专栏作家：克里斯托弗（中文名：马骥）。《纽约时报》 2005-5-22日封面文章。
美国《纽约时报》22日在评论版中罕见地以中文标题发表著名专栏作家克里斯托夫的评论文章：“从开封到纽约———辉煌如过眼烟云”。这篇从中国中部城市开封发出的评论，回顾1000年前全世界最繁荣城市开封衰败的历史，提醒美国人，中国正在复兴，美国切不可骄傲自大。
克里斯托夫在文章中写道：“我们如果回顾历史，会发现一个国家的辉煌盛世如过眼烟云，转瞬即逝，城市的繁华光景尤其如此。如果美国人没有听说过开封，那这将是一个很好的警示，1000年前开封最强大。
文章称，在2000年，美国已经是世界唯一超级强国，纽约是全世界最重要的城市，堪称整个世界的“首都”，作为全球唯一一个超级大国，美国人可能认为其占据世界主导地位是理所当然，但在纽约人变得过于盲目自大时，应该好好借鉴一下中国的历史，在1000年前，世界最重要城市是黄河边上的开封。
文章称：“在公元11世纪，开封是中国宋朝的都城，那时其人口已超过了100万，可谓盛世盛都，相比之下，那时伦敦的人口只有15000人。在古代的开封，大街上的行人川流不息，摩肩接踵，骆驼队从丝绸之路带来各种货物，茶馆和餐馆生意兴隆。开封那时吸引了来自世界各地的人们
纽约应吸取两大教训
“那么，纽约应该从开封身上吸取哪些教训呢？第一，保持科技领先和合理的经济政策极为重要。古代中国繁荣的原因之一，是采取促进经济和贸易的政策，在铁犁、印刷术、纸币等方面进行技术革新。第二，傲慢自大非常危险。古 代中国曾认为无须向外国学习任何东西，这是衰败的开始。在上述这两个方面，我都很为美国担心。美国目前经济管理松懈，无法解决农产品补贴或长期预算赤字等问题，美国科技虽处于强势，但目前中小学生的数学和科学属二流水准，美国人对外国缺乏兴趣，与毫不松懈、生气勃勃、意志坚定的中国人形成鲜明对照。” 时代在变纽约也可能沦落！！
原文标题 From kaifeng to NewYork, glory is as ephemeral as smoke and clouds
原文中文译文
至21世纪初，纽约市已经成为一个新的“世界之都”。然而，在我们纽约人太过自负之前，我觉得有必要去大洋彼岸中国的开封市考察一番。这个位于中国中部的城市，现如今已经沦落了。
开封，一个坐落在泥沙淤积的黄河古道上、历史悠久的文化古城，是公元10世纪时期的“世界之都”。如果你对它一无所知的话，那么，你就有些孤陋寡闻了。它的沧桑历史对我们美国人来说，是再好不过的借鉴范本。中国古话说得好，“三十年河东，三十年河西”。
在我看来，按照历史年代排序的话，世界上最重要的城市应该依次为：伊拉克的乌尔（公元前20世纪）、埃及的底比斯（公元前15世纪）、黎巴嫩的西顿（公元前10世纪）、波斯的波斯普鲁斯（公元前5世纪）、罗马（公元1世纪）、中国的长安（公元5世纪）、中国的开封（公元10世纪）、意大利的佛罗伦萨（公元15世纪）、美国的纽约（公元20世纪）。而到了2050年，这些城市或许都不在世界都市之列。
今日的开封，肮脏而又贫穷，它既不是什么省会城市，也没有小型的飞机场。这个城市败落到如此地步，只会让人们对“风水轮流转”信奉不疑。在11世纪，这个大宋王朝的都城，人口超过了100万。而与它处于同一时期的伦敦市人口只有15000人。
现藏于北京故宫博物院的《清明上河图》，纵24.8厘米，横528.7厘米，描绘了清明时节，北宋京城汴梁以及汴河两岸的繁华景象和自然风光。小商小贩沿街叫卖，来往人群摩肩接踵；穿越古丝绸之路前来中原的西域驼队，满载货物，在市场上招揽生意；各种茶社、旅店、酒肆鳞次栉比，看得出它们的生意是何等红火。
我在开封地区游玩的时候，喜欢与当地的老百姓交谈。从他们口中，我知道了如此的一个古代的国际大都市沦落的具体原因。我可以感觉到，他们对美国纽约的向往和憧憬
生活在郊区的一位名叫王瑞娜（音译）的农妇说，“中国的情况越来越好，再过几十年，我们将赶上美国，甚至能超过它。”
那么，我们从像开封这样一个城市身上学到什么
我个人觉得，有两个教训值得我们反思。一是保持技术的领先地位和健全的经济政策，这一点很重要。古代中国的繁荣，一部分原因是它推动经济增长，制定各种重商政策，鼓励各种技术创新（如曲辕梨、印刷术与纸币等）。但是，自宋朝起，中国却倾向于重农轻商，禁止贸易，这个国家的人均收入的水平一直低下，长达600年。
第二个教训是，当政者好大喜功，居功自傲。因为中国一直认为，在这个世界上除了中国本身，没有一个国家值得中国学习。骄傲是失败之母！
对于美国来说，开封城市的兴衰，是再好不过的历史教训了。
英文原文：
As this millennium dawns, New York City is the most important city in the world, the unofficial capital of planet Earth. But before we New Yorkers become too full of ourselves, it might be worthwhile to glance at dilapidated Kaifeng in central China.
Kaifeng, an ancient city along the mud-clogged Yellow River, was by far the most important place in the world in 1000. And if you've never heard of it, that's a useful warning for Americans - as the Chinese headline above puts it, in a language of the future that many more Americans should start learning, "glory is as ephemeral as smoke and clouds."
As the world's only superpower, America may look today as if global domination is an entitlement. But if you look back at the sweep of history, it's striking how fleeting supremacy is, particularly for individual cities.
My vote for most important city in the world in the period leading up to 2000 B.C. would be Ur, Iraq. In 1500 B.C., perhaps Thebes, Egypt. There was no dominant player in 1000 B.C., though one could make a case for Sidon, Lebanon. In 500 B.C., it would be Persepolis, Persia; in the year 1, Rome; around A.D. 500, maybe Changan, China; in 1000, Kaifeng, China; in 1500, probably Florence, Italy; in 2000, New York City; and in 2500, probably none of the above.
Today Kaifeng is grimy and poor, not even the provincial capital and so minor it lacks even an airport. Its sad state only underscores how fortunes change. In the 11th century, when it was the capital of Song Dynasty China, its population was more than one million. In contrast, London's population then was about 15,000.
An ancient 17-foot painted scroll, now in the Palace Museum in Beijing, shows the bustle and prosperity of ancient Kaifeng. Hundreds of pedestrians jostle each other on the streets, camels carry merchandise in from the Silk Road, and teahouses and restaurants do a thriving business.
Kaifeng's stature attracted people from all over the world, including hundreds of Jews. Even today, there are some people in Kaifeng who look like other Chinese but who consider themselves Jewish and do not eat pork.
As I roamed the Kaifeng area, asking local people why such an international center had sunk so low, I encountered plenty of envy of New York. One man said he was arranging to be smuggled into the U.S. illegally, by paying a gang $25,000, but many local people insisted that China is on course to bounce back and recover its historic role as world leader.
"China is booming now," said Wang Ruina, a young peasant woman on the outskirts of town. "Give us a few decades and we'll catch up with the U.S., even pass it."
She's right. The U.S. has had the biggest economy in the world for more than a century, but most projections show that China will surpass us in about 15 years, as measured by purchasing power parity.
So what can New York learn from a city like Kaifeng?
One lesson is the importance of sustaining a technological edge and sound economic policies. Ancient China flourished partly because of pro-growth, pro-trade policies and technological innovations like curved iron plows, printing and paper money. But then China came to scorn trade and commerce, and per capita income stagnated for 600 years.
A second lesson is the danger of hubris, for China concluded it had nothing to learn from the rest of the world - and that was the beginning of the end.
I worry about the U.S. in both regards. Our economic management is so lax that we can't confront farm subsidies or long-term budget deficits. Our technology is strong, but American public schools are second-rate in math and science. And Americans' lack of interest in the world contrasts with the restlessness, drive and determination that are again pushing China to the forefront.
Beside the Yellow River I met a 70-year-old peasant named Hao Wang, who had never gone to a day of school. He couldn't even write his name - and yet his progeny were different.
"Two of my grandsons are now in university," he boasted, and then he started talking about the computer in his home.
Thinking of Kaifeng should stimulate us to struggle to improve our high-tech edge, educational strengths and pro-growth policies. For if we rest on our laurels, even a city as great as New York may end up as Kaifeng-on-the-Hudson.
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