又中又英 | Overtourism | 褚简宁

　　Tourism was an unaffordable luxury for ordinary people during the 1950s and 1960s. World Tourism Organization figures show there were only 25 million international tourist visits in 1950. This rose to 166 million in 1970 but jumped to 435 million in 1990. A wealthier world and affordable air travel drove up global tourism. Last year saw about 1.5 billion international tourist visits, fueling overtourism in the most popular destinations. I experienced this overtourism at first hand when a family member and I visited Japan last month.

　　As I said in my previous column, I will describe our highs and lows of visiting several Japanese cities, including Tokyo and Kyoto, during our 16-day trip. Our trip was exhilarating yet exasperating. If something is exhilarating, it means it makes you happy or thrilled. If something is exasperating, it means it is irritating or frustrating. Our first afternoon in Tokyo was a mixture of exhilaration and exasperation. We were thrilled to be in Japan. It was my family member’s first time there and I hadn’t visited in several decades. Narita Airport was bursting at the seams. If a place is bursting at the seams, it means it is extremely overcrowded.

　　Tickets for the next train to Tokyo were already sold out. We had to wait 30 minutes for the one after that. Our hotel rooms in a popular tourist area were so tiny that we had to do a double take. If you do a double take, it means you look at something, then look again because what you saw shocked you. But we had many exhilarating experiences in Japan as well, which I will describe in my next column.

＊＊＊＊＊＊

　　在1950至1960年代，旅游对于一般人来说是难以负担的奢侈享受。联合国世界旅游组织的数据显示，1950年只有2500万国际旅客，但数字于1970年升至1.66亿，再于1990年跳升至4.35亿。世界变得富裕，航空旅游变得更易负担，推高了全球的旅游。上年有约15亿国际旅客出游，刺激到一些受欢迎旅游热点的过度旅游。我上月跟我一位家人游日本时，就亲身体验了这种过度旅游。

　　正如我上一篇文章所说，我将会描述这16天的旅程中，到访几个日本城市包括东京和京都的种种高低起跌。我们的旅程是exhilarating但也是exasperating。若某事物是exhilarating，意即它令你高兴或振奋；若某事物是exasperating，即它是令人恼怒或泄气的。我们在东京的第一个下午，就是混杂了振奋（exhilaration）和恼怒（exasperation）。我们很兴奋能身处日本。这是我家人首度游日，而我则有几十年没有到日本了。成田机场是bursting at the seams——若某地是bursting at the seams，意即它是拥挤不堪，快要挤爆了。

　　下一班往东京的列车门票已售罄。我们等了30分钟，才等到再下一班车。我们的酒店坐落最受欢迎的游客区，房间狭小得令我们不得不do a double take。若你do a double take，意即你看见某物，不禁再看一遍，因为第一眼所见的事物令你相当震惊。不过，我们在日本也有许多令人振奋的经历，我将在下篇文章中一一细说。

[email protected]
Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻