跟隨無人機 深入中國沙漠化重災區(上)
The scenery is breathtaking, but I feel helpless: We’re a half-hour drive from where we need to be, and the sunset means that my assignment — along with the limited time left on my visa — is slipping away from me.
景色令人驚歎，我卻感到無助：我們離要去的地方還有半個小時的車程，日落意味着我的任務——以及我簽證上剩下的有限時間——正在從我身邊溜走。
The truth is, the drivers here aren’t accustomed to journalists.
事實是，這裏的司機對記者不熟悉。
Their usual customers are tourists looking for a roller-coaster ride through the dunes —
他們的顧客通常是想坐一次沙丘過山車的遊客。
which explains the death metal blasting from the radio and what seems to be a broken axle.
這也解釋了收音機裏傳出的死亡金屬以及現在遇到的問題：似乎是一根輪軸斷了。
The music should have been my first clue.
那音樂應該是給我的第一個提示。
But now, halfway to Moon Lake, we’re watching the sun go down,
但現在，在離月亮湖還有一半路的地方，我們只能看着太陽漸漸落下。
and I’m missing the opportunity to make the picture.
我正在錯失拍攝機會。
Getting here wasn’t easy: a 14-hour red-eye flight to Beijing, a two-hour plane ride to Yinchuan (after a series of cancellations and delays because of summer thunderstorms — along with a four-hour nap in an airport hotel), a two-hour drive to the edge of the Tengger, and a rapid price negotiation to get a dune-capable vehicle.
一路來到這裏不容易：先是坐14個小時的紅眼航班到北京，然後坐兩個小時的飛機到銀川（在這之前因爲夏季雷雨，航班多次被取消和延遲起飛，我還在機場的一家賓館小睡了四個小時），之後再坐兩個小時的汽車到騰格裏沙漠邊緣，最後再經過一場匆忙的討價還價，找到一輛能在沙丘地帶行駛的車。
Making the pictures hasn’t proved easy, either.
事實證明，拍攝也並非易事。
For traveling purposes, I had brought along a relatively small drone, and I knew it would be a trade-off: Smaller and lighter means it is more susceptible to being swept up in a windstorm, which would make the footage unusable.
因爲是出差，我帶了一臺相對較小的無人機，我知道這是一種妥協：更小、更輕意味着更容易被捲進風暴中，導致畫面素材不能用。
We also have to get very creative when launching and landing the drone to ensure minimal sand exposure.
我們還必須在無人機的起飛和着陸上想些辦法，儘可能少碰到沙子。
I’d already ruined one in an assignment months before by getting sand in the motor.
幾個月前，我就已經在執行一次任務時報廢了一臺無人機，因爲馬達裏進了沙子。
I couldn’t risk having that happen so early in this trip to China.
我可不能在此次中國之行一開始就重蹈覆轍。
How did I end up here? We’d chosen this exact spot, from back in New York, months earlier.
我怎麼來了這裏呢？幾個月前，我們就在紐約選定了這個地方。
A group of editors on the graphics desk and I had sat down with a map of the Tengger, after hearing suggestions from Edward Wong, the Beijing bureau chief.
聽到北京分社社長黃安偉(Edward Wong)的建議後，圖片編輯部的一羣編輯和我坐在一起，研究一幅騰格里地圖。
We were looking for communities along the edge that might be affected by the desert’s changing footprint.
我們想在沙漠邊緣尋找可能受到沙漠足跡不斷變化影響的社區。
