恐怖片爲北京朝內81號帶來遊客潮

Chaonei No. 81, arguably Beijing’s most celebrated “haunted house,” has seen a steady stream of visitors over the years. Until recently, they were a niche assortment — mostly thrill-seekers, urban explorers and history buffs — looking to experience firsthand the lurid tales of the once-grand French Baroque-style mansion, which has long sat dilapidated and abandoned. Foremost among the many legends associated with Chaonei No. 81 is that the mansion is haunted by the ghost of the mistress of a Kuomintang official who hanged herself there after her lover abandoned her following the Communist victory in 1949.

朝內81號堪稱北京最有名的“鬼屋”，多年來訪客不斷。不過直到不久前，來參觀的還是一個小衆類型——主要是追求刺激者、都市探險者和歷史愛好者——他們想在這座一度輝煌卻早已年久失修的法國巴洛克式大宅中親身體驗那些可怕的故事。在朝內81號的諸多傳奇中最有名的故事是：1949年共產黨贏得戰爭之後，一個國民黨軍官去了臺灣，他的姨太太被遺棄在這裏，於是上吊自盡，她的鬼魂仍在宅子裏徘徊。

But the release in Chinese film theaters last week of a big-budget 3-D thriller inspired by Chaonei No. 81 has prompted an unprecedented deluge of visitors. Since its premiere on Thursday, the film, called “Jingcheng No. 81” or, in English, “The House That Never Dies,” has already earned about 160 million renminbi, or around $25.7 million, putting it third on the domestic box-office charts, behind “Tiny Times 3” and “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” according to the Chinese movie website .

上個星期，根據它的故事拍成的一部大製作3D恐怖片在中國院線上映了，這爲朝內81號帶來了數量空前的遊客。這部影片名叫《京城81號》，英文名字翻譯過來是《永遠不死的房子》(The House That Never Dies)。根據中國電影網站統計，該片自上週四首映以來，已經獲得了大約1.6億人民幣的票房收入，約合2570萬美元，在國內票房排行榜上排名第三，僅次於《小時代3》和《變形金剛：絕跡重生》(Transformers: Age of Extinction)。

“I never thought my job would be like this,” said Xu Wen, the groundskeeper of Chaonei No. 81. Mr. Xu, who has worked at the property since 2011, estimated that the number of visitors since last week had been upward of 500 per day, far more than in the past.

“我從來沒想到自己的工作會變成這樣，”朝內81號的管理員徐文（音譯）說。徐文從2011年開始在這裏工作，他估計自從上星期以來，遊客已經達到每天500多人，比過去多多了。

The gate to the compound where the mansion and an outbuilding, also said to be haunted, are situated had previously been left open for much of the day. But to deal with the sudden surge in interest following the film’s premiere, the owners, the Beijing Catholic Diocese, have decided to keep it closed to help control the flow of visitors.

院中有一棟大宅和一個外屋，據說外屋也鬧鬼，院子大門本來一天大部分時間都開着，但是爲了對付電影上映後突如其來的遊客潮，這裏的主人——天主教北京教區決定關閉大門，以控制客流量。

“The buildings are too old,” Mr. Xu said. “If there are too many people Inside at once, it’s more likely that someone will get hurt.”

“這棟建築太老了，”徐先生說，“如果一下讓太多人進來，很可能會傷到人。”

On Tuesday morning, about 50 people, mostly young, wandered around the property, exploring and taking photos. Among them was Gong Xiangyu, a 20-year-old student who, after seeing the film that morning, decided to walk the 20 minutes or so from the theater to see the real Chaonei No. 81, which is located on a bustling thoroughfare in the heart of Beijing.

星期二上午，大約有50人圍着這棟建築徘徊，其中大部分是年輕人，他們仔細查看，拍着照片。其中包括20歲的學生龔翔宇（音譯）當天上午剛看完電影，就決定從影院步行20分鐘過來看看真正的朝內81號——它坐落在北京市中心的喧囂鬧市之中。

“I think what’s cool about this film is that the house is actually in Beijing, unlike the haunted houses we see in American movies,” said Mr. Gong, currently on summer vacation from Beijing People’s Police College. “The house itself isn’t really scary like the one in the movie — there are too many people here — but I guess I am scared of falling through the floorboards.”

“我覺得這個電影很酷的一點就是這棟房子真的在北京，不像我們在美國電影裏看的那種鬼屋，”龔是北京人民警察學院的學生，現在在放暑假，“這棟房子其實不像電影裏那麼可怕——這兒人太多了——但我好像有點害怕走在地板上陷下去。”

Some historians and officials from the Beijing diocese disagree about the history of the mansion. Church officials have said that the house was built in 1910 as a Chinese-language school for foreign missionaries and later also took in diplomats, businessmen and scholars. Historians, however, say that the buildings at Chaonei No. 81 were constructed as a private residence for the French manager of a railroad company. After the Communists took control in 1949, it is generally agreed that the buildings swung between various states of use and disuse.

有些歷史學家和北京教區的負責人對這棟建築的歷史有不同意見。教會負責人說，這棟房子於1910年建立，是爲外國傳教士開的中文學校，後來外交人員、商人和學者們也加入進來。歷史學家們卻說，朝內81號是一個法國鐵路公司經理建造的私宅。各方一致認爲，1949年共產黨獲得政權後，這棟房子有過各種用途，也一度荒廢。

“This history is very difficult to get straight,” said Mr. Xu, who has taken an active interest in unearthing the mansion’s history.

“它的歷史已經很難弄清，”對發掘這棟房子的歷史很感興趣的徐先生說。

Part of the allure to visitors no doubt also stems from the house itself, which in its decaying state is seemingly an ideal setting for paranormal activity (or, at the very least, rumors about it).

毫無疑問，對於參觀者們來說，部分吸引力也來自這棟房子本身，它衰敗的狀態似乎爲各種異常行爲提供了極好的背景（至少也可以用來傳傳奇怪事件的謠言）。

Inside the barren house, piles of brushwood, litter and building materials lie strewn about. Graffiti, much of it apparently recent, is scrawled across the walls. In the dark basement of the gray-brick outbuilding in back, a tunnel where several construction workers are said to have vanished has been blocked off.

在這棟荒涼的房子內部，枯樹枝、垃圾和建築材料堆得到處都是。牆上佈滿塗鴉，很多都顯然是最近才畫上去的。主樓後面的外房由灰色的磚石砌成，有個黑洞洞的地下室，裏面有個被封閉的地下通道，據說有幾個建築工人在裏面消失了。

Plans to renovate the buildings, which are on a historic preservation list, are awaiting approval, church officials said last month.

這棟建築名列文物保護名單，上個月，教會負責人說翻修計劃正在等待審批通過。

Hua Shanghuang, 15, said the buildings made an “ideal backdrop” for a haunted-themed cosplay, or costume play, a performance activity that originated in Japan. On Tuesday morning, Ms. Hua, who wore a long black wig, black dress, black tights and black heels, and a friend — “the ghost” — who was clad in a red tartan skirt and a white blouse speckled with fake blood, roamed the property, striking menacing poses for a photographer.

15歲的華尚煌（音譯）說，這棟建築可以作爲鬧鬼主題的cosplay（起源於日本的一種化妝角色扮演活動）的“理想背景”。星期二上午，華戴着長長的黑色假髮，穿着黑色連衣裙、黑色長筒襪和黑色高跟鞋，她的朋友“鬼魂”穿着紅色格子襯衫和染着假血的白色外套，兩人在這棟建築內徘徊，擺出恐嚇的姿勢，讓一個攝影師爲她們拍照。

However, Ms. Hua seemed somewhat skeptical about the presence of actual ghosts at Chaonei No. 81.

不過，華似乎不相信朝內81號真的有鬼魂存在。

“How could there be ghosts here?” she exclaimed. “It’s so bright!”

“這兒這麼亮，怎麼可能有鬼呢？”她大聲說。