A In China at least, coffee is often associated with an exotic, well-to-do bourgeois lifestyle. Coffee is often considered a hobby of the well-educated, middle-class people. 在中国,说起咖啡,人们往往会想到异国情调,小资的优越生活方式.喝咖啡通常被认为是有修养的中产阶级的习惯.
B Maybe that's why some young chaps often spend a whole afternoon in a coffee bar, surfing the net or just typewriting something with laptop. While they are savoring a coffee at a leisured pace, they are actually showing off! 也许,这便是有些年轻人动不动就花一整个下午泡在咖啡吧,摆开笔记本电脑,上上网,或者只是打打文件的原因吧.他们悠闲地品着咖啡,其实也是在炫耀自己.
A Yes. Behind a lifestyle, there is a culture. Young people easily become blind worshippers of a Westernized life. While they may not really like coffee, they think it desirable and enviable to be lavish with money in those high-consumption places. 嗯.生活方式背后就是文化.年轻人很容易就迷信西式生活.他们也一定喜欢咖啡,但坚信,在那些高消费场所花钱至少令人羡慕.
B Then what about tea? We need to bear in mind in the first place that tea, rather than coffee, has been the most popular drink for the Chinese people. 那你说喝茶怎么样?要知道,中国人最喜欢的饮料不是咖啡,而是茶.
A Well. Tea represents another facet of popular culture. While a coffee bar is usually quiet and resonates with soft, elegant music, a teahouse is often a noisy, crowded, public space. People visit teahouses to associate with others, playing chess, chatting, or simply listening to operas. 嗯,茶大概是代表了大众文化的另一个侧面.咖啡吧是那种安静,高雅,余音缭绕的地方,茶馆则往往是嘈杂,拥挤的公共空间.人们去茶馆是想跟人说说话,下下棋,或者只是听听戏.
B What a pity that the traditional teahouses, as depicted by Lao She, keep fading away so quickly in this metroplis. It is not easy to find an old-fashioned teahouse that suits the ordinary people's spending power either. Teahouses of today all feature a cozy, comfortable environment, and high-quality services, but can easily cost you a good deal—just like a coffee bar. 可惜啊,在北京这个大都市,老舍笔下那种传统茶馆正在迅速地销声匿迹.普通人去的起的那种老茶馆再也难找到了.如今的茶馆都是那种舒适,惬意的环境,还有高档的服务,但是太贵了,跟咖啡厅几乎不相上下.
A Well, that's true. In a sense, it is not so much what you drink that really counts, as where and how you drink. 这是实话,在某种意义上,重要的仿佛不再是喝什么了,而是在哪儿喝,怎么喝.
