈地拍打水面，影响了野生动物的生活环境。

The Palau government is exploring ways to try to stem the tide of Chinese tourists to the western Pacific Ocean archipelago and this week said the number of charter flights from China would be halved next month.

帕劳政府正在想方设法试着阻止中国游客到太平洋西部群岛的旅游热潮。本周当地政府表示，下个月起中国飞往当地的包机航班数量将会减半。

President Tommy Remengesau said the move was not intended to discriminate against any nationality but was to prevent tourism from becoming too reliant on one market.

总统汤米•雷蒙杰索表示，这一举措并没有歧视某国民众的意思，而是为了使旅游市场不过度依赖一个国家的客源。

"Do we want to control growth or do we want growth to control us?" he asked reporters. "It will be irresponsible for me as a leader if this trend continues. I am not only looking at the present but, as a leader, I am looking after tomorrow."

“我们要控制游客增长还是游客增长控制我们？”他反问记者，“如果让这一趋势继续发展下去，那我就会是一个不负责任的领导者。作为一个领导者，我不仅要着眼于现在，还要放眼未来。”

But the number of hotels, restaurants and guides in Palau now catering for a Chinese market would suggest that citizens of the world's second-largest economy are likely to keep coming.

但是在帕劳当地，为了满足中国市场需求而出现的酒店、饭店和导游则说明，作为世界第二大经济体，中国的老百姓很有可能会继续涌入帕劳旅游度假。

Vocabulary

boisterous：喧闹的，吵闹的

flotilla：小型船队

pristine：未经开发的，原始的