英格兰东萨塞克斯——对一个在中国年轻游客中备受欢迎的旅游网站来说,位于伦敦以南车程约两小时处的悬崖是个“风之天堂”。六月,一名韩国女演员分享了一张自己在悬崖的照片和一则视频。在视频中,她站在令人头晕目眩的悬崖边,距离近得令人不安。韩国真人秀明星们也在春季的一期节目中探访了这里。
“When we search for London on social media, it’s the first thing we see,” Hyeon Hui Shin, a 28-year-old tourist from South Korea, said of the East Sussex cliffs, known as the Seven Sisters. “I didn’t know it was so far from London!”
“我们在社交媒体上搜伦敦时,这是我们看到的第一个东西,”28岁的韩国游客申贤姬(音)这么评价东萨塞克斯这个名为“七姐妹崖”的地方。“我不知道离伦敦有这么远!”
The Seven Sisters — stark, white chalk cliffs facing the English Channel — have long been popular among hikers, a hardy, “walking type,” said Fran Downton, a marketing manager at Tourism South East, the region’s tourist board.
七姐妹崖——面对着英吉利海峡、光秃秃的白色白垩质峭壁——一直都很受徒步者的欢迎,是条件艰苦、“徒步式的旅游地”,该地区的旅游机构东南旅游(Tourism South East)的市场营销经理弗兰·唐顿(Fran Downton)说。
But over the past two years, visitors from China have been increasingly hopping on trains to make day trips here from London. Travelers from South Korea have now started joining them. And they are largely inspired by the cliffs’ appearances in social media, films — especially the “Harry Potter” series — and by recommendations from celebrities.
但在过去两年里,有越来越多来自中国的游客从伦敦乘火车来这里一日游。韩国的游客如今也加入了他们的行列。他们来这里基本都是因为它在社交媒体和电影里的样子——尤其是《哈利·波特》(Harry Potter)系列——还有名人的推荐。
This summer, the burgeoning visitor demographic was clear to see, with people lining the cliffs’ edge, posing for photos. The number of visitors to East Sussex from that region has also been up even in the cooler fall months.
今年夏天,很明显能看出游客群体的大量增长,人们成排地站在悬崖边上,摆姿势拍照。即使在天气较凉的秋季月份,从中韩前往东萨塞克斯的游客数量也有所增长。
When Ms. Shin came from South Korea to see a friend studying near London, a visit to the cliffs was a priority.
当申贤姬从韩国来看一名在伦敦附近上学的朋友时,去一趟七姐妹崖就成了重中之重。
“It’s the first thing: I told her I want to see Seven Sisters,” she said, explaining in the blustery wind that the cliffs caught her imagination before Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and even the white cliffs at Dover.
“那是头等大事:我告诉她我想看七姐妹崖,”她在狂风呼啸中解释说,这座悬崖比大本钟、白金汉宫,甚至是多弗的白崖还吸引她。
Local officials see the influx of visitors as an opportunity. The local council’s tourism branch is considering adding a visitor center and looking at ways to entice these international travelers to stay longer and explore nearby towns. It is also looking for partner organizations in China to help with promotion.
当地官员将游客的涌入视为机遇。当地议会的旅游部门正在考虑增加一个游客中心,并且寻找办法,吸引国际游客延长逗留时间,以及游览附近城镇。它还在寻找中国的合作伙伴组织来帮助推广。
The new visitors also reflect a broader change in Britain’s tourism demographics. The country’s tourism agency, Visit Britain, notes in its annual reports that young, social media-savvy visitors are increasingly making their way to Britain from China and South Korea.
新游客也反映了英国游客人口构成数据的更广泛变化。该国旅游机构英国旅游局在其年度报告中指出,赴英游客中,擅用社交媒体的年轻中韩游客越来越多。
“They are independent, looking for something different,” Ms. Downton said. “They don’t want to be herded around.”
“他们是独立的,在寻找不一样的东西。”唐顿说。“他们不想随大流。”
Her agency has hired a Chinese student to post on the Chinese platform WeChat and help reach this audience. On his advice, it switched from URLs to QR codes on promotional literature and started to publicize Chinese restaurants, along with information on where local fare like fish and chips can be found.
她的代理机构聘请了一名中国学生在中文平台微信上发帖,以便吸引这类读者。根据他的建议,该机构把宣传材料上的网址改成了二维码,并开始宣传中餐馆,以及有关炸鱼薯条等当地美食的信息。
It also started providing more information on public transport for the more independent travelers.
它还开始为更独立的旅行者提供更多有关公共交通的信息。
“We don’t like to follow tours,” said Shi Yu Liu, 42, a hip-hop dancer and teacher from China. “You may have to leave very quickly. You can’t enjoy it.”
“我们不喜欢跟团旅游,”来自中国的嘻哈舞者、老师,42岁的刘时雨(音)说。 “你可能得很快离开,无法尽情享受。“
He and his friends had driven to the cliffs, stopping off at Brighton to enjoy oysters and smoked fish. For them, the visit to the British countryside was a wholesome way to escape the frenetic pace of life in Guangzhou, where they live.
他和朋友们开车来到悬崖边,在布莱顿停留,享用牡蛎和熏鱼。对他们来说,访问英国乡村是一种有益健康的方式,逃离他们居住的广州那快节奏的生活。
“In China, there are lots of people,” Mr. Liu said. “You can enjoy the time here.”
“在中国人太多,” 刘时雨说。“你可以在这里享受时光。”
One of his companions, 27-year-old Natalie Chi, a gallery manager, proclaimed that the cliffs looked just as good as they did when they appeared in the film Atonement. “It makes me feel like humans are so small,” she said.
他的同伴,27岁的画廊经理娜塔莉·齐(Natalie Chi,音)说,这些悬崖看上去和电影《赎罪》(Atonement)里一样美。 “它让我觉得人类如此渺小,”她说。
The growing number of visitors has raised concerns about the risks of having so many people high up on the cliffs. Last year, Hyewon Kim, a Korean student, died after losing her footing there. Before that, Beachy Head, a nearby headland, was known as a spot where people died by suicide.
游客越来越多,也让人更加担心,高耸的悬崖上有这么多人会有风险。去年,韩国学生金惠媛(Hyewon Kim,音)在这里失足堕崖身亡。在此之前,附近名叫比奇角(Beachy Head)的岬角曾被视为自杀胜地。
There is danger of the cliffs crumbling, too. They recede by about 10 to 15 inches a year, and over two months in 2014, about 16 feet of cliff crumbled to the east of the Seven Sisters, the equivalent of seven years of erosion. This August, a beach on the eastern side of the cliffs was closed for several days after parts of the cliff became unstable.
悬崖也有崩溃的危险。它们每年后退大约10~15英寸(约合25~38厘米),2014年两个月的时间里,七姐妹的东边有大约16英尺(约合4.9米)的悬崖崩溃了,这相当于七年的侵蚀量。今年八月,悬崖东侧的一个海滩在部分悬崖变得不稳定后关闭了几天。
But this took none of the charm away for tourists on the cliff top, who were still able to snap photos with the sea as a backdrop. Friends took turns photographing one another jumping in the air, the shutters pausing only for people to fix their hair. Although this summer in Britain was unusually hot, the wind at the coast was as brisk as ever.
但是对于悬崖顶端的游客来说,这一切都没有让这里有丝毫失色,他们仍然可以拍摄以大海为背景的照片。朋友们轮流跳起来拍照,快门响个不停,偶尔停下来整理一下头发。虽然今年夏天英国异常炎热,但沿海的风一如既往地清爽。
The tourists all had a similar response when asked how they knew about the Seven Sisters. “It’s famous!” was the common refrain.
当被问及他们是怎么知道七姐妹时,游客们的回答都很类似。“它很有名!”是常见的话。
The appearance there by the South Korean actress, Seo Hyo Rim, came shortly after a visit to the cliffs by the stars of One Night Sleepover Trip, a Korean reality television show. And the Taiwanese singer Jay Chou set one of his music videos there.
韩国真人秀节目让我留宿一晚(One Night Sleepover Trip)的明星访问这座悬崖后不久,韩国女演员徐孝琳(Seo Hyo Rim)也出现在这里。台湾歌手周杰伦在那里拍摄了他的一部音乐录影。
In Croatia, one of the main filming locations for the popular HBO series “Game of Thrones” has drawn throngs of tourists, quickly raising fears of “over-tourism” there. Britain’s tourism agencies, who want to capitalize on the growing interest in the Seven Sisters, are also worried about that — and about promoting the place without over-commercializing it.
在克罗地亚,HBO流行电视剧《权力的游戏》的主要拍摄地之一吸引了大批游客,迅速引发了对“过度旅游”的担忧。想要利用人们对七姐妹日益增长的兴趣的英国旅游机构也担心这一点——此外还有如何推广这个地方,而又不至于让它过度商业化。
“It’s quite a trek from London down here and back again,” said Philip Evans, the head of tourism at the local council. He wants to make people’s journey’s worthwhile, he said, but also feels that the area should be “preserved and not ruined by usage.”
“从伦敦来到这里再返回是非常精彩的旅行。”地方议会旅游负责人菲利普·埃文斯(Philip Evans)说。 他说,他希望让人们的旅程变得有价值,但也觉得这个地区应该“妥善保护,不要因使用而毁坏”。
Some tourists are already on the hunt for more hidden gems. “I think too many Koreans visit here,” said Hye Jin Park, a 26-year-old elementary schoolteacher. “So later when I travel, I want to visit more local places, not famous.”
一些游客已经在寻找更多隐藏的宝石。 “我觉得来这里的韩国人太多了,”26岁的小学教师朴惠真(Hye Jin Park,音)说。 “所以后来我旅行时,我想去更本土化的地方,而不是有名的地方。”