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. 第一次踏入中國不久，我陷入了對(duì)北京胡同短暫的驚喜中，那大約是在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? 以前從來沒有過關(guān)于這些古老小巷的珍貴經(jīng)歷，我并不知道有什么可以期待的。它們會(huì)像我年輕時(shí)去過的英國約克的“斯尼克爾路”？（Snickelways）或者，像我以前住在巴林麥納麥的老市場(chǎng)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，北京胡同比它們都特別，不論是建筑，還是在雜亂無章的小道上，形形色色充滿活力的酒吧、餐館、畫廊和精品店，都讓我深深的著迷。 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. 它們似乎是雜亂的違章建筑，我是后來才知道的，今年年初，政府對(duì)違章建筑進(jìn)行改造和拆遷的工程開始實(shí)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。帶著新鮮感來到這座城市以及對(duì)它的歷史知之甚微的我，只是覺得胡同本來就是這個(gè)樣子。 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. 或許吧，或許并非一直如此——我曾以為那些外國人占有或經(jīng)營的建筑才是多余的。商業(yè)活動(dòng)肯定也會(huì)隨著時(shí)間而改變。但在我淺薄的眼光里，沒有別的任何事物會(huì)讓我覺得，像胡同一樣作為這個(gè)城市精髓的一部分，把多元混雜的文化和歡樂展現(xiàn)在我面前，至少在最近的記憶中是如此。 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. 現(xiàn)在我才明白我給自己造成了多大的遺憾，在這座古老的城市里，早些時(shí)候不去追尋胡同所帶來的更多的饋贈(zèng)，不去尋訪那些我所發(fā)現(xiàn)并深愛的地方。 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. 事實(shí)是，影響至深的變化即將到來，如果北京英文雜志《Lifestyle》報(bào)道屬實(shí)，將會(huì)有一場(chǎng)不小的沖擊和悲傷，尤其對(duì)于中國人而言。 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?yàn)槲铱吹胶芏辔蚁矚g的地方都被拆除或用磚堵死了?，F(xiàn)在，一些被封鎖了，一些搬遷了，只有少數(shù)還掙扎著留存了下來。 Change, of course, is inevitable. Like living entities, all cities change. No big city is immune to it and Beijing is bigger than most. 當(dāng)然，改變是不可避免的。就像生物一樣，所有的城市都在改變。沒有哪個(gè)大城市能幸免，更何況類似北京這樣體量的大都市。 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，有些不一樣的是，這并不是真正的改變。這更像是一種復(fù)古現(xiàn)象。正如一位不愿透露姓名的官員在五月所說的那樣，整修是為了“恢復(fù)胡同的原貌”，把這被形容為“首都傳統(tǒng)文化的一個(gè)組成部分”。 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. 作為外國人，我覺得我沒有資格發(fā)表評(píng)論。我只能見證所謂翻新最后的結(jié)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. 雖然胡同成為了過去讓我感到悲傷，但我很慶幸我曾感受過胡同的魅力，即便它們最后輸給了時(shí)間。