平時沒事的時候，從省會西宁坐公共汽車到玉樹，需要12個小時，而從國家首都北京駕車去西宁大約是一千英里的路程。當你爬上南部和跨越西部地區的青藏高原，城市的伸展割讓給廣闊的草原。就在西藏的北部，通往一個小城鎮的道路擠進一個河谷。它的主要街道兩旁都是出售著酥油和茶葉的小商販，它棕色的矮小山丘与色彩鮮艷我的庭院家宅行排列。這些家園 - 和城鎮 - 現在都躺在廢墟上。
At 7:49 a.m. Wednesday morning a magnitute 7.1 earthquake shook the plateau, cracking a hospital, toppling schools and pulling mud and wood houses to the ground. At least 400 people were killed and 10,000 injured, according to state media reports. That toll will surely rise; Many people, including children, remain trapped in the rubble. Footage from the scene shows rescuers digging through debris with their bare hands. (See pictures of the devastation in Yushu.)
在星期三上午07時49分, 7.1級地震震動了高原，爆裂一所醫院，傾倒的學校和土木建筑的房屋拉倒在地上。据官方媒体報道, 至少400人死亡，10000人受傷。這种傷亡數字肯定會上升，許多人，包括儿童，仍被困在瓦礫中。從現場的畫面顯示，救援人員用自己的雙手從碎片中挖掘。
見玉樹破坏的照片。
Beijing must now try to avoid rekindling the anger that grew in the wake of another cataclysm. Two years ago a massive quake tore through neighboring Sichuan province, killing at least 87,000 people and leaving millions homeless. Then, as now, the majority of victims were killed in building collapses. Despite an estimated $250 billion recovery plan, allegations that faulty construction contributed to the death toll - particularly at the schools - have plagued China's government ever since.
(See pictures of China's Sichuan quake, six months after.)
北京現在必須設法避免從另一場大災難滋生出來的憤怒死灰燃。兩年前，大規模的地震襲擊了鄰近的四川省，造成至少 87,000人死亡，數百万人無家可歸。當時和現在一樣，受害者大多數是死于建筑物倒塌。憤怒盡管預計2500億美元的重建救援計划, 對有缺陷的施工造成大量死亡人數的指控，尤其是在學校 - 至今還不斷的困扰中國政府。
（見6個月后，中國的四川地震的照片。)
There is another factor at work here. Yushu sits at what was the edge of the old Chinese empire and to this day its predominant population is not Han, the ethnic group that rules the new China, but Tibetan. Indeed, the name Yushu, which means "Jade Tree," beautiful as it is, is not what the locals call it. Yushu is Mandarin, the language of the bureaucrats of Beijing. The town is Jyekundo is Tibetan, which is also the language of the exiled Dalai Lama, a bÊte noir of the Chinese government. Dominating a large square in Yushu was a spectacular statue not of some culture hero from the broad river plains, crowded cities and farmlands further east but of the great Gesar, a legendary king of the pastoral peoples of Tibet and Mongolia. No one knows if it survived the quake that leveled the town.
這里還有另一個重要的因素。玉樹位于在老中華 帝國的邊緣, 到今天它的主要人口不是統治新中國的主要民族 - 漢族，而是藏族 。事實上，玉樹的名字，意思是“翡翠樹，”如此的美麗，當地人卻不是這樣叫它的。玉樹是漢語，在北京官僚的語言。這個鎮藏語叫"結古多"，藏語也是在流亡 的達賴喇嘛 - 中國政府最忌提到的黑色怪物 - 的語言。支配著玉樹大廣場的是一個壯觀的雕像, 不是有關一些來自向東面寬闊河流平原擁擠的城市和農田上的文化英雄，而是屬于偉大的西藏和蒙古牧民的傳奇國王格薩爾的。沒有人知道它在地震中幸存的鎮夷為 平地。
The rescue effort will bring international attention to a side of China few see. Like much of China's western regions, this rural county is relatively poor. The newly built Qinghai-Tibet railway runs 200 kilometers to the north, whisking tourists and traders - and their money - directly to Lhasa, the capital of what the Chinese have demarcated as the Tibet Autonomous Region. (The Dalai Lama claims a larger territory as what he sees as Tibet, including Qinghai province, where Yushu lies; the Tibetans have their own name for Qinghai and parts of Sichuan province: Kham). Yushu's villagers, monks and herders tend to be wary of the central government in Beijing. Many worry the influx of Han Chinese migrants threatens Tibetan culture; some consider China an occupying force.
救 援工作將會引領國際社會注意到中國罕為人見的一面。像中國的西部的大部分地區，這鄉下的縣相對較差。新建成的青藏鐵路連接北面 200公里之遠，拂掃著游客和商人 - 還有他們的錢 - 直接到拉薩，中國人划分為西藏自治區的首都。 （達賴喇嘛聲稱，他視為大西藏的領土, 包括玉樹所在的青海省, 西藏人對青海省和四川部分地區的名稱, 有自己的叫法: 康巴）。玉樹的村民，僧侶和牧民往往對北京中央政府有所警惕。很多人擔心的漢族移民的大量涌入威脅到西藏的文化;一些人認為中國是一支占領的(軍事)力 量。
For now, relief efforts are proceeding - slowly. The road to the airport is damaged, forcing would-be rescuers to make the long journey overland. Downed phone lines, power outages and after-shocks have compounded the chaos, officials say. As darkness settles, officials are struggling to shelter survivors and treat the wounded. With tents, water and food in short supply, the people of Yushu/Jyekundo face many long, cold nights on the plateau.
目前，救援工作在進行中 -
緩慢地。去机場的路上被毀了，迫使准救援人員長途跋涉走陸路進去。官員說擊落的電話線，電源中斷后，余震在加劇了混亂狀況。夜幕平息，官員們正在努力庇護
幸存者和治療傷員。帳篷，水和食品供應短缺，玉樹/古結多高原上的人在面對許多漫長而寒冷的夜晚。
