The Kashgar Commodities Fair is highlights the priorities of China’s economic development. Since its inception in 2005 trade in the region has more than doubled industrial investment in each county has risen and farmers are benefiting from better technology and more markets. There are many financial success stories to talk about in Kashgar and I have been traveling with a group of reporters for the past few weeks learning about them. But the one story our group was most intrigued by was that of a teacher from a small town in Maigaiti who drowned saving a student.

喀交会强调中国经济发展是优先考虑的事情。从2005年第一届喀交会以来，喀什地区的贸易增加两倍多，每个县有更多的工业投资，农民从更好的技术和更多的市场中受益。喀什有很多金融成就的事例，我近几个星期和一群记者采访喀什时了解到了这些故事。不过，最能引起我们采访组注意的是麦盖提县的一个小学老师在救一个学生时淹死了的事情。

This man was generous and dedicated in ways that most people will never be. His wife said that one time he gave away their last 100 yuan to someone who was sick and needed medicine. The day he died he was taking students to participate in an activity outside school because another teacher did not want to. Even though they were told to stay away from the water two students jumped in to play and one was swept away. The teacher dove in to save him and sacrificed himself in the process.

大多数人永远做不到他的慷慨和献身精神。他的老婆说，有一次他曾把身上仅有的100元钱给了一个需要买药的病人。去世那一天，因为另外一个老师不愿意去，他就陪学生参加校外活动。虽然被告诫不准接近河水，但两个学生还是跳进水里玩，其中一个被冲走了。这位老师在救这个学生的过程中牺牲了。

A young reporter in our group asked me what the value of his life was. I was unable to answer because I thought the phrasing was incorrect. It is better to ask what the significance of a human life is which is the same thing as asking what the reason is for economic development.

我们记者团的一个年轻人问我，他生命的价值在哪里？我无法回答，因为这个问题的措辞不准。更好的措辞是问生命的意义是什么？这也是为什么经济发展的原因。

I have recently been trying to think of ways to help people in my own country understand China’s development in terms of its priority of developing the countryside. I want Americans to understand the significance of the people there yet I am stymied by thoughts of how Chinese treat each other. Peasants in the cities are looked down upon and beggars go ignored. I have even seen a man in an SUV get out and kick over a fruit stand because it almost scratched his car.

最近我想帮我的同胞理解中国发展农村的重要性。我希望美国人了解中国农民的意义，不过中国人互相对待的态度给了我一个障碍。进城的农民被人看不起、乞丐被忽视，我也曾看到过因为差点划破SUV车子，司机下了车并踢翻了水果摊的手推车。

There have been many economic successes in Kashgar and all of China in recent years but there is still much to learn from the teachers in the countryside especially those who give to ones who cannot give back. It seems to me that Chinese will do anything for their friends but oftentimes lack compassion for those they do not know. How can I help those half a world away to sympathize with China’s rural poor when many Chinese do not even do that themselves?

近几年喀什地区乃至整个国家都取得了很大的经济成就，不过还可以向农村老师身上学习点什么，尤其是那些付出不计回报的人。对我来说，中国人为了朋友愿意两肋插刀，但是对待那些不认识的人经常缺乏仁慈。如果不少中国人自己都不同情贫困的农民，我怎么能帮助距离这里半个地球之远的人同情他们？