【原】非洲城，中国造

When Wang Yijun put Ethiopia's most expensive real estate project on the market, he experienced a strange phenomenon.

当王一军将埃塞俄比亚最贵的房地产项目推向市场时，他经历了一个奇怪的现象。

 People preferred the lowest floors over those with panoramic city views.

人们更喜欢那些最低的楼层而不是拥有城市全景景观的高层。

 "Power cuts mean elevators in this city often don't work," explains Wang, the site manager. 

“停电意味着这座城里的电梯经常会无法运行，”王先生解释道，他是楼层的管理者。

"So the bottom-floor flats became the most valuable. You won't see this pricing in any Chinese city."

“所以底楼的楼层变成了最珍贵的。你在中国的任何一个城市都看不到这样的定价。”

Replicating China's urban model in Africa has its challenges, but with limited developable space in Addis Ababa -- the capital is surrounded by protected farmland -- Wang believes high-rise living, such as Tsehay Real Estate's $60 million Poli Lotus development, is inevitable.

在非洲复制中国的城市模式有一定的挑战性，但在首都阿迪斯阿巴贝(被保护的农田所包围)，由于可开发空间有限，王先生认为高层居住是不可避免的，比如慈海房地产投资6000万美元的Poli Lotus开发项目。

Theodros Amdeberhan, an Ethiopian lawyer, last year bought a three-bedroom, fifth-floor apartment here for about 3.5 million birr ($127,000). 

西奥卓斯.阿门德罕，是一名埃塞俄比亚的律师，去年在花了三百五十万比尔（127,000美元）左右买了这里的一座五层的三室公寓。

"Local developers never deliver on time," says Amdeberhan. 

“当地的开发商总是不能按期交房，”阿门德罕说道。

The complex opened in 2016, and so far 70% of lots have sold.

这个项目于2016年开盘，至今70%的拍品已经售出。

 "When Mr Wang offered me a good price, I didn't hesitate," he says.

“当王先生给了我一个优惠的价格时，我就毫不犹豫拿下了，”他说道。

With red lanterns swaying over its entrance, the palm-tree peppered compound of 13 towers could easily be in Shenzhen, Chongqing or the suburbs of Shanghai.

门前挂着红灯笼，棕榈树点缀着13层的楼房，这样的景象在深圳，重庆或者上海郊区也能到处看到。

 It's the sort of Chinese-ification that permeates much of Addis.

阿迪斯到处弥漫着中国化的气息。

Cars chug through the city on smooth Chinese roads, Chinese cranes lift the skyline, sewing machines hum in Chinese factories in Chinese-owned industrial parks, tourists arrive at the Chinese-upgraded airport and commuters ride modern Chinese trains to work.

车辆行驶在中国造的平坦道路上，中国的起重机在空中升起，在中国拥有的工业园区里，缝纫机在中国工厂里嗡嗡作响，游客们在中国升级后的机场降落，上班族们坐着中国的地铁去工作。

Simply put, Addis Ababa is becoming the city that China built -- but at what diplomatic and economic cost?

简而言之，阿迪斯阿巴贝正成为中国建造的城市——不过是以什么样的外交和经济代价呢?

Located 2,355 meters above sea level, Addis Ababa is one of the highest capitals in the world.

高出海平面2355米，阿迪斯阿巴贝是世界上海拔最高的首都之一。

 Officials say 2.7 million people call it home, but that's based on a census from 2007. 

官方称这里有两百七十五居民，不过这是2007年的统计数据了。

The real number is surely far bigger. 

真实数字肯定大得多。

Few buildings here have addresses, so taxi drivers operate by landmarks. 

这里很少有建筑有地址，所以出租车司机都是按地标来开车的。

And because Ethiopia was never colonized, barring a brief Italian occupation between 1936 and 1941, Addis lacks the European infrastructure that underpins many African metropolises. 

又因为埃塞俄比亚曾被殖民过，在1936到 1941年曾被意大利占领，阿迪斯缺少别的非洲大都市所拥有的欧洲的基础设施支持。

"It was never planned to be a city," says Alexandra Thorer, an architect who lived in Addis as a child, and wrote her thesis on the city's urbanization.

“他们从没想过把它建成一座城市，”亚力山卓.索瑞尔说道，她是从小在阿迪斯长大的一名建筑师，她的论文就是关于这座城市的都市化的。

By the turn of the 21st century, Addis' population had swelled and its dirt roads badly needed upgrading. 

到了21世纪之交，阿迪斯的人口暴增，而它泥泞的道路也急需改善。

At the same time, China was pursuing stronger ties with African nations -- in 2000, Beijing held the inaugural Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, now a triennial deal-making pow wow.

与此同时，中国也在寻求加强与非洲国家的关系。2000年，北京举办了首届中非合作论坛(Forum on africa Cooperation)，现在成了三年一届的盛事。

The Ethiopian government saw China as a model for development and courted it for infrastructure, says Ian Taylor, a professor in African political economics at the University of St. Andrews, in Scotland.

苏格兰圣安德鲁斯大学(University of St. Andrews)非洲政治经济学教授伊恩·泰勒(Ian Taylor)表示，埃塞俄比亚政府视中国为发展的典范，并在基础设施方面向中国示好。

In two decades, the Chinese provided Addis with an $86 million ring road, the Gotera Intersection ($12.7 million), Ethiopia's first six-lane highway ($800 million), and the Ethio-Djibouti Railway line ($4 billion), which connects the landlocked country to the sea, to cite a sprinkle of projects. 

二十年来，中国给阿迪斯提供了价值八千六百万美元的环路，格特拉十字路口（一千二百七十万美元），埃塞俄比亚的第一条六车道高速公路（八亿美元），还有埃塞-吉布提铁路线（四十亿美元），这条线把这个内陆国联通到了海边，还有一系列各种项目。

The speed at which Addis grew, says Thorer, mirrored the pace of 21st-century urban explosion in China.

阿迪斯成长的速度，索瑞尔说道，这反映了21世纪中国城市爆炸的速度。

China also built the first Metro system in Sub-Saharan Africa in Addis.

中国还在撒哈拉以南非洲的阿迪斯建造了第一个地铁系统。

 Its two lines cut through the heart of the city, and carry at least 30,000 passengers an hour, who pay 6 birr ($0.30) a ride.

它的两条线贯穿了城市中心，每小时可以运载30,000名乘客，他们每次乘坐需要付6比尔（0.30美元）。

 "I thought it would fail quite quickly," says Thorer, "but actually it's really well used."

“我本以为它很快会垮掉，”索瑞尔说道，“不过实际上它运行得很好。”

"Addis has been radically transformed," says Taylor. 

“阿迪斯从根本上发生了转型，”泰勒说道。

"Huge skyscrapers are changing the whole profile of the city."

“巨大的摩天大楼正改变整个城市的格局。”

 A 46-story glass tower will be the tallest in Ethiopia when finished in 2020 by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation.

中国建筑工程总公司于2020年建成的一座46层的玻璃塔将成为埃塞俄比亚最高的建筑。