The Dalian city government agreed to shutter a chemical plant in an unusual display of responsiveness, bowing to environmental protests that brought thousands of residents onto the streets of the northeastern Chinese port city.

　　大連市數(shù)千名居民走上街頭，舉行環(huán)?？棺h行動，要求關(guān)閉一家化工廠，政府做出了同意關(guān)閉的決定，這是不同尋常之舉。

　　The decision to close the plant was announced just hours after Dalian's Communist Party Secretary Tang Jun, standing atop a police van, tried and failed to disperse a crowd authorities estimated at 12,000 with a pledge to relocate the plant at a future date.

　　就在關(guān)閉工廠的決定宣布前幾小時，大連市委書記唐軍站在一輛警車上保證會在日后搬遷這座工廠，試圖驅(qū)散人群，但未能成功。當(dāng)局估計抗議人數(shù)約為1.2萬人。

　　“Time!” “Time!” “Tell us when!” members of the crowd shouted back at Mr. Tang, drowning him out.

　　人們向唐軍大喊道，時間！時間！告訴我們什么時候搬！人群的呼聲蓋過了他的話音。

　　Just two years old, the privately owned Fujia petrochemical plant will be shut down immediately, the city government said late Sunday, reported the state-run Xinhua news agency.

　　國有媒體新華社報道說，大連市政府周日晚間宣布，大連福佳大化PX項目將立即停產(chǎn)并將盡快搬遷。這家私營企業(yè)剛剛成立兩年。

　　The protests against it weren't a direct challenge to the local government policies, beyond the plant. Rather, there was widespread anxiety among the local community─possibly shared by local officials─that the seaside factory represented a potential environmental calamity.

　　這些抗議并非是對除這座工廠以外的當(dāng)?shù)卣叩闹苯犹魬?zhàn)。更確切的說是，當(dāng)?shù)厣鐓^(qū)普遍擔(dān)心這家濱海工廠對環(huán)境存在潛在威脅，當(dāng)?shù)毓賳T或許也有這種擔(dān)憂。

　　The outcome was highly unusual in China, where large-scale public protests are often put down with force.

　　這樣的結(jié)果在中國十分罕見。通常的大規(guī)模公眾抗議通常都會遭到武力鎮(zhèn)壓。

　　Typically, analysts say, Beijing tolerates little dissent for fear protests will spread to cities where citizens have similar grievances or that demonstrators might demand more sensitive changes, such as greater political representation. Even when protests are permitted, organizers are often arrested later.

　　分析人士說，一般情況下，中國政府幾乎不能容忍任何的異見，擔(dān)心抗議會蔓延到市民有類似不滿的城市，或者示威者可能會要求更多敏感性的改革，比如改善政治代表制度。即便是抗議得到了批準，組織者通常都會在后來遭到逮捕。

　　Security was heavy on Dalian streets on Sunday. State media reported that police in riot gear scuffled with the placard-carrying crowd. However, the demonstrations were largely peaceful and the crowds greeted the concession to close the plant with enthusiasm.

　　周日大連街頭的警戒十分嚴密。國有媒體報道說，身穿防暴服的警察與手持標語牌的人群發(fā)生了扭打。不過示威活動基本是和平的，人群對政府關(guān)閉工廠的妥協(xié)表示積極歡迎。

　　“This is such good news,” said one demonstrator, 28-year-old Ken Zhang, who said he began days ago preparing T-shirts and banners. “I can't just let this toxic project harm the health of myself, my family and all my friends.”

　　28歲的示威者張墾（音）說，他從幾天前就開始準備T恤和條幅了。他說，這真是個好消息；我只是不能讓這個有毒工程損害家人、朋友以及我自己的健康。

　　Environmental concerns are a growing rallying point for China's generation of new homeowners and parents. Centered on China's richest urban areas, the nascent “not-in-my-backyard” movement has featured a number of peaceful walks by young professionals─many of them carrying Chinese flags─that are sometimes tolerated by authorities, themselves eager to support green causes.

　　環(huán)境問題日益成為中國新一代戶主及家長提出抗議的一個主題。在中國，“鄰避”運動（別在我家后院，簡稱NIMBY）剛剛開始興起，它們以中國最富裕的城市地區(qū)為中心。年輕的專業(yè)人士發(fā)起了多次和平的“散步”抗議，其中許多人舉著中國國旗。當(dāng)局有時會予以容忍，他們自己也熱衷于環(huán)保事業(yè)。

　　Yet rarely have protests been so bold, or appeared to prompt an official climb-down so quickly, as they did in Dalian. Momentum for the Dalian protest built all last week, sparked by the unexpected arrival of a powerful typhoon.

　　但極少有抗議活動會像大連這次這樣如此高調(diào)，也沒有如此迅速地導(dǎo)致政府讓步。大連抗議活動是由一場強大臺風(fēng)的意外到來引起的，抗議勢頭在上周與日俱增。

　　When the deadly tropical storm Muifa missed Shanghai last weekend and bounced up the Chinese coast, Dalian residents feared its arrival would collapse sea walls and swamp the plant. In postings on microblogs, residents discussed parallels with Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which was hobbled by a tsunami and unaided by sea walls after the country's earthquake in March.

　　上周末極具破壞性的熱帶風(fēng)暴“梅花”錯過上海、沿著中國海岸線北上的時候，大連市民擔(dān)心它的到來將會沖垮防波堤、淹沒工廠。他們在微博上發(fā)貼，討論此事與福島第一核電站的相似之處。日本3月地震后，福島第一核電站受到海嘯襲擊，防波堤也未能保護核電站。

　　Muifa churned seas with 20-meter (66feet) swells, breaking a dyke at the perimeter of Fujia near its large storage tanks. Local residents were evacuated and truckloads of workers supported by China's military worked to rebuild the walls, television footage showed. A thin layer of water lapped under parts of the plant, the footage showed.

　　“梅花”掀起20米高的海浪，突破了福佳集團最大存儲罐附近的一處堤壩。電視畫面顯示，當(dāng)?shù)鼐用癖皇枭?，在中國軍方支援下，許多工人被卡車載運過來，著手重建堤壩。畫面顯示，工廠部分地區(qū)有少量積水。

　　Officials later said the dyke was repaired and nothing spilled.

　　官方后來說，堤壩已經(jīng)修復(fù)，且沒有造成泄漏。

　　On Sunday, photos circulated on the Internet showing thousands gathered in front of Dalian's government headquarters starting in the early morning. Through the day, the crowd of mostly young people grew, some carrying umbrellas to block the hot sun and others waving banners protesting the “PX Plant.”

　　周日網(wǎng)上流傳的照片顯示，數(shù)千人從清早開始聚集在大連市政府門前。聚集者多為年輕人，隨著時間的推移，人數(shù)越來越多。其中一些人打著遮陽傘，另一些人揮舞著抗議這座“PX工廠”的標語。

　　The protest was aimed at a privately owned chemical plant called Fujia, which makes paraxylene, a petrochemical used to create raw materials for the production of polyester film and fabrics. Also known as PX, the chemical is carcinogenic.

　　抗議的對象是一座名為“福佳”的私營化工廠。該工廠生產(chǎn)對二甲苯，這種石化產(chǎn)品被用于制造聚酯薄膜和聚酯纖維產(chǎn)品的原料，也被稱為“PX”，具有致癌性。

　　China's NIMBY movement has counted a string of successes for the country's nascent environmental movement.

　　“寧避”（NIMBY，“別建在我家后院”）運動為中國方興未艾的環(huán)保運動取得了一系列成功。

　　The protest model is a June 2007 demonstration in the southern city of Xiamen, now dubbed the 'Xiamen stroll,' when citizens sent text messages encouraging their friends to meet for a “walk” or “stroll,' implicitly to grumble about another PX plant. That plant was built elsewhere two years later.

　　這次抗議活動是仿效2007年6月發(fā)生在南部城市廈門的一場游行。那次游行現(xiàn)在被稱為“廈門散步”，當(dāng)時市民們通過發(fā)短信鼓勵朋友們一塊出來“散步”，以含蓄的方式對另一座PX工廠表達不滿。兩年過后，那座工廠建到了別的地方。

　　Similar walks have taken place in other Chinese cities, but they are usually smaller affairs. After citizens in one Shanghai neighborhood walked to oppose the extension of a fast rail line, the government scrapped the project, though its high cost likely factored into the decision.

　　同樣的散步也曾發(fā)生在中國其他城市，不過一般沒有這么大的規(guī)模。上海一個社區(qū)的居民曾通過散步反對延長一條快軌線，后來政府取消了這個項目，但項目的高成本可能是決定取消的原因之一。

　　Far more numerous, analysts say, are clashes in rural China, where villagers challenge industrial encroachment on farms and rarely succeed.

　　分析人士說，中國農(nóng)村地區(qū)的沖突數(shù)量要多得多。村民們反對工業(yè)占用農(nóng)田，但鮮有成功。

　　Even before Sunday's rally, there were signs the government was moving to shut the plant, located near the East China Sea on the Dalian peninsula. On Aug. 10, the Chinese news agency Xinhua said Dalian leaders held an urgent meeting that concluded a date for relocation should be set.

　　周日大連集會之前，已經(jīng)有跡象表明政府打算關(guān)閉那座靠近東海、位于遼東半島的工廠。8月10日，官方通訊社新華社說，大連領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人召開了緊急會議，決定設(shè)定一個搬遷日期。

　　In past interviews, Dalian policy makers have spoken about their futuristic high-technology sector that has drawn investors like chip maker Intel Inc. One of the city's top tourist attractions is the East Sea aquarium.However, the city's modern economy was founded on heavy steel, petrochemicals and manufacturing.Dalian has offered generous incentives to big industrial companies, including Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., to move their factories away from the city center.

　　在過去的采訪中，大連決策者曾談起過他們具有未來色彩的高科技行業(yè)，這一行業(yè)已經(jīng)吸引了芯片制造商英特爾(Intel Inc.)等公司來大連投資。這座城市最吸引旅游者的就是東海的豐富水產(chǎn)。但大連的現(xiàn)代化經(jīng)濟是建立在鋼鐵、石化和制造業(yè)基礎(chǔ)上的。它給固特異(Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.)等大型工業(yè)企業(yè)提供了慷慨的優(yōu)惠，鼓勵它們將工廠移出市中心。