“China is the key for your future,” reads a notice pinned to the wall, jostling for attention alongside a toy panda, Chinese wall hangings, and plastic bamboo.

“中国对你们的未来至关重要，”墙上钉着的一则告示写道。与这则告示一样引人注目的，是一只玩具熊猫、中式壁挂和塑料竹子。

On a Tuesday evening at this Almaty language school several small groups are engaged in learning Chinese.

在一个周二的晚上，在阿拉木图的这所语言学校里，几组学生正在聚精会神地学习汉语。

Viktoriya Nazarchuk, a 33-year-old painter, says she became interested in the language through an enthusiasm for Chinese calligraphy. Like most students of Chinese in Kazakhstan, however, she also has an eye on Beijing’s growing economic clout.

33岁的画家维多利亚•纳扎尔丘克(Viktoriya Nazarchuk)说，她爱好中国书法，并由此喜欢上了汉语。不过，就像哈萨克斯坦大多数学汉语的人一样，她也密切关注着中国日益增强的经济影响力。

“We need to get acquainted with their culture, history and language,” she says. “When my level is high enough I plan to teach my little son Chinese, too. He will need it in his future life.”

“我们需要熟悉他们的文化、历史和语言。”她说道，“当我水平足够高时，我还打算教我小儿子汉语。他在以后的生活中将需要汉语。”

As China’s economic power in the region grows, Ms Nazarchuk is one of a growing number of central Asians looking to learn Chinese. Nurzhan Baitemirov, founder of East-West Education Group, which owns the language school where Ms Nazarchuk is studying, says his focus is shifting. The company once specialised in teaching English to Kazakhs, but it is now increasingly educating them in Chinese.

随着中国在中亚的经济影响力不断增强，越来越多的中亚人考虑学习汉语，纳扎尔丘克就是其中之一。东西教育集团(East-West Education Group)创始人努尔然•拜捷米罗夫(Nurzhan Baitemirov)表示，他正在改变自己的工作重心。这家集团曾专注于教授哈萨克斯坦人英语，但如今开设了越来越多的汉语课程。纳扎尔丘克学汉语的语言学校就隶属于该集团。

“West Kazakhstan [the country’s main oil-producing region] used to be Canadian companies, but they have shifted and it is now majority Chinese companies. It’s better if you speak Chinese if you want to get a position,” says Mr Baitemirov, who has a masters degree from Wuhan. The number of students learning Chinese is increasing by 5 per cent a month, he estimates. “Parents do understand that if their child has a good education in Chinese they have good job prospects,” he says. “They’re seeing there are a lot of Chinese investments here.”

“哈萨克斯坦西部（该国主要产油区）曾是加拿大企业的地盘，但情况已经发生了变化，如今那里大多是中国的企业。如果你想找份工作，最好是会说汉语，”已在武汉获得硕士学位的拜捷米罗夫说。据他估计，学汉语的学生人数每月增加5%。“家长们明白，如果他们的孩子接受了良好的汉语教育，就会有不错的职业前景。”他说，“他们注意到，中国在这里有大量的投资。”

The number of Kazakh citizens studying in China has risen more than fivefold in the past decade to 12,000, according to the China Scholarship Council, a government body that helps overseas students study in China. Beijing, meanwhile, has set up 11 Confucius Institutes to promote Chinese language and culture in the five Central Asian “stans”.

中国国家留学基金管理委员会(China Scholarship Council)数据显示，过去十年里，在华留学的哈萨克斯坦公民人数增加了四倍多，达到1.2万人。该委员会是一家帮助海外学生在华留学的政府机构。与此同时，北京方面已在中亚五国开办了11所孔子学院(Confucius Institute)，推广中国的语言、文化。

Even Kazakhstan’s first family has endorsed learning Chinese: Dariga Nazarbayeva, deputy prime minister and daughter of the country’s president, in February said that Kazakh children should learn Chinese in addition to Kazakh, Russian and English. “China is our friend, our trading partner and the biggest investor in the economy of our country,” she said. “In the near future, we all need to know Chinese.”

就连哈萨克斯坦的第一家庭也已为学汉语背书：哈萨克斯坦总统之女、该国副总理达丽加•纳扎尔巴耶娃(Dariga Nazarbayeva)在2月表示，除了哈萨克语、俄语和英语，哈萨克斯坦儿童还应学习汉语。“中国是我们的朋友、贸易伙伴和我国经济的最大投资者。”她说，“在不远的将来，我们都得懂汉语。”

Not everyone is convinced. According to public opinion surveys funded by the Eurasian Development Bank, only one in six Kazakhs see China as a “friendly country”, compared to 84 per cent for Russia and 48 per cent for Belarus. On the other hand, China was among the top three nations most likely to be named as an “unfriendly country”.

并非所有人都相信这一点。欧亚开发银行(Eurasian Development Bank)的民意调查显示，仅有六分之一的哈萨克斯坦人视中国为“友好国家”，认为俄罗斯和白俄罗斯为友好国家的比例分别为84%和48%。另一方面，中国在最有可能被称为“不友好国家”的名单里排进了前三名。

“Statistically China is a very important trade partner of Kazakhstan. But a lot of people in Kazakhstan don’t think of China as a big investor. They think of China as a big problem — people here believe China tries to increase its economic influence without any benefit to our countries,” says Dosym Satpayev, a Kazakh political scientist who heads the Almaty-based Risk Assessment Group.

“在统计数字看，中国是哈萨克斯坦非常重要的贸易伙伴。但很多哈萨克斯坦人并不认为中国是一大投资者。他们认为中国是个大麻烦——这里的人相信，中国试图扩大其经济影响力，而我们的国家却从中捞不到半点好处，”阿拉木图智库“风险评估集团”(Risk Assessment Group)负责人、哈萨克斯坦政治学家多西姆•萨特帕耶夫(Dosym Satpayev)说。

Part of the reason is historical: when their countries were part of the Soviet Union, Central Asians looked to Moscow for work, education and culture. Those ties have persisted after independence — as have Soviet-era clichés that paint China as a threat. Indeed, Sinophobia could be one of the greatest challenges for Beijing’s Silk Road project.

这种观点在一定程度上是历史造成的：苏联未解体时，中亚人在工作、教育、文化方面仰仗莫斯科。这种纽带在苏联解体后存留了下来，正如苏联时代把中国描绘成威胁的那些陈词滥调一样。实际上，恐华情绪可能是中国丝绸之路计划面临的最大挑战之一。

A proposal for China to lease a large area of land for agriculture triggered public protests in Kazakhstan in 2010. This year there was uproar in the north-western city of Aktobe after it was reported that the local affiliate of China National Petroleum Corporation was requiring workers to take Chinese language tests.

2010年，一项把大片土地租给中国企业用于农业开发的提议在哈萨克斯坦引发了公众抗议。今年，哈萨克斯坦西北部城市阿克托别(Aktobe)发生了骚动，原因是有报道称，中国石油天然气集团公司(CNPC)在当地的一家子公司要求工人参加汉语考试。

The “people-to-people bond” is officially one of China’s five goals in the region. But analysts say efforts to expand soft power have fallen short. “I do not think China has done enough. They have work to do to create a favourable image,” says Zhao Huasheng, director of the Centre for Russia and Central Asian Studies at Fudan University.

“民心相通”是中国正式公布的在中亚地区的五个目标之一。但分析人士表示，中国扩大软实力的努力未能达到目标。“我认为中国做得还不够。他们需要努力打造一种良好的形象，”复旦大学国际问题研究院俄罗斯中亚研究中心主任赵华胜说。

At the language school in Almaty, though, Beijing has no image problem. “Chinese people are simple, open and friendly,” says Yulia Abritsova, a 36-year-old interpreter who visited China for the first time last summer and plans to return for a degree. “It’s a bit like the Soviet Union.”

不过，在阿拉木图的这所语言学校，中国的形象没有任何问题。“中国人简单、开放、友好，”36岁的口译员尤利娅•阿布里佐娃(Yulia Abritsova)说道。她第一次去中国是在去年夏天，现在打算回中国去读个学位。“中国有点像苏联。”