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| HONG KONG — Of all the problems created by the pandemic, Sisi Wong did not expect that finding parking would be one of them. |
| 香港——病毒大流行带来了种种问题，但茜茜·黄(Sisi Wong)没想到找停车位都会受影响。 |
| Travel to Hong Kong was cut off. Residents were urged to stay home. And besides, Ms. Wong lived in a remote northern pocket of the territory, where rolling hills outnumbered skyscrapers and few visitors ventured even in normal times. |
| 香港已经关闭入境。居民被呼吁待在家里。此外，茜茜·黄还住在偏僻的北部地区，周围多的是群山而不是摩天楼，平时都很少有人来访。 |
| Yet there she was, arriving home to find trash scattered near her house, taxis clogging the single narrow road and her usual parking spot occupied by a stranger’s car. |
| 然而现在她回到家会发现，房子附近到处是垃圾，出租车堵在狭窄的单车道小路上，她平常的停车位也被陌生人的车占据了。 |
| “We’ve called the police, we’ve blocked the road, but there are still so many people,” Ms. Wong said on a recent Sunday, as yet more cars trundled by her tiny village, which sits — to her newfound dismay — next to a photogenic reservoir ringed by weeping willows. |
| “我们都报警了的，我们都封了路、拦住路，但还是好多人，”黄女士在最近一个周日说，越来越多的汽车隆隆驶过她所在的小村庄，在这个村子的旁边是一个垂柳环绕、风景如画的水库——黄女士最近才发现，这一点给她带来的是烦恼。 |
| “Before the epidemic, usually no one came, except maybe on weekends,” she said. “Now, there are people all the time.” |
| “疫情之前一般没有人来的，一般就周五六日，”她说。“疫情之后才无时无刻都有人。” |
| In tourist magnets around the world, from Paris to the Galápagos, the pandemic has brought one small blessing, to the relief of many locals: the disappearance of some obnoxious visitors. That’s also true in the postcard-famous parts of Hong Kong, where lines no longer spill out of designer showrooms and travel coaches no longer block the neon-lit streets. |
| 从巴黎到加拉帕戈斯，这场大流行给世界各地的热门旅游目的地带来了一个小小的恩惠，成为许多当地人的一种解脱：讨人厌的游客不见了。香港的那些会出现在明信片上的地方也是如此，设计师展示店门口不再排满长队，霓虹闪烁的街头也没有了堵塞交通的旅游大巴。 |
| But as foreign tourists have vanished, a new, local species has emerged. |
| 但是，外国游客是消失了，却又出现了一个本地人构成的新群体。 |
| Bored and trapped in an area one-third the size of Rhode Island, Hong Kongers have sought out the most far-flung, once-quiet corners of their territory of 7.5 million people, mobbing nature trails and parks with the kinds of crowds previously limited to the Causeway Bay shopping district. |
| 香港人被长期困在一个只有罗德岛三分之一大小的区域里甚感无聊，想在这个750万人口的城市中找到最偏远的、曾经很僻静的角落，于是之前只会去铜锣湾购物区的一群人，现在涌进了天然步道和公园里。 |
| Even though the subtropical humidity can make being outdoors unbearable much of the year — and despite an abundance of mega-malls offering ample entertainment excuses to never leave their air-conditioned interiors — Hong Kongers seem to be experiencing the collective thrill of discovering nature. |
| 即便亚热带的潮湿让这里一年中的相当一部分时间不太适合待在外面——加之不计其数的巨型购物中心提供各种娱乐，让人们有借口永远不用离开有空调的室内——香港人似乎还是纷纷开始去体验发现大自然的兴奋。 |
| About 75 percent of Hong Kong is undeveloped, much of it protected parkland roamed by wild boars and monkeys. Just outside the glittering cityscape is a quilt of islands and peaks ringed by the turquoise South China Sea. |
| 香港约74%的地方是未开发的，其中相当一部分是生活着野猪和猴子的保护区。在璀璨都市之外，是由蓝绿色的南海环绕的诸多岛屿和山峰。 |
| At some of the island’s most popular nature spots, like Devil’s Peak, a rocky outcrop strewn with century-old military ruins, climbers now find themselves in standstill pedestrian traffic. Hikers scaling Lion Rock — a steep, feline-shaped mound that yields a breathtaking skyline view — can sweat on the ascent without fear because the lines for photos are so long, they are able to dry off before their first selfie. |
| 在其中一些岛屿的最热门自然景点里，比如多石的、有古老军事废墟的炮台山，如今登山者发现自己在人群中寸步难行。至于攀登狮子山——一座狮子形状的陡峭山峰，在山上可以看到壮美的城市天际线——的旅行者，完全不用担心自拍时一身大汗，因为拍照点排着长队，轮到自己的时候汗水早就干了。 |
| The crowds aren’t the only problem. Crumpled surgical masks dot the trails like strange new flora. Environmental groups have fretted over illegal camp fires. The number of mountain rescues by the Fire Services Department nearly tripled last year, to 602, as some newbie hikers perhaps pushed themselves too far. |
| 人群不是唯一问题。路上落满了皱巴巴的口罩，就像某种奇怪的新品种花卉。非法的篝火令环保组织忧心不已。消防处接到的高山救援报告去年增加了将近两倍，达602例，一些登山新手对自己的能力可能有些高估。 |
| “They’re often taking a tourist mind-set to the countryside,” said Vivien Cheng, the director of community partnerships at the Green Earth, a sustainability nonprofit. “If someone discovers a place with a very beautiful rock, then that place is doomed.” |
| “他们好多时候用一个旅游的心态去郊野，”可持续非营利组织绿惜地球的社区协作总监郑茹蕙说。“如果有一个人发现有一个石头很漂亮，那那个地方就很惨了。” |
| Agnes Cheung is one of the recent converts to nature’s appeal. A college student, she was visiting Lau Shui Heung, the reservoir near Ms. Wong’s village. Before the outbreak, Ms. Cheung spent her weekends shopping, visiting museums or playing video games. “Without this pandemic, I wouldn’t even know there is such a place in Hong Kong,” she said. |
| 艾格尼丝·张(Agnes Cheung)是最近被大自然的魅力征服的人之一。她是一名大学生，当时正在参观黄女士的村庄附近的流水响水塘。疫情暴发前，艾格尼丝·张会在周末购物、参观博物馆或打游戏。她说：“要不是因为大流行，我都不知道香港有这样一个地方。” |
| But she was tired of staring at a screen after so many Zoom classes. In malls, “you’re just breathing germs.” As for the museums — “all closed!” she said, her voice despairing. |
| 但是，上了那么多Zoom课程后，她对盯着屏幕感到厌倦。在商场里，“你呼吸的是细菌。”至于博物馆——“全关了！”她说，她的声音听上去很绝望。 |
| “And no more cinemas! No more karaoke!” chimed in her friend, Michelle Wong. |
| “再也去不了电影院！也没有卡拉OK了！”她的朋友米歇尔·黄(Michelle Wong)跟着说道。 |
| So the two had turned to Instagram to seek out new destinations. They had been lured by what they saw of the reservoir: neat rows of cypress trees, like soldiers, flanking the water’s placid green surface. |
| 于是，这两个人打开Instagram寻找新的目标。她们被水库的景象所吸引：一排排整洁的柏树，像士兵一样立在平静的绿色水面两侧。 |
| But now that they had arrived, some things were getting in the way of the perfect shot. “We just saw glass bottles there when were taking photos,” Ms. Cheung said, gesturing to the opposite shore. “People are so bad.” |
| 但是当她们到这里时，有些东西妨碍了完美照片的取景。“我们拍照的时候就看到那里有玻璃瓶，”艾格尼丝·张指着对岸说。“人们太差劲了。” |
| And there were the crowds — skipping rocks, picnicking and, of course, taking photos. “They’re everywhere,” Ms. Wong said. “There are too many people, so you cannot really take your mask off, even if you want to take a good picture.” |
| 那边全是人——打水漂、野餐，当然还有拍照。“他们无处不在，”米歇尔·黄说。“人太多了，所以即使你想拍张好的照片，也没法摘下口罩。” |
| This is likely not what the government imagined when it created the countryside parks in the 1970s. The goal was to give residents a place to “regain equilibrium,” according to a government adviser who recommended the parks’ establishment. |
| 这也许并不是政府当初在1970年代创建该郊野公园时想要的样子。一位曾提议建公园的政府顾问表示，这是为了给居民提供一个“重获身心平衡”的场所。 |
| For a while, few residents felt so unbalanced. In the 1980s, just around 12 percent of Hong Kongers said they hiked in the parks, according to survey data. |
| 有那么一段时间，感到需要去透透气的居民并不多。根据调查数据，在1980年代，只有大约12%的香港人说他们会在公园里徒步。 |
| But over the past two decades, park usage has more than doubled. Outdoor activity spiked after the outbreak of SARS in 2003, leading the government to expand and promote the trails. |
| 但是在过去的20年里，公园的使用量增加了一倍以上。 2003年SARS暴发后，户外活动激增，导致政府扩展并推广了这些步道。 |
| Even so, the pandemic influx has been on a new level. The parks logged 12 million visitors in 2020, an 11 percent increase from the year before, according to government statistics, even though public barbecue areas and campsites were closed for more than seven months because of the virus. |
| 即便如此，因疫情而涌入的人流已达到一个新的水平。根据政府统计，即使公共烧烤区和露营地因为病毒关闭了七个多月，公园在2020年仍吸引了1200万游客，比前一年增长了11％。 |
| The crowds have created a conundrum for outdoor evangelists like Dan Van Hoy, a senior leader with Hong Kong Hiking Meetup. Of course, Mr. Van Hoy says, he is thrilled to see more people venturing beyond the high-rises. When he first joined the group eight years ago, it had about 8,000 registered members. It now has 25,000. |
| 对于诸如香港远足觅合团(Hong Kong Hiking Meetup)的资深领队丹·范霍伊(Dan Van Hoy)这样的户外活动传播者，人群的涌入带来了一个难题。范霍伊说，他当然很高兴看到更多的人走出高楼大厦来到户外。当他八年前首次加入该小组时，该小组有大约8000名注册成员。现在有2.5万人。 |
| But he will admit that the crowds and litter can be overwhelming these days, even on weekdays. On weekends — “it’s just, oh my goodness,” he said. |
| 但是他承认，如今，即使在工作日，人流和乱扔的垃圾也多得让人感到不知所措。在周末——“我的天哪，没法说，”他说道。 |
| Ms. Cheng, from the environmental group, was less diplomatic. Some new hobbyists were transplanting Hong Kong’s famous “consumerist attitude” to its natural oases, she said, citing trampled vegetation and illegal dirt biking that has left once-lush hilltops barren. |
| 来自环保组织的薇薇安·郑则没有这么客气。她说，一些新的业余爱好者正在将香港著名的“消费主义态度”移植到大自然的绿洲中，由于植物被踩踏和非法的越野摩托车骑行，曾经郁郁葱葱的山顶变得光秃秃。 |
| The government said it punished more than 700 people last year for violating anti-epidemic measures in the parks and had deployed workers to remind people to pick up their litter; Ms. Cheng said enforcement had not been strict enough. |
| 政府表示，去年有700多人因违反公园的防疫措施而受到处罚，它还部署工作人员提醒人们不要乱扔垃圾。薇薇安·郑说，执法力度并不够严格。 |
| She issued a bleak warning: “We’ll also need this countryside when the next epidemic comes, so we need to protect it.” |
| 她发出了严峻的警告：“下次疫情到来时，我们仍将需要这片野外地区，因此我们需要保护它。” |
| There are still refuges for those in the know. When the crowds get too dense at Lau Shui Heung Reservoir, Tsao King-kwun, a retired professor, drives to small villages nearby, where he likes to admire the traditional architecture. It’s a departure from his usual walking route around the reservoir, but Mr. Tsao can rest assured that the crowds won’t follow. |
| 对于内行人来说，去处还是有的。当流水响水塘的人群变得过于密集时，退休教授曹景钧(Tsao King-kwun)会开车前往附近的小村庄，他喜欢在这里欣赏传统建筑。这与他通常在水塘周围行走的路线很不一样，但曹景钧可以放心的是，人群不会跟到这里来。 |
| “Because they don’t know it,” he laughed. “This” — he gestured to the reservoir, where he had deemed the crowds acceptable for a walk that afternoon — “is quite obvious. They go on Facebook.” |
| “因为他们不知道，”他笑了。“这”——他指向水塘的方向，那天下午他认为那里的人流量对于散步是可以接受的——“是很明显的。他们要发Facebook。” |
| Those who live nearby have no such escape. Ms. Wong, the village resident, said she had watched tourists flow in and out for weeks now, taking up seats on the public minibus that older residents relied on for transportation and ignoring the blue police tape that had been strung up to prevent roadside parking after locals complained. |
| 住在附近的人却无处可逃。村民黄女士说，数周来，她一直看到游客进进出出，占用年长居民赖以出行的公共小巴上的座位，并且无视当地人抱怨后拉起的禁止路边停车的蓝色警戒带。 |
| The reservoir is famous for its winter foliage, when the cypress leaves turn a spectacular orange, but she hadn’t seen it this year because of the crowds. |
| 该水塘以其冬季观叶植物而闻名，那时柏树的叶子会变成壮观的橙色，但由于人流量大，她今年没有去看。 |
| Still, she took solace in the fact that, as the seasons and foliage changed, so would the number of visitors. “After a while, there won’t be this many people,” she said. “They’ll all go to Tai Mo Shan” — Hong Kong’s highest peak — “to see the bell flowers.” |
| 尽管如此，她安慰自己，当季节和树叶开始变化时，来访者的数量也会跟着改变。“之后应该不会有这么多人，”她说。“他们会去大帽山（香港最高峰）看吊钟花。” |
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