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As the top Chinese official in this village,Lu Wenzhen had a problem.The young people had all moved away.The elderly farmers left behind were ailing.His ageing hamlet1hamlet小村庄。needed money.Life.A spark.

玉狗梁村干部卢文震有道难题。村里年轻一辈都搬走了，而留守的老村民们身体状况也愈来愈差。这座开始老龄化的村子，需要经济援助，也需要灌注生命与活力。

[2]Then,two years ago,he watched a 60-year-old woman sit cross-legged for about half an hour on a kang,a stone bed common in China’s northern countryside.Lu suddenly had a eureka moment2eureka moment顿悟时刻；突发灵感的一刻。.

“Yoga,” he said.

[2]然而在两年前，他看到一位60岁的老太太盘腿坐在“炕”（一种北方乡村常见的石头做的床）上，看了差不多半小时，他突然灵光一闪，说道：“瑜伽！”

[3]It was an audacious plan that seemed out of place in Yugouliang,a village of fewer than 100 people in Hebei province,far from the gyms and health food stores in places like Beijing and Shanghai.It is so remote that the closest train station is two hours away.The Internet had just arrived two years ago.The average age of a Yugouliang resident is 65.They survive by tending to their cows and sheep and small plots of land.

[3]对于玉狗梁这个位于河北省、人口不到百人的村子来说，这个计划不仅大胆，而且与当地格格不入，这里没有北京、上海等地那样的健身房和保健食品店。它地处偏远，离最近的火车站都有两小时车程。两年前才通互联网。居民人均年龄达65岁，靠着养牛羊和几小块地过活。

[4]China’s rapidly ageing population is one of the most pressing issues facing the government.In rural China,at least 50 million older Chinese have been left behind by the country’s economic boom,according to official data.Many struggle with poverty and depression.By 2050,the number of people in China age 60 or older is expected to reach 487 million,representing more than onethird of the total population,according to government figures.

[4]人口急速老龄化是中国政府面临的最为迫切的问题之一。根据官方数据显示，在中国农村，至少有5000万老人已经被经济繁荣发展远远抛在后面。很多人还在脱贫道路上挣扎。政府数据表明，到2050年，中国60岁及以上人口预计将达到4.87亿，占总人口数的三分之一以上。

[5]The residents in Yugouliang were unconvinced.They had never heard of yoga.Was Secretary Lu,as they called him,trying to introduce them into a cult?

[5]玉狗梁村民从来都没听说过瑜伽，对卢文震的想法心存疑惑。他们声声唤的卢书记是不是想带他们加入邪教？

[6]There was another wrinkle3wrinkle小问题。: Lu,52,had never taken a yoga class.

“I couldn’t bring myself to tell them that I didn’t know how to do it,” he said.

[6]还有另一个问题，52岁的卢书记从来没上过瑜伽课。

他说：“我也不能跟村民说我不知道怎么做瑜伽。”

[7]The Internet was his guide.He watched videos and looked at photos.

He knew that getting older farmers to do yoga would be tricky.He bought gloves and yoga mats to entice them.

[7]于是他上网，通过看视频和照片自学。

卢书记知道让老人们做瑜伽不是一件容易的事，便买了手套和瑜伽垫来引发他们的兴趣。

[8]Those first few sessions,just a few residents turned up.Lu started off slow.First he taught them how to breathe through a singing exercise.Then he tried to take them through some simple,cross-legged moves.

It didn’t take long for more people to join.Nor did it take long for them to try more ambitious poses.

[8]头几堂课只有零星几个村民来了。卢书记教得很慢。他先教如何通过唱颂来练习调整气息，然后再试着带他们做一些简单的盘腿动作。

没过多久，越来越多的人加入了，他也很快让村民们尝试一些更有挑战性的动作。

[9]Encouraged to do more,Lu enrolled in a yoga course sponsored by the government.From there,Lu got a certificate as a yoga judge and has since judged competitions.

[9]卢书记受到了鼓舞后，报名参加了一个由政府赞助的瑜伽课程。他在那里取得了瑜伽裁判证，之后也参与了一些比赛当裁判。

[10]The authorities were encouraging.In February 2017,the State General Administration of Sports,which oversees the country’s athletics,gave Yugouliang the title of “China’s first yoga village.”

[10]这项举动得到了当地政府的支持。2017年2月，监管国家体育运动的国家体育总局授予了玉狗梁村“中国瑜伽第一村”的称号。

[11]But it wasn’t until the end of last year that Lu felt his residents were good enough to compete.He entered the farmers into a yoga competition in Shijiazhuang,the provincial capital.They won an award for being the “best collective team.”

[11]但直到去年年底，卢书记才感觉村民们的实力足够参加比赛。他带领村民们报名参加了一场在省会石家庄举行的瑜伽比赛，并最终赢得了“最佳组织奖”。

[12]The local government has said it is giving Lu US$1.5 million for a nursing home and a yoga pavilion,a gleaming,glass-walled compound that will make it easier for villagers to practice year-round.

[12]当地政府已表示将会拨款150万美元用来建造一家养老院和一个瑜伽馆。瑜伽馆是闪亮的玻璃幕墙建筑，将更方便村民全年练习。

[13]But his goal of setting off a tourism boom could be difficult to achieve.The village is hard to reach and there are no amenities to speak of.

Lu still sees positives.Yogastrengthened residents,he said,save on medical costs.

[13]然而这里交通不便利，也没有像样的设施，卢书记发展旅游业的目标很难实现。

但他还是看到了积极面。他说，练过瑜伽的村民身体素质加强了，省了看病的钱。

[14]There are about 36 yoga regulars in Yugouliang,who showed remarkable stamina4stamina 耐力；毅力。when they gathered on a recent afternoon.Wearing the same outfits that they use to farm,scarves tied around their heads to protect them from the hot sun,they blazed through a 15-minute routine of standing splits,side planks and boat poses5瑜伽中依靠坐骨和尾骨来平衡身体的姿势，可有效增强腹部和臀屈肌。.Around them,gaptoothed66 gaptoothed（由于缺牙）齿缝很大的。women in their 80s and 90s watched from worn armchairs.

[14]玉狗梁瑜伽队差不多有36个队员。前不久的某个下午，他们聚在一起，向人展示了惊人的毅力。穿着统一的平日种田衣裳，头上围着用来防晒的头巾，他们一鼓作气完成一套15分钟的练习：站立劈腿、侧平板支撑和船式。一群八九十岁掉了牙的老太太，坐在破旧的扶手椅中，围着他们观看。

[15]Ge Luyun spent years taking medicine to treat the pain in her shoulder and elbow.Two years ago,the 62-year-old weighed over 68kg.

Then she started doing yoga.Ge has lost 5kg and said she has a flatter stomach.“Now,I don’t have to take a single painkiller,” Ge said.

[15]葛录云（音译）常年靠吃药来治疗肩膀和肘部的疼痛。两年前，62岁的她体重超过了68公斤。

开始练瑜伽之后，葛老太太体重减轻了5公斤，还说肚子也变小了。“现在我不用吃止疼片了。”她说道。

[16]The next morning,Lu led the residents through a series of balancing poses.Then he told them to relax their entire bodies and laugh loudly.It was a happy moment in a village that has had little to look forward to.Because of a recent drought,vast patches of fields are barren and brown.The residents’ children work or study in Chinese cities,coming home to visit only once a year.

[16]第二天早上，卢书记领着村民们做了一套平衡体式动作，接着叫他们放松身体放声大笑。最近一场干旱让大片土地颗粒无收。孩子们又都进城工作学习去了，一年才回一次家。对于这座没太大盼头儿的村子来说，此刻很欢乐。

[17]Zhang Xiying,62,said she had never felt motvated to work until she learned yoga.“Before this,training the body was playing cards,” she said.“Now,we don’t play anymore.”

Yoga has become part of the daily routine for many.Many practice at 5.30am,then let their cows and sheep out to pasture7pasture放（牛羊）吃草。before sunrise,followed by breakfast,farming,lunch,rest,farming,evening yoga at 5.30pm,then dinner.

[17]62岁的张喜英说她自从学了瑜伽后，才感觉劳作有动力。“以前啊，锻炼身体就是打牌，”她说，“现在我们再也不打了。”

瑜伽已经融入到大多数人的日常生活中。很多村民早上5点半就起来练，日出前把牛羊赶去吃草，然后吃早饭、种地、吃午饭、休息，接着种地，到了5点半开始傍晚的瑜伽练习，练完吃晚饭。

[18]Lu,who was previously the Communist Party secretary of a technical college in Shijiazhuang,was sent to work in Yugouliang in 2016,part of the party’s longtime practice of sending cadres to less developed areas.

Like hundreds of other cadres in rural China,he was tasked with alleviating poverty by 2020.

[18]卢书记以前是石家庄一所职业技术学院的党支部书记。2016年，在干部下乡长期政策的贯彻实施中，被派到玉狗梁村工作。

跟其他成百上千的中国农村干部一样，他的任务是带领村子在2020年实现脱贫。

[19]Lu said he had bigger plans.He wants to turn Yugouliang into a yoga training base for farmers from all over China,which he says will draw tourists as well.

“All these are dreams for now,” Lu said as he drove amid mud-brick homes and toilets that were little more than pits.“But one has to have dreams.” ■

[19]卢书记说他还有更大的计划。他想把玉狗梁打造成全中国农民的瑜伽培训基地，这样也能吸引游客。

“这些暂时还只是梦想，”卢书记边开着车穿过泥砖房和简陋的厕所边说，“但人总得有梦想。” □

（译者曾获第三届“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛优秀奖）