In a country that pioneered the eating of shark's fin and tiger penis, and where zoo visitors are known to amuse themselves by assaulting caged animals with everything from rocks to sulfuric acid, calls to respect the rights of animals have long fallen on deaf ears. But there are signs that attitudes are beginning to change.
一个最先兴起吃鱼翅和虎鞭的国家，在一个游客在参观动物园时用石头和硫酸等各种东西攻击笼子里的动物取乐的国家，长期以来人们对尊重动物权利的呼声一直充耳不闻。但有迹象显示，人们的态度开始发生变化。
The latest evidence: a successful effort by animal-rights advocates to shut an animal-performance show in the eastern Chinese city of Jinan.
最新的证据是，动物维权人士成功阻止了济南市的一场动物表演活动。
The 'animal carnival, ' slated to take place at the Ecological Performing Arts Plaza in Jinan's Quancheng Park, would have required animals to perform up to three times a day, according to Animals Asia, an animal-rights group involved in organizing opposition to the show online. Had it gone ahead, the show would have begun Sept. 19 and finished its run Tuesday. Instead, the Ecological Performing Arts Plaza posted a message on its feed on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo microblogging site Sept. 19 saying it had received orders from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development to cancel the show.
据动物维权组织亚洲动物基金(Animals Asia)说，这场“动物狂欢节”原计划在济南泉城公园的生态广场举行，期间动物们每天最多将表演三场。亚洲动物基金参与组织了在网上反对济南动物狂欢节的活动。活动原计划于9月19日开幕，周二结束。不过，生态广场9月19日在其新浪微博网站上发布通知，说因住建部要求，原定动物狂欢节活动取消。
Attached to the message was a picture of a goat and a monkey, both in chains.
通知还附上了一只山羊和一只猴子的照片，山羊和猴子都用链子拴着。
After years of ignoring animal lovers' pleas, Chinese celebrities and government agencies have both recently begun to push for improved treatment of wildlife. Chinese basketball star Yao Ming added his considerable heft to the anti-shark's fin cause shortly after retiring from the NBA in 2011, and last year China's State Council said it planned to ban shark's fin from being served at official receptions, a watershed movement in shark conservation. The traditional delicacy has grown in popularity with the rise of affluence in recent years, yet the process of fin collection--resulting ultimately in the death of sharks--depletes shark populations.
在多年对动物维权人士的诉求不理不睬后，中国知名人士和政府部门最近都开始推动改善野生动物的待遇。中国篮球明星姚明2011年从美国职业篮球联赛 (NBA)中退役后不久，拥有巨大影响力的他就加入了反对食用鱼翅的行动中。去年，中国国务院说，计划禁止在公务宴请中上鱼翅，这是鲨鱼保护行动中的一个转折点。随着近年来人们越来越富裕，这种传统美食日益受欢迎，然而收集鱼翅的过程会造成鲨鱼最终死亡，令鲨鱼数量锐减。
China has also become more active in tiger preservation, launching plans in the past several years with the World Wildlife Federation to create a nature reserve between China and Russia.
中国也更加积极地参与到保护老虎的行动中，过去几年与世界自然基金会(World Wildlife Federation)推出了计划，以在中国和俄罗斯之间建立一个自然保护区。
In July, meanwhile, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued new guidelines designed to improve conditions at the country's notorious zoos.
与此同时，今年7月，住建部发布了新的指南，意在改善中国声名狼藉的动物园的条件。
As part of the guidelines, the ministry expressly banned animal performances, which have become a popular diversion in China. The lack of foresight and planning that often mars such shows was highlighted earlier this year when video from a 'Wild Animal Olympics' at a Shanghai zoo showed a bear vs. monkey bicycle race coming to a premature end when the bear attacked the monkey. Zoo keepers beat the bear with sticks to free the monkey from the bear's grasp.
作为指南的一部分，住建部明确禁止动物表演活动。在中国，动物表演已经成为一项颇受欢迎的娱乐。这类表演常常缺乏组织计划，这一点在今年早些时候得到了凸显，当时上海一个动物园举办的“野生动物奥运会”的视频显示，一只熊和一只猴子在进行自行车比赛时，熊攻击了猴子，比赛意外提前终止。动物园管理人员用棍子打熊，以便将猴子从熊的掌握中救出来。
Local media reports attributed the shutdown of the Jinan animal show to online protests and animal rights groups' lobbying efforts. An official answering the phones at the Jinan office of housing and urban-rural development said he couldn't comment. An Ecological Performing Arts Plaza employee who identified herself as Ms. Wang and said she was in charge of the show also declined to comment. 'This business is over with and I don't want to talk about it anymore, ' she said.
当地媒体报道说济南动物表演活动之所以取消，是因为网上的抗议和动物维权组织的游说。济南住建办公室的一位接听电话的管理人员说不予置评。生态广场的一名自称负责此次活动的王姓女员工也不予置评。她说，这件事已经结束了，我不想再谈。
'We have long campaigned against animal performance, and this shows there is both the desire of the people and the will of the authorities to end it once and for all, ' Dave Neale, director of animal welfare at Animals Asia, said in a statement about the Jinan carnival's cancellation.
亚洲动物基金动物福利主管尼尔(Dave Neale)在一份有关济南动物狂欢节取消的声明中说，长期以来我们一直呼吁反对动物表演活动，这显示出人们希望，有关部门也愿意禁止动物表演。
Photos of a dress rehearsal of the Jinan animal performance posted to a Shandong provincial news site showed, among other planned acts, a tiger riding a horse and a goat balancing on a wire with a monkey doing a handstand on his horns.
山东省一个新闻网站上发布的济南动物表演活动带妆彩排的照片显示，在各种计划的节目中，有老虎骑马，山羊走钢丝，同时猴子在这只山羊的角上倒立。
While animal rights activists say they are beginning to see sparks of change in the country, they face an uphill battle. A little more than a week after the shutdown of the Jinan show, they found themselves up in arms again, this time over video from a zoo in central China's Hunan province showing patrons playing tug-of-war with an Amur tiger.
尽管动物维权人士说，他们开始看到中国出现一些变化的迹象，但他们仍面对一场艰巨的战斗。济南动物表演活动取消后一周多，他们又发现了让他们极其愤怒的事，这次是湖南一个动物园的视频，视频显示管理人员与一只东北虎进行拔河比赛。
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