面目全非——北京胡同的变迁All change: moving on from the hutong

It wasn't long after I first set foot in China that I was introduced to the ephemeral delights of Beijing's hutong, circa 2016. 第一次踏入中国不久，我陷入了对北京胡同短暂的惊喜中，那大约是在2016年。 Having had no previous experience of these age-old alleyways, I knew not what to expect. Would they be like the "snickelways" of York, England, which I had explored in my youth, or something more akin to the winding passageways of Manama's old souk, in my former home of Bahrain? 以前从来没有过关于这些古老小巷的珍贵经历，我并不知道有什么可以期待的。它们会像我年轻时去过的英国约克的“斯尼克尔路”？（Snickelways）或者，像我以前住在巴林麦纳麦的老市场那些蜿蜒的小巷？ Turns out it was neither. They were unique and I was enchanted - not only by the architecture, but also by the vibrancy of the assorted bars, restaurants, galleries and boutiques that called these lawless lanes their home. 都不是，北京胡同比它们都特别，不论是建筑，还是在杂乱无章的小道上，形形色色充满活力的酒吧、餐馆、画廊和精品店，都让我深深的着迷。 And lawless they were, or so I was to learn later, when a program of renovations and crackdowns on illegal structures began in earnest earlier this year. 它们似乎是杂乱的违章建筑，我是后来才知道的，今年年初，政府对违章建筑进行改造和拆迁的工程开始实施。 But I didn't know that at the time. Coming to the city with fresh eyes, and only some small knowledge of its history, I simply assumed this was the way the hutong had always been. 但之前我并不知道。带着新鲜感来到这座城市以及对它的历史知之甚微的我，只是觉得胡同本来就是这个样子。 Well, maybe not always - I had supposed those establishments owned or run by foreigners were newer additions. The nature of the business being conducted must surely have changed over time, too. But nothing that my naive gaze fell upon lead me to believe that this part of the city's heart had, at least in recent memory, been anything but the diverse mishmash of culture and merriment that was laid out before me. 或许吧，或许并非一直如此——我曾以为那些外国人占有或经营的建筑才是多余的。商业活动肯定也会随着时间而改变。但在我浅薄的眼光里，没有别的任何事物会让我觉得，像胡同一样作为这个城市精髓的一部分，把多元混杂的文化和欢乐展现在我面前，至少在最近的记忆中是如此。 I realize now I did myself a disservice, in those early days in this ancient city, by not exploring more of what the hutong had to offer and better patronizing those places I had found and begun to love. 现在我才明白我给自己造成了多大的遗憾，在这座古老的城市里，早些时候不去追寻胡同所带来的更多的馈赠，不去寻访那些我所发现并深爱的地方。 For it turned out that a profound change was on the horizon, one that - if the city's English-language lifestyle magazines are to be believed - was met with no small amount of shock and sorrow, especially among the expatriate community. 事实是，影响至深的变化即将到来，如果北京英文杂志《Lifestyle》报道属实，将会有一场不小的冲击和悲伤，尤其对于中国人而言。 I, too, felt a kind of despondency, as I watched many of my favorite new haunts torn down or bricked up. Some were shuttered, others relocated and a few have managed to carry on, for now. 我也感到很失落，因为我看到很多我喜欢的地方都被拆除或用砖堵死了。现在，一些被封锁了，一些搬迁了，只有少数还挣扎着留存了下来。 Change, of course, is inevitable. Like living entities, all cities change. No big city is immune to it and Beijing is bigger than most. 当然，改变是不可避免的。就像生物一样，所有的城市都在改变。没有哪个大城市能幸免，更何况类似北京这样体量的大都市。 What makes this change different, though, is that it isn't really a change at all. It's more of a reversion. As an unnamed official was quoted as saying in May, the renovations are meant to "recover the original appearance of the hutong", described as "an integral part of the capital's traditional culture". 然而，有些不一样的是，这并不是真正的改变。这更像是一种复古现象。正如一位不愿透露姓名的官员在五月所说的那样，整修是为了“恢复胡同的原貌”，把这被形容为“首都传统文化的一个组成部分”。 As a foreigner in a foreign land, I feel I'm in no position to pass comment. I can merely bear witness to the renovations' effects. 作为外国人，我觉得我没有资格发表评论。我只能见证所谓翻新最后的结果。 And though I was saddened by their passing, I'm just glad I experienced the magic of those haphazard hutong hangouts, before they were lost to time. 虽然胡同成为了过去让我感到悲伤，但我很庆幸我曾感受过胡同的魅力，即便它们最后输给了时间。