【时代周刊】居然登移花接木的照片诋毁北京奥运

【时代周刊】居然登移花接木的照片诋毁北京奥运

 

十三姨夫

 

8月11日这期的《时代周刊》上刊登了一篇题为《七年期待之后，北京市民无奈地接受城市的改变——奥运前夜中国首都揭秘》的文章，署名Austin Ramzy。

 

文章以一个居住在北京四合院里外国人的视角，试图“揭示”北京奥运改造不为人知的一面。

 

作者自称于2007年搬进北京东部一条狭窄、安静、有着四合院的老胡同，这一片由胡同组成的社区早在700年前的明朝已经落成。从07年4月份开始的几个月，奥运改造振聋发聩：胡同的路面重新铺设，路灯换了新的，下水管道大修，屋顶翻新，大门重新上漆，私搭乱建的小房被拆毁，瓦砾和拆下来的垃圾堆满了街道，其中有古老手绘图案的木制屋檐被当作废料。改造工程暴土狼烟，让春天的一场沙尘暴都小巫见大巫。

 

写了奥运改造工程为身边的市民带来的种种不便之后，作者笔锋一转，放眼宏观：150万人被迫离开北京；斥资170亿美元进行环境整治，北京在奥运在开幕前夕依然烟雾笼罩；即使在实行单双号施行之后，奥运VIP专线让交通堵塞更为严重；北京人在奥运期间逃离北京并戏称为“避运逃”；酒吧夜总会被勒令关闭，音乐会和集会被禁；普通市民买不到也买不起奥运门票，他们和奥运会最近距离的接触不过是在街上穿着北京啤酒赞助的T恤协助安检和巡逻。

 

文章还配发了一张题为《喜新厌旧——老街区被拆毁重建只为迎奥运》的照片。

 

关于国外媒体对于北京奥运的负面报道我已经看得够够的了，如果以事实为依据，怎么看中国是外国人的自由，我也不想去争论什么。但是看了这张照片，作为一个北京人，我不得不站出来说几句了。

 

照片上根本就不是北京老城区的胡同！

 

1. 画面背景的平房不是四合院，这类平房属于北京京郊或农村院落的建筑格局。十几年前，偶尔可以在二环三环之间（例如农科院附近）见到这类建筑。城区的老四合院不用红砖，房顶的瓦也不是这种类型。

2. 画面左侧边上是个修车铺，门口停了辆摩托。这种摩托车只能在城乡结合部看到。另外，北京城区早已不发放新摩托车牌照了。

3. 路边私搭乱建的小棚子。这种沿街私建的小棚，北京二环以内多少年前就看不到了，更别说有七百年历史的老胡同了。

4. 路面没有铺柏油而路边又没有因为修路堆积的土石。北京的胡同都是柏油马路。

5. 除了骑车带小孩的妇女我不太确定，画面里其他人都不是北京土著。

我承认这是一张真实的照片，它的确来自我的祖国——中国。但是照片阴暗视角配合尖酸的文字却包藏着不可告人的目的。

它想告诉世界，这就是奥运前夕真实的北京：堆积如山的瓦砾，破烂的街道，晾在街道边上花花绿绿的衣裤和行人漠然的眼神。照片上几位主角，目光都集中在同一个方向，那里似乎正在发生着什么。作者其实在悄悄提醒读者，画面以外就是即将到来的北京奥运：无论你看到多么盛大的场面，多么光鲜的街市和多么友好的面孔，一切都是伪装。这张照片才是真实的北京。

 

作为一个中国人，作为一个北京人，我要告诉世界，这是一个谎言！

请见后附《时代周刊》原文和链接。

 

Thursday,Jul. 31, 2008

Postcard: Beijing

ByAustin Ramzy

The sound of the Olympic games for me has always been John Williams'OlympicFanfare and Theme. But since this spring those strains have beenreplaced bythe clack and crumble of workmen with pickaxes leveling a walloutside mywindow at dawn.

In 2007 I moved into a quiet hutong, a traditional narrow lane linedwithcourtyard houses, in eastern Beijing.SinceApril, the city's Olympic buzz has reached deafening proportions. In aperiod ofmonths, my district, laid out 700 years ago during the Ming dynasty,saw lanesrepaved, streetlights installed, sewage lines overhauled, roofsrepaired, doorspainted, windows replaced and rooms that had been haphazardlyadded onto oldhomes demolished and rebuilt in a traditional style. Piles ofconstructiondebris filled the streets; antique wooden eaves with hand-paintedfloralpatterns were left out as scrap.

The hubbub produced no shortage of inconvenience for the two dozen familiesIshare a courtyard with. The work went on for weeks; sewer repairs meantwalkingthrough a ditch to leave one's door; the dust was so heavy that aspringsandstorm came and left without our noticing. But the occasionalgrumbles couldnever sink the enthusiasm of my neighbors. I came home one dayto find oneperched precariously on his roof, sawing away. "For theOlympics," hesaid with a grin. At a party in February, I asked severalneighbors their hopesfor the coming year; the most popular response was for asuccessful Games.Clearly, fixing up our courtyard was key to that. "Thework here isn't justgood for us," says my neighbor Feng Huiming, whoworks at the local postoffice. "It's good for the world."

It is with that sense of purpose that Beijinghasspent the past seven years transforming itself. The city added roughly 85miles(about 140 km) of subway and rail lines and a huge airport terminal.Fortymillion pots of flowers and 22 million trees were planted. As many as1.5million people were forcibly relocated. Some, like the Yu family, who ranasnack shop north of the Forbidden City, hungon till the very end, wrapping theirstructure in flags and photos of Chineseleaders in hopes it might stop thewrecking ball. It didn't. Less than 48 hoursafter the store was demolished tomake way for a park, the spot where it stoodwas a flower bed.

Other problems aren't as easily covered up. Beijingspent more than $17 billion toimprove its environment, but days before theGames, the air is still a toxichaze. Even with new laws taking more than halfthe city's cars off the road,the addition of Olympic VIP lanes has left trafficnearly as bad as ever.

Some Beijingers have opted to leave town on what's jokingly calledabiyuntao--"avoid Olympics package"--which rhymes with theChineseword for condom. Others, including huge numbers of migrant workers, havebeenforced out. A group of builders from Sichuanwholived in our courtyard while refurbishing the neighborhood left recently,takingtheir coal cooking stove and pet kitten with them. A few blocks away,restaurantowner Liu Ruilin complains that some of his best customers are gone."Ithought the Olympics were going to be good for business," hesays."But lots of outsiders are leaving."

In the weeks preceding the Games, authorities have closed clubs andbars,blocked concerts and other public gatherings and put an increasing numberofarmed police on the streets. Some of my neighbors have even been recruitedasvolunteer public-security monitors. They sport red-and-white poloshirtsbearing the logo of a Beijingbeercompany and sit by the street, watching for trouble.

That's the closest most of them will come to seeing the Olympics inperson."We have no access to tickets," says Feng. "And even ifwe did,we couldn't afford them." An Olympic slogan repeated onbillboardsthroughout the city reads I PARTICIPATE; I CONTRIBUTE; I'M HAPPY.After monthsof participating and contributing, the people in this corner of thecapitalwill have to be happy catching the Games, as the rest of the world does,athome on television.

Global Dispatch For a new postcard from around the world every day, visit time.com

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,,00.html