Where It's Winter, Fall, Sandstorm and Blowball

沙尘才如秋叶落, 杨絮又似冬雪飘

Alan Paul

Last Monday morning, I looked out the window to check the weather and was stunned by the sight of my neighbors' car. It was covered in so much dirt, it looked like a dump truck had backed up and deposited its payload on the roof. I trotted downstairs, opened the door and stepped into a scene so surreal I half-expected to see ruby-slipper-clad witch legs under the house.

那个周一的早晨，我走到窗前想看看外面的天气如何，目之所及，邻居家停在门外的轿车一下子让我目瞪口呆。车上积了厚厚的一层土，看上去就像一辆运土车把满满一斗的土卸到了它的身上。我三步并作两步冲下了楼，打开了门，一下子步入了一个光怪陆离的超现实世界，甚至以为自己会看见房子下长了穿著红宝石拖鞋的女巫的脚。


The sky had an eerie yellow-orange hue, with the sun glowing behind a peculiar haze. The car across the street was no fluke; a thick coating of sand and dirt covered everything. One of Beijing's legendary sandstorms had blown in while we slept.

天空呈现出怪诞的橘黄色调，太阳隐在一层奇异的雾霭后透出昏黄的光晕。停在马路对面的汽车也像邻家的车一样；所有的一切全都被盖上了厚厚的尘土。一场特大沙尘暴在我们昨夜熟睡时光临了北京。

I had experienced a few small sandstorms over the previous months but this left them in the dust. This was otherworldly, bizarre and menacing, definitely frightening yet undeniably compelling.

前几个月我在北京也经历过几次小规模的沙尘暴，但和这次相比简直不值一提。这次的沙尘暴彷佛来自另一个世界，既骇人听闻，又触目惊心。

Thinking the storm was over, I fetched a towel and cleaned off our bike seats. After breakfast, I loaded everyone up for the ride to school. As we biked, however, my eyes and throat began to scratch and I realized that a fine sandy mist was hanging in the air. Riding through our housing compound, sand kicked up from our wheels and we passed many cars coated in dirt, and a few housekeepers out sweeping away piles of the stuff with old-fashioned twig brooms, their mouths and noses covered with white cotton masks. The place seemed unusually deserted and slow moving.

我以为这场沙尘暴就算过去了，于是拿了一条毛巾掸去了自行车车座的土，待吃完早点，便骑上车送孩子们去上学。可是当我们骑车走在路上时，我开始感觉到眼睛和嗓子一阵阵刺痒，我这才意识到，空气中依然悬浮著无数的细微沙粒。穿过我们居住的小区时，自行车轮不断卷起覆盖在地面上的沙尘，道路两旁停著的汽车无一例外地都是灰头土脸。有几家住户的保姆戴著大白口罩在门外用老式的笤帚清扫著成堆的沙土。整个小区看上去颇有些不同寻常，好似一片荒芜的不毛之地在缓慢向身后漂移。

I stayed calm and didn't say much, wanting to keep the kids on an even keel. Jacob commented on how cool it was. Inside the school, everyone was abuzz about the bizarre weather. I spoke to several people who had lived in Beijing for years and all agreed this was the worst storm they had ever experienced. The teachers bemoaned the fact that the kids would have to stay inside all day again, on the heels of the previous week's two dangerous pollution index days.

我尽量保持平静，不多说话，以保持自行车的平衡。坐在车上的雅各布(Jacob)则在不停地发表评论说这景象是多么多么“酷”。学校里，所有人都在谈论这种怪异天气。我跟好几位在北京住了多年的圈内人聊了几句，他们都说这是他们经历过的最厉害的沙尘暴。学校的教师也都唉声叹气地说，前一周刚有两天因为空气污染程度严重不能让孩子们户外活动，这下子孩子们又得一整天待在室内了。

I rode home, jacket zipped over my mouth, head down, sunglasses firmly in place in a mostly futile attempt to stop my contacts from morphing into projectiles. I got home and surveyed the damage. The newly planted purple petunias on our sill were speckled with brown, the stairs had a particularly thick coating of dirt and the whole outside of the house had a newly muted hue. There was a fine layer of dust in some places inside as well. I cleaned up a bit and asked our housekeeper to rinse off the steps and flowers.

我骑车往回走。虽然外套的拉链已拉到了头，而且还低著脑袋，戴著太阳镜，但这一切都是徒劳，空气中的沙粒依然枪林弹雨般地朝我袭来(P.S. The translator forgot about CONTACTS.)。回到家，我开始清点损失。门前刚种上的紫色牵牛花蒙上了无数棕黄色的斑点；台阶上覆盖了厚厚的一层土，整个房子外表的颜色变暗了一个色调。屋内的一些地方也蒙上了薄薄的一层灰。我简单打扫了一下，然后让保姆把台阶和牵牛花清洗干净。

After the dust had settled, I realized the city barely slowed down a tick. Local press reported that hospitals saw a significant upturn in people complaining of respiratory problems and many Chinese, though few Westerners, took to wearing masks. Returning from school, Eli asked me why "people wear those white things on their faces in China." I told him it was because the air was dirtier here.

尘埃落定之后(P.S. The translator didn't recognize a common phrase here.)，整个北京城却依然在一刻不停地忙碌著。当地媒体报道说，去医院就诊的呼吸道病人骤增，许多中国人以及为数不多的外国人开始戴上了口罩。在接艾立(Eli)回家的路上，他问我为什么在中国人们脸上都戴著那种白乎乎的东西，我告诉他说，因为这里的空气比较脏。

By the time we got home, everything was again coated with dust. It was not nearly as severe, but the sand was clearly landing all day, and it continued at this slower rate for another 24 hours.

我们到家时，所有东西重又蒙上了尘土。这次的沙尘实际远非那么严重，但是很显然，一整天沙尘都在不停从空中飘落，而且以较缓的速度又继续落了24个小时。

The word on the street is that desertification caused by wanton tree chopping and overgrazing in China's Northern provinces has caused the sandstorms and I wondered if this was true. With the help of an interpreter, I tracked down Chen Guangting, a researcher with the China Academy of Sciences. He said that sandstorms have long been a fact of life in Beijing -- the first one was recorded in 440 A.D. But desertification in Mongolia and Inner Mongolia have worsened the problem; the grass that holds the sand and dirt in place vanishes, then a big spring wind deposits it hundreds of miles away, in Beijing and elsewhere.

比较普遍的说法是，滥砍滥伐和中国北部省份的过度放牧导致了土地的沙漠化，由此产生了沙尘暴，但我却怀疑事实是否真的如此。在翻译的帮助下，我联系到了中国科学院研究员陈广庭。他说，北京遭受沙尘暴侵扰由来已久，最早见诸历史记载的是在公元440年。但内蒙古和外蒙古的土地沙漠化加剧了沙尘暴的形成。起到固化土壤作用的草地消失了，于是春季的强风便开始把沙化的土壤吹到了数百上千公里之外的北京和其他地区。

He also said this storm was the strongest in several years, which the Beijing Weather Bureau confirmed, with news that a total of 300,000 tons of sand and dirt fell on the city. That's 600-million pounds. Most of it eventually got picked up again and blown further Southeast, much to the chagrin of Japan and Korea.

他说，这次的沙尘暴是数年来最严重的一次。北京气象局(Beijing Weather Bureau)证实了这一点，同时报道称这次总计有30万吨沙尘降落到了北京城！其中大部分最终又被大风携裹著向著东南方向飘去，令日本和韩国懊恼不已。

By the end of the day Tuesday, the sandstorm was over and everything slowly got cleaned up, though a residue remained. A downpour would have been most welcome, but it never seems to rain here. We've been in Beijing eight months and have only felt a few drizzles. It is by far the driest climate I have ever lived in.

到了周二夜间，沙尘暴终于过去，万物逐渐恢复了本色，但沙尘肆虐的痕迹仍然随处可见。这时候要是能下一场大雨就好了，但北京看上去老也没有下雨的意思。我们来北京已经8个月了，到现在为止只见过屈指可数的几次小雨。北京是我迄今居住过的最干旱的城市。

After the storm we had a couple of gorgeous spring days, but on Friday the Beijing sky had the next surprise in store. It was another bright and crisp day but I noticed swirling white cotton-like balls drifting through the air. They looked sort of pretty at first. But the volume increased all day and some parts of the city were filled with an absurd amount of the white stuff. By the afternoon, my eyes, throat and nose were itching and in need of lubrication if not medication.

沙尘过后我们曾迎来了明媚的春光，但是好景不长。到了周五，北京的天空再次让我惊讶不已。当天，天空仍然明朗、清新，但我突然注意到天空中有数不清的棉花一般的白色絮球在随风飘舞。起先这些雪花般纷飞的棉絮看上去还很有些美意，但是随著数量的不断增加，城市的某些地方完全被笼罩在了满无边际的白色之中。到了下午，我的眼睛、喉咙和鼻子开始发痒、干燥，就算不需服药的话，至少也需要一些滋润。

I began to feel a kinship with Pharaoh and his ancient Egyptian subjects. I wouldn't have been surprised if it started raining blood or locusts commenced falling from the sky.

眼前的景象让我不禁联想到古埃及法老及其相关传说，此时就算天上开始降下血雨或是突然有数不清的蝗虫从天而降，我也不会感到奇怪。

After hearing a variety of explanations, most centering around cottonwood trees, I sought more expert guidance. Han Yifan, a Chinese Academy of Forestry researcher, told us that Beijing began planting cottonwood poplar trees about 20 years ago and that about 70% of the city's trees are now this species. The concentration is higher in the suburbs, where we live. All of the trees are female but, contrary to the popular wisdom, this has nothing to do with the abundance of airborne cottonballs.

关于这些满天飞舞的白色毛絮，我听到了很多解释，但大多数都跟杨树有关。我决定还是多听听专家的意见。中国林科院的韩一凡研究员告诉我们，北京从20年前开始种植毛白杨，北京目前70%的树木都是这一树种。在我们居住的郊区，毛白杨就更多了。北京种植的所有毛白杨都是会扬絮的雌株，因此导致北京的春天杨絮漫天。(P.S. The translator seems to have missed part of the sentence here.)

"Every April, when these trees become mature, they will spread the blowball," she said. "The trees planted here are seedless, which actually makes the situation worse; the blowballs are lighter and can be blown farther."

韩研究员说，每年4月毛白杨果实成熟时便会开裂并释出杨絮。北京种植的毛白杨树种没有籽，因而杨絮更轻，飘得更远。

It felt good to have an explanation -- and also to be provided a time frame. Ms. Han said the "blowballs" generally last about a month. Sandstorm season should be over by then and the alleged rainy season under way. I'll believe it when I see it; rain is the one thing I have yet to see fall from the Beijing sky.

有了这样一个解释让我心里感觉好了一些，更何况我还知道了这种漫天飞絮景观持续的时间。韩研究员说，这种景象一般每年持续一个月左右。到那时，沙尘暴季节便该过去了；到那时，所谓的雨季也该来了。真的有雨季？我还是真的见著了才敢相信，毕竟到目前为止，在我见过的从北京天空中落下的所有五花八门的东西中还没有真正意义上的雨。