雪山脚下有条“中国路”

A “China Road” at the foot of snow mountains

“雄鹰都飞不过去的雪山,是世界的尽头。”对于生活在吉尔吉斯斯坦贾拉拉巴德州的农民萨尔库拉科夫来说,在过去很长一段时间,目之所及,可能就是他主要生活的世界。吉尔吉斯斯坦是一个内陆国家,山脉几乎横亘整个国土。从萨尔库拉科夫家望去,远处是纳伦河和终年不化的雪山,近处是有牛羊在自由奔跑的草原,在初到这里的外人眼中,这是一幅怡人的风景画,但对于萨尔库拉科夫和许多生活在这片山区的人们来说,周围有着难以逾越的天堑。

"The world ends at the snow mountains that even an eagle cannot fly over." For Sarkulakov, a farmer living in Jalal-Abad Region, Kyrgyzstan, for a long time, the areas as far as his eyes can reach have been the boundaries of his world. Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked country, with mountains covering almost the whole territory. Standing at the house of Sarkulakov, you can see Naryn River and perennial snow-capped mountains far away and scampering cattle and sheep in the grassland nearby. In the eyes of newcomers, it is a pleasant scroll of landscape. Yet for Sarkulakov and others who live in the mountain areas, they are surrounded by insurmountable chasms. Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, and Jalalabad and Osh in the south are major economic zones of the elongated country. However, highways connecting the major cities are in bad shape. The narrow roads are only scores of meters' width, impassable for vehicle. The logistics difficulty has hindered local economic development.