朝鲜见闻
发布时间：2012-06-11来源：查字典留学网
朝鲜见闻
图：当记者在万景台餐厅就餐时突然停电。但女服务员早就料到会出现停电的情况，在我们还没有明白是怎么回事时，她们就拿来了几个硕大的手电筒，一张桌子放一个。
In North Korea's capital, "after dark" means something different than in most places its size. Nightfall in electricity-starved Pyongyang is more like nightfall in the middle of the ocean than like nightfall in a city of two million people. Seen from space, North Korea is a black spot set against the light pollution of neighboring China and South Korea.
朝鲜首都平壤的夜色与其他和其规模相当的大城市完全不同。在缺电的平壤，夜幕降临时丝毫不像一座拥有两百万人口的城市，反而更像大海中心的夜色一样漆黑一片。从空中向下看，朝鲜象一块黑斑，与邻国中国和韩国的光污染形成鲜明对比。
For all that, Pyongyang doesn't actually shut down when the sun sets. To serve its trickle of visitors, the city offers its own version of nightlife. Besides foreign envoys shuttling in for nuclear discussions and businesspeople looking to make deals, about 2,000 Western tourists come to Pyongyang each year, many, like me, to attend the famous, stadium-size show called Arirang. It's a spectacle of mass gymnastics, dance, military marching and incredible animated pictures created by thousands of people flipping colored cards.
虽然如此，日落后的平壤却不会真的停顿。这座城市为稀少的游客提供了平壤版的夜生活。除了前来讨论核问题的外国特使和寻找商机的商人，每年还有约2000名西方游客来到平壤，多数均像我一样来观看著名的大型表演──阿里郎。该演出集大型团体操、舞蹈及军事进行曲为一体，还有数千人利用彩色翻板创造出令人难以置信的动画背景。
The number of visitors could edge up. According to Koryo Tours, a Beijing-based agency specializing in trips to North Korea, the government has notified it that more Americans will be let in during the non-Arirang season (the show generally runs from August to October).
游客数量可能会略微增长。旅行社Koryo Tours称已经接到朝鲜政府通知，在非阿里郎演出季节（演出通常从八月至十月）可允许更多的美国人入境。Koryo Tours总部位于北京，是专门组织赴朝鲜旅行的机构。
For tourists, the days are filled with sights that have what ruler Kim Jong Il calls "high ideological content." (A government-supplied guide and minder comes along, day and night.) High on the list is the Mansudae Grand Monument, boasting a massive statue of the country's late founder, Kim Il Sung, where visitors lay flowers and line up to bow in an orderly fashion. Another must-see is the USS Pueblo, a U.S. Navy intelligence ship captured off the coast of North Korea in 1968; conducting the tour the day we visited was an elderly man dressed in navy whites who was one of the sailors in the original boarding party. And then there's the underground train system, with its mosaics of peasants revolting and huge chandeliers meant to look like stars.
游客在朝期间浏览的景点皆充斥着该国统治者金正日(Kim Jong Il)所谓的“意识形态高于一切的内容”。（一名由政府派遣的导游兼看守日夜如影随行。）位于各景点首位的是用于宣扬该国已故领袖金日成(Kim Il Sung)形象的万寿台大纪念碑，游客可在此献花，并依次鞠躬。另一个必看景点是美国军舰普韦布洛号(USS Pueblo)，这是1968年朝鲜在近海俘获的一艘美国海军间谍船。当日，一名身着白色海军服的老者带领我们参观该舰，他原是该船的一名水手。下一个景点是地铁系统，站内装饰着农民起义的马赛克图案以及象征着星辰的枝型吊灯。
But there's also the unexpected, like the Pyolmuri Teahouse, a Western-style cafe whose name translates roughly as "constellation of the stars." Opened in 2005 with the help of the nonprofit Adventist Development and Relief Agency, the cafe -- equipped, as it proudly points out, with German-made ovens and Italian pasta-making machines -- offers a tasty apple pie, a surprisingly decent cappuccino and a great chance to people-watch. Egyptian telecommuncations provider Orascom brought mobile technology to North Korea last year, and now demurely dressed teenage girls are accessorizing their hanboks, or traditional Korean dresses, with platform shoes and colorful, decorative, straps on their cellphones. (We tourists had surrendered our phones at the airport, along with our passports; they were returned just before we boarded the return flight.)
也有令人意想不到的地方，比如Pyolmuri茶馆。这是一个西式咖啡馆，名字翻译过来大体是群星的意思。该咖啡馆于2005年在非营利组织安泽国际救援协会(Adventist Development and Relief Agency)的帮助下开业，店内配备了德国的烤箱和意大利的面条机，提供美味的苹果派、口味纯正的卡普契诺咖啡，并提供了坐下观赏路人的大好机会。埃及电信供应商Orascom去年给朝鲜带来了移动通信技术。如今，穿戴整齐的少女身着长裙，脚穿松糕鞋，手拿用彩色丝带装饰的手机，出现在人们面前。（在机场，游客已将手机和护照一同上交，登机离开朝鲜之前才会归还。）
As evening approaches, take a stroll (minder in tow) along the deserted embankment of the Taedong River to Kim Il Sung Square. From this vantage point, you can photograph some picture-postcard views while it's still light. An ideal place to watch the sunset is from the Tower of the Juche Idea, named for the country's official ideology, a word typically translated as "self-reliance." The 170-meter tower, built on the occasion of Kim Il Sung's 70th birthday, is said to contain one white stone block for each day of his life to that point. (He died in 1994, at the age of 82, and while his son is now ruler, the elder Kim is "eternal president.")
夜晚降临前，（我们在看守的陪同下）沿着荒芜的大同江堤漫步到金日成广场。趁着光亮，游人可在此拍下一些如风景明信片般美丽的景色。观看日落的最佳位置是主体思想塔。该塔以朝鲜的官方思想体系命名。塔高170米，特为金日成70岁生日而建，据称每一块白色的石头代表着他在此之前生命的每一天。（金日成死于1994年，享年82岁，他的儿子是朝鲜目前的统治者，而金日成是“永远的主席”。）
From the top there's a panoramic view over the capital out to the surrounding mountains. The lack of cars on the roads -- vehicles aren't freely available for purchase -- and scarcity of heavy industry means the air is remarkably clear.
从纪念碑顶处往下望，整个首都一览无余，一直可以看到环抱的远山。由于汽车不可以随便购买，上路车辆不多，加上重工业也非常少，这里的空气干净得出奇。
Then it's time to think about where to have dinner. Don't dawdle; most Pyongyang eateries generally close by 9 p.m. The choices range quite widely, from hot pot at Chongryu Hot Pot restaurant to roast duck at Pyongyang Duck Barbeque Restaurant No. 1 to Macanese fare such as egg tarts at the imaginatively named Macau Restaurant.
然后就得想想去哪里吃晚饭。磨蹭不得，平壤多数吃东西的地方一般都是在晚上九点以前关门。选择相当多，有清流馆(Chongryu Hot Pot)的火锅，有平壤第一烤鸭店(Pyongyang Duck Barbeque Restaurant No. 1)的烤鸭，还有“澳门餐厅”（根据想象起名）的澳门食品，比如蛋挞。
Whatever you pick, forget dining by candlelight. Here, it's more likely to be by flashlight. On my first night, just as my tour group was tucking into a typical Korean meal of naengmyon (cold noodles) and bulgogi (barbecued beef) at Mangyongdae KITC restaurant, the lights went out. But the waitresses have come to expect power outages, and before we knew it they were coming around with huge flashlights, one for each table. The room lights still hadn't come back on by the time we left about an hour later.
不管选哪一家，都别指望有一个烛光晚餐。这里更有可能是举行手电筒晚餐。在到达的第一个晚上，我们旅游团选在万景台餐厅(Mangyongdae KITC)吃冷面加烤牛肉这种典型的朝鲜饭。当我们正在大吃的时候，灯灭了。但女服务员早就料到会出现停电的情况，在我们还没有明白是怎么回事时，她们就拿来了几个硕大的手电筒，一张桌子放一个。约一个小时后我们离开时，室内的灯还没有亮起来。
Checking out the city's after-dinner scene is easy: There's one nightclub and one casino, both located in the same place, the 1,001-room Yanggakdo Hotel, one of about a dozen hotels where foreigners are allowed to stay. (All the tourist hotels do offer some evening activities -- like a karaoke bar -- but the Yanggakdo is the place to be.) You won't see any locals here; the entertainment venues are off limits to North Korean citizens.
这座城市的晚饭后生活一目了然：这里有一个夜总会，一个赌场，都在有1001个房间的羊角岛宾馆(Yanggakdo Hotel)。这是十几个允许外国人下榻的宾馆之一。（所有旅游宾馆确实都有一些夜生活，比如卡拉OK等，但羊角岛才是最佳选择。）在这里，你不会看到任何本地人，因为娱乐场所是不允许朝鲜公民进入的。
Start at the aptly named Revolving Restaurant, also known as the Swivel Restaurant, on the 47th floor. It has all the glamour of a 1980s airport lounge, but still attracts businesspeople and Russian exchange students. Grab a seat by the window and admire the lack of city lights as you circle around. Order a serving of soju. Traditionally made from rice, although sometimes also from acorns, it's the national liquor.
首先来到47楼的“旋转餐厅”(Revolving Restaurant，也叫Swivel Restaurant)。完全是上个世纪80年代机场休息室的风格，但对商人和俄罗斯交换生仍有吸引力。在窗边占个座，一圈圈转着欣赏这个黑灯瞎火的城市。让服务员上烧酒。这是国酒，一般都用大米酿制，有时候也用橡果。
Less-adventurous travelers could sample some of the country's homegrown beer. The best-known brands are Ryongsong, Ponghak and Taedonggang. Taedonggang, which last year was bizarrely the subject of an advertisement on state TV, is made using equipment that once produced the likes of Brown's Bitter and Mann's Best Ale in Trowbridge, England. North Korea bought the shut-down brewery from its U.K. owner and had it dismantled and shipped over in 2000. The restaurant stays open until 1 a.m. or 2 a.m, or when the last customer leaves.
胆子小一点的游客可以尝尝朝鲜自己酿的几种啤酒。最有名的牌子有龙城(Ryongsong)，凤凰(Ponghak)和大同江(Taedonggang)。大同江去年奇怪地在国家电视台上播过广告，它是用曾经酿造英国特罗布里奇市Brown's Bitter和Mann's Best Ale等啤酒的设备来酿造的。朝鲜从英国人那里收购了这家倒闭的酿酒厂，将机器拆卸后在2000年运到了朝鲜。餐厅到凌晨一、两点才关门，或者是等到最后一位顾客离开的时候。
Sufficiently mellowed, head for the nightclub on the lower ground floor. You can groove to the beat of familiar pop tunes from the '70s and '80s (was that the Bee Gees'[nbsp ]"Stayin' Alive," or too much soju?) until about 3:30 a.m. if there's enough business; otherwise the staff close the doors at about 1:30 a.m.
带着酒意，到酒店地下的夜总会去，你可以跟着七、八十年代的流行老歌踏歌起舞（这是比吉斯(Bee Gees)《Stayin' Alive》的旋律吗？还是烧酒喝多了？）。如果人多的话，这里开到凌晨三点半左右，否则，工作人员在一点半左右就关门。
If you're still not ready to call it a night and you're feeling lucky, pop next door to the Egypt Palace casino. Replete with slot machines and tables for card games including blackjack, the casino is generally open until 4 a.m. But if you aren't staying in the hotel, how long you can play depends on what kind of deal you can strike with your minder.
要是觉得还不尽兴，并且感觉手气不错的话，你可以走进隔壁房间，来到埃及宫殿(Egypt Palace)赌场。赌场里老虎机、用于玩21点等纸牌的桌子一应俱全。这里一般要开到凌晨四点。但如果你不住在这家宾馆，能玩多久就看你跟你的导游怎么商量了。
After that, there is only the 7 a.m. "workers' siren," a citywide wake-up call. It might serve to tell you whether you had too much soju.
送走黑夜，早晨七点的“工人号角”会把全城的人叫醒。它可能起到的一个作用，就是让你知道自己喝烧酒是不是喝多了。