The sun was about to set over the grasslands of Ordos. 鄂爾多斯草原上的落日即將來臨。 It was the right setting for my first experience of a traditional Mongolian tent house, except that the yurt I entered was far from the real deal. 對于初次體驗(yàn)傳統(tǒng)蒙古包的游客來說，我所在的現(xiàn)代蒙古包內(nèi)部設(shè)施還算傳統(tǒng)，只是與真正的圓頂蒙古包相去甚遠(yuǎn)。 It was a fancy commercial establishment that had large banquet tables and delicate chandeliers, not a weather-beaten dwelling made of bamboo or wood and felt, the way it used to be when nomads roamed the steppes with their portable homes and livestock. 從前，牧民們會帶著他們的蒙古包和牲畜在大草原上自由遷徙。但是，現(xiàn)在蒙古包不再是曾經(jīng)的樣子了，已經(jīng)變身為別致的商業(yè)場所，有大型的宴會桌和精致的吊燈，而不是用竹子或木頭建成的飽經(jīng)風(fēng)霜的住所。 During my recent visit to the Inner Mongolia autonomous region for a report, I had sought to interview some nomads, but local officials in Ordos, which is in the region’s south, told me that most such groups have settled down over the years and the handful remaining at best lead semi-nomadic lives in the northeast, along the Russian border. 為了完成一則報道，我最近到訪了內(nèi)蒙古自治區(qū)。我想采訪一些游牧民，但內(nèi)蒙南部的鄂爾多斯當(dāng)?shù)毓賳T告訴我，這些年來，大多數(shù)游牧民群體已經(jīng)定居下來，而剩下的人最多也是半游牧生活狀態(tài)，他們生活在內(nèi)蒙古東北部，靠近俄羅斯邊境。 Back to the modern yurt: Its round base was a concrete structure on which a wooden frame had been inserted and its outer top was covered by a white cloth-like material, with printed blue horse motifs, seemingly for an authentic effect. Air-dried (rather wind-dried) salted mutton, Mongolian tea (salted), flour snacks and walnuts were on offer. 再回過頭來看現(xiàn)代的蒙古包：圓形底座是水泥結(jié)構(gòu)，其上架著一個木質(zhì)框架，外頂覆蓋著一層白色的布樣材料，上面印著藍(lán)色的馬圖案，似乎是為了效果逼真。提供的食物有晾干的（而非風(fēng)干）咸羊肉、奶茶、面食和核桃等。 Anywhere I looked I saw sheep -- grazing on fields outside and as meat on plates indoor. 目之所及都是羊——在外面的田野上吃草，或是淪為盤中之物。 The yurt is no longer emblematic of grassland life in the region, at least not in its southern part. In today’s version, it usually serves as a hotel or homestay for tourists. 蒙古包不再是該地區(qū)草原生活的象征，至少在南部地區(qū)是如此。在今天，它通常是為游客服務(wù)的酒店或寄宿家庭。 Two herders, who also manage such accommodations in their villages, told me that tourists, including Japanese, experience Mongolian culture in summer. 兩名牧民在他們的村子里管理著這種蒙古包，他們告訴我，每逢夏季，許多游客都會來體驗(yàn)蒙古文化，還會有許多日本游客。 The grasslands dry up in winter and the frigid air then is unlikely to make horseback riding fun either. Although the region had many more horses in the 1970s than it does now, visitors still pay for such thrills, unavailable readily in many other places both in China and abroad. Equestrian shows on average cost 100 yuan ($16) in rural Ordos. 因?yàn)槎究莶葸B天，天氣寒冷，游客們很難獲得騎馬的樂趣。在20世紀(jì)70年代，該地區(qū)的馬匹數(shù)量比現(xiàn)在多很多，但游客們目前仍然愿意為這種刺激的體驗(yàn)付費(fèi)，因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)在這種體驗(yàn)在中國和國外的許多地方都無法獲得。在鄂爾多斯農(nóng)村，觀看一場馬術(shù)表演平均花費(fèi)100元。 “I want to protect the tradition and present it to tourists,” a local, who started to rent out the new yurts last April, said. “我想保護(hù)這個傳統(tǒng)，把它展現(xiàn)給游客，”一位當(dāng)?shù)厝苏f，他從2017年4月開始出租這些新蒙古包。 Another pastoral herder, who is also in his early 40s, said he missed traditional Mongolian clothing. He only wears them for festivals or weddings these days. His grandparents were nomads, he added, but his childhood memory was too faint to recall stories of the time before they settled down. 另一位四十出頭的農(nóng)村牧民說，他懷念傳統(tǒng)的蒙古服飾。近幾年，他只在參加節(jié)日或婚禮時才會穿上傳統(tǒng)服飾。他補(bǔ)充說，他的祖父母是游牧民，但他童年時的記憶太模糊，無法回憶起他們定居下來之前的故事。 The 51-year-old Party chief of a village, while speaking in Mongolian through a translator, said she spent her teens herding sheep. Her son, who is 30, has a different life that is supported by machines and cellphones. Many ethnic Mongolians speak Mandarin but some still use their mother tongue. 這位51歲的村支書通過翻譯用蒙古語說，她十幾歲的時候就在放羊。隨著機(jī)器和手機(jī)的普及，她三十歲的兒子過著不同的生活。許多蒙古人講普通話，但有些人仍使用母語。 Tourism would become more important if Inner Mongolia’s reliance on coal declines in future owing to China’s stated desire to move toward cleaner fuel. A local official estimated that vast reserves under the grasslands, which cover an area of 80 million hectares, have yet to be mined. 由于中國希望更多地轉(zhuǎn)向清潔燃料，因此，如果內(nèi)蒙古地區(qū)對煤炭的依賴降低，旅游業(yè)將占據(jù)更重要的地位。一名當(dāng)?shù)毓賳T估計，在占地8000萬公頃的草原下，仍有大量礦藏尚未開采。