大陆游客为台湾经济带来活力

The sign inside the mausoleum of Chiang Kai-Shek tells visitors to “please bow or show your respects to the general who fought a bloody civil war against Mao Zedong and then fled China for Taiwan, where he spent years plotting to retake the mainland from its Communist rulers.

蒋介石陵寝里的告示提醒参观者鞠躬致敬。蒋介石与毛泽东打了一场血腥的内战，战败后从大陆逃到台湾，并一直策划反攻共产党统治下的中国大陆。

Now, busloads of Chinese tourists come every week to visit Chiang’s tomb, nestled between two red and blue Taiwanese flags in the small town of Daxi, an hour’s drive south of Taipei.

如今，每周都有旅游大巴载着大陆游客来到蒋介石陵寝参观。蒋的陵寝坐落在台北市以南一小时车程的大溪镇，陵寝里挂着两面红蓝台湾旗帜。

Just a few years ago, this wave of mainland tourists visiting Taiwan would have been impossible. China strictly limited its citizens’ visits to the nearby democracy, which Beijing considers a renegade province.

几年前是不可能有这么多大陆游客来台湾旅游的。中国政府曾严格限制境内居民前往实行民主体制的台湾，虽然近在咫尺。中国政府认为，台湾是不肯回到祖国怀抱的一个剩

Chinese tourists trailing behind a baton-wielding guide through museums and luxury outlets are already a common sight in most of the developed world but in Taiwan this is still very new. The influx of tourists from the mainland is having a real economic impact – and there is hope that it will begin to soften the relationship between the two historical antagonists.

在发达世界大部分地方，导游举着小旗带领大陆旅游团出入博物馆和奢侈品折扣店已是人们司空见惯的景象。而在台湾，这种景象还相当新鲜。大陆游客的涌入正在切实地影响台湾经济，并有望推动结有宿怨的两岸软化关系。

“In the past, people in China took Taiwanese as radicals, said one young tourist visiting from northern China, “but for the young generation, it’s different. We have various channels to get to know about Taiwan, like YouTube, movies and TV shows from Taiwan. We can watch them on the internet.

“过去大陆人认为台湾人比较激进，来自中国北方的一名年轻游客说，“但年轻一代的看法就不一样了。我们可以通过各种渠道了解台湾，比如YouTube、台湾的电影和电视节目。我们可以从网上了解他们。

Taiwan is sometimes stereotyped on the mainland as chaotic, in part because of its hotly contested elections and occasional violent brawls on the floor of the legislature. Erika Guan, a Beijing native studying politics in Taipei, says the chance for tourists to see how Taiwanese society is “really harmonious could change that view.

大陆人有时对台湾抱有一种成见，觉得台湾很乱。部分原因是台湾的选战打得热闹，议员开会时偶尔会打起来。在台北学习政治学的北京人Erika Guan说，大陆游客来了以后看到台湾社会“真的很和谐，可能就会改变这种成见。

“I really want more mainland people to come and see Taiwan and then they will understand?.?.?.?it’s not like what they see on the TV, says Ms Guan. “This impression will gradually let mainland people, especially my generation, think ‘Oh, Taiwan is so good, why do we want to conquer them? It’s not necessary. We should learn from them, and it’s good to keep [the] status quo’.

“我真的希望有更多大陆人能来台湾看看，然后他们就会知道……台湾跟他们在电视上看到的不一样。Erika Guan说，“这种印象会逐渐让大陆人，尤其是我这一代，觉得‘噢，台湾这么好，我们为什么想要征服他们呢？这没有必要。我们应该向台湾学习，保持现状也很好。

Since the 2010 election of Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou, who advocates closer ties with the mainland, China has begun granting permission for its citizens to tour Taiwan. Most visit on short guided tours but now residents of certain Chinese cities can obtain visas to travel independently.

自从2010年主张与大陆增进关系的马英九当选台湾总统以来，大陆就开始允许民众赴台观光。大陆游客赴台游以短期跟团游为主，但如今中国一些特定城市的居民可以办理个人游签证。

UBS estimates that 2.3m Chinese will visit Taiwan this year, up from just 300,000 in 2010. Those tourists are giving a much-needed boost to Taiwan’s economy, says Waiho Leong, an economist with Barclays. Despite a 0.2 per cent contraction in the economy during the last quarter because of falling exports, unemployment is near a four-year low.

瑞银(UBS)估计，今年大陆赴台游客预计将达到230万名，而2010年大陆赴台游客仅30万名。巴克莱(Barclays)经济学家梁伟豪(Waiho Leong)说，这些游客正给台湾经济带来急需的提振。尽管出口下降导致上一季度台湾经济萎缩0.2%，但台湾目前的失业率却接近4年来的最低点。

That job creation, he says, is largely because of growing demand for retail and travel-related services.

梁伟豪说，主要是因为零售业和旅游相关服务业的需求不断增加，拉动了就业。

Nearly half the net 77,600 jobs created in the first half of the year were in hotels, restaurants and shops, while manufacturing lost 4,400 jobs, according to UBS.

瑞银数据显示，今年上半年台湾净增工作岗位7.76万个，其中近一半是酒店业、餐饮和商店岗位，而制造业岗位减少了4400个。

In the past two years, the W Hotel and Le Méridien opened their first sites in Taipei, and the country’s tourism board says at least 40 more hotels are planned, with a total investment of T$74bn ($248m). In the Taipei 101 skyscraper, where tourists line up to visit the viewing deck, many luxury brands have opened stores, among them Burberry, the UK group.

过去两年里，W饭店(W Hotel)和寒舍艾美酒店(Le Méridien)均首次把店开到了台北。另外，台湾观光局表示，现阶段拟建酒店至少还有40家，总投资额为740亿元新台币（合2.48亿美元）。台北101大楼的观景台吸引了众多游客排队参观，大楼内也有许多奢侈品牌落户，其中包括英国品牌博柏莉(Burberry)。

Those luxury groups “see the opportunity of having business from mainland Chinese, because they will definitely visit Taipei 101, says Joseph Lin, managing director of property consultant CBRE.

房地产咨询公司世邦魏理仕(CBRE)台湾分公司董事总经理林俊铭(Joseph Lin)说，那些奢侈品集团“看到了大陆游客赴台游带来的商机，因为台北101是游客的必到景点。

But not all the impressions are so positive, says Chen Chi-Ping, a guide with a large local tour operator.

不过，台湾一家大型旅行社的导游Chen Chi-Ping说，并不是所有人都对台湾留下了很好的印象。

Many see Taipei, a city of 2.6m people, with famous night bazaars but few skyscrapers, as just another second- or third-tier Chinese city – one that lacks the dramatic skylines of Beijing and Shanghai.

许多大陆游客觉得，台北跟大陆二三线城市没什么两样——260万人口，夜市很有名，摩天大楼却不多，不像北京和上海那样高楼林立。

Because of that, he says, “Chinese tourists disparage Taiwan. And yet, nearly every tourist visits Taipei’s memorial to Chiang.

Chen Chi-Ping说，因此“许多大陆游客觉得台湾不怎么样。不过，几乎每个大陆游客都要到位于台北的中正纪念堂一游（中正即蒋介石之名）。

And at the giftshop in Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, cufflinks with the symbol of the Kuomingtang, Mr Chiang’s and Mr Ma’s party, are so popular that they recently sold out. Also popular are small Taiwanese flags, says the store’s clerk. Tourists sometimes ask her whether the flags will get them in trouble with Chinese customs. They won’t, she says confidently.

在中正纪念堂的纪念品商店，印有国民党（蒋介石和马英九所属的政党）标志的袖扣大受欢迎，最近竟然脱销了。一名女店员说，台湾的小旗子也卖得很好。游客们有时候会问她，这种小旗子在大陆入关时会不会有问题。她肯定地回答说，不会有问题的。

Additional reporting by Jason Liu in Taipei

Jason Liu台北补充报道