舌尖上的中国（Ⅱ）

湖北襄阳东风中学 周 鑫

Jntroduction

在首都北京度过一周的时间里，我们深深感受到新潮正强烈地冲击着古老，而美食是否也受到中国这些巨变的影响呢？

We're spending the firstweek ofour month-long trip in the capital,Beijing.I was raised in Chicago,and when I first came here in the 1980s,it was just beginning to open up to the West after the dark years of the Cultural Revolution.Unrecognisable.It's like the new frontier.

Now everywhereyou look,new China smashes（猛烈碰撞）up against the old.The question for both of us,on this voyage of discovery,is to see if all this incredible pace of changes,is that going to affect food?Yeah.Good and bad.

And I'd love to experience modern Chinese cookery here and whether some of the traditions have been eroded.It's a brew that will be quite interesting to see.

China is a country ofcontradictions.Tradition and innovation sit side by side.And it's most evident here in Beijing.In the northeast corner of the country,it has been theimperialcapital for 800 years.It remains deeply proud of its traditional culture andcuisine.As it opens up to the world,it's revealing those secrets with a newculinaryconfidence.

We're beginning with thequintessentialChinese food—noodles.They're a humble everyday dish,eaten in all regions.But they have a 4,000-year-old history and today in Beijing,this ancient craft is being celebrated centre stage.It's just incredible！I think they gotthis concept from the West,the open kitchen.Yes!And it's prettyspectacular.It is.Watching them work,it is like an orchestra.

Like the guy with the big block that's just shaving noodles,he looks like he's playing the violin.Yes!

The capital is pulling in the country's best cooking talents.These noodle masters are from Shanxi Province,west of Beijing,where the art of noodle making has been passed down through the generations.They are most famous for their hand-pulled noodles,La Mian.Made from just wheat flour and water, the skill is inmanipulatingthe dough.You double it up and double again.Yeah.It's folding,folding on itself.It could be a mess.It's about balancing the elasticity before he can actually pullthe noodles.So he's stretching that.Now stretching.OK,what he's doing,he's pulling and folding it,a little bit like how children used to play cat's cradle.Cat's cradle is a lot easier!Yeah!

Wow,that's beautiful!That's what we call tung chow mein（长寿面）.Yes!

Word bank

1.contradictionn.矛盾

2.imperialadj.帝国的；皇帝的

3.cuisinen.烹饪；菜肴

4.culinaryadj.烹饪的；食物的

5.quintessentialadj.典型的；精髓的

6.spectacularadj.壮观的；壮丽的；令人惊叹的

7.manipulatev.操纵；控制

参考译文

舌尖上的中国（Ⅱ）

为期一月的旅行中，我们将在首都北京度过一周的时间。我在芝加哥长大。我第一次来这儿的时候是20世纪80年代，“文革”的黑暗岁月结束后，中国刚刚对外开放，完全无法辨认了，现在焕然一新。

环顾四周新潮冲击着古老。我们这次发现之旅带着一个问题：美食是否也受到中国这些巨变的影响。嗯，有好有坏。

在这，我很享受现代中国的烹饪技艺。是否一些传统已被破坏。看到这种交融是非常有趣的。

中国是一个矛盾体，传统与革新并行，这在北京尤为明显。位于中国的东北角，北京是800多年的都城。它依然为自己有着传统的文化与美食而自豪。随着北京的大门对全世界敞开，它用一种全新的烹饪技艺揭开了这些秘密。

首先将要探索中华料理的精髓——面条。它在所有的地方，都是一道朴素的家常菜,但是它在北京却有着4，000年的历史,现在，这个古老的手艺，依然很有名望。难以置信!我觉得他们是从西方获得开放厨房的概念。是的，壮观之至。确实，看他们干活好像看管弦乐演奏。

我喜欢用大砧板做刀削面的家伙，像拉小提琴似的。是的！

北京汇聚了中国顶尖烹饪天才，这些面条大师来自北京西面的山西省，做面条的功夫都是世代相传的。他们以手拉的拉面著称。拉面只用小麦面和水制成，技巧在于揉面，一根变两根然后拉成多根，是的，不断地对折。在他把面拉长之前，可能会很乱，关键在于均衡弹性。他在拉长它，现在变长了，现在做的就是把面拉长再折起来，有点像小孩玩翻花绳，翻花绳比这简单多了好吗。

好厉害，这就是我们说的长寿面。嗯。