双语|“吃客经济”——小龙虾在我国形成的产业...

One in eight residents inXuyi county, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, works in the crayfishindustry, and the signs are visible everywhere.

江苏省盱眙县八分之一的居民在小龙虾行业工作，小龙虾的形象在这座县城随处可见。

Chinese diners hungry forfresh seafood and eager for an unconventional dining experience are gobbling upcrayfish, spurring an economic bonanza for once-impoverished rural counties,where farmers have developed new cultivation techniques to satisfy demand.

那些爱吃新鲜海鲜且渴望非传统就餐体验的中国食客正沉迷于小龙虾的盛宴，这为一些曾经贫困的农村带来了一个致富机遇，这里的农民们开发了新的养殖技术以满足需求。

Yang Weiwei, general managerof Xuyi Power Faction Ecological Agriculture Development, one of the largestproducers and distributors in Xuyi, takes pains to describe why Jiangsucrayfish are superior to those from rival provinces such as Hubei, Jiangxi andAnhui.

盱眙一家生态农业公司的总经理杨维伟是盱眙最大的生产和经销商之一，他竭力解释为什么江苏的小龙虾要胜过湖北、江西和安徽等竞争省份的小龙虾。

“Hubei craws have big headsand small tails, so the edible part is small. Anhui craws are the lowestquality of all. Their cheeks are black, which means they’re not clean,” Mr Yangsays over a dinner of crayfish and baijiu, the clear Chinese spirit. “Jiangxi mostly has green craws. Their shells are soft, so they’re notsuitable for shipping. The death rate is high.”

杨维伟对着晚餐上的龙虾和白酒说到：“湖北虾头大，尾巴小，可食部分少。安徽虾质量最差，虾鳃是黑色的，这说明它们不干净。江西大多是青壳虾，它们的壳很软，所以不适合运输，死亡率很高。”

Production of crayfish morethan tripled in China from 2007 to 850,000 tonnes last year, according to areport on the industry commissioned by the ministry of agriculture.

，去年中国小龙虾产量达到85万吨，是2007年的三倍多。

As Chinese policymakers seekto promote domestic consumption in order to reduce the economy’s reliance onfixed-asset investment and exports, the growth of industries such as crayfishis a welcome development.

随着中国的政策制定者力图促进国内消费，以减少经济对固定资产投资和出口的依赖，小龙虾等行业的增长是一个可喜的发展。

Affluent urbanites enjoy theritual of donning plastic gloves to peel and eat the critters, which aretypically slathered in a spicy sauce. Some note that the sauce-drenched glovesprevent fellow diners from checking their mobile phones during a group meal,encouraging social interaction. The restaurants typically stay open late atnight, the aroma drawing in revellers.

富裕的城市居民享受着吃小龙虾的仪式，他们戴好塑料手套，剥去小龙虾的外壳，然后开吃。小龙虾通常泡在浓稠的辣酱里，有些人注意到在团体聚餐中，沾满酱汁的手套妨碍了同桌食客查看手机，从而鼓励了社交互动。小龙虾餐馆通常开到深夜，扑鼻的香气引来了狂欢的人群。

A breakthrough for China’scrayfish came in the late 1990s, when connoisseurs developed ways to addflavour. Previously, they were mostly boiled in salt water, leading to a blandflavour.

中国小龙虾行业在20世纪90年代后期迎来突破，当时的行家们开发了种种增添风味的方法。之前的方法大多是用盐水煮，味道较平淡。

Mr Yang, whose parentcompany also produces seasonings, claims that Xuyi is home to the original “13flavours” recipe, which is now widely used to create the classic reddish broth.Despite the name, the sauce is made from 32 herbs and spices.

杨维伟的母公司也生产调味品，他说盱眙是“十三香”做法的发源地。虽然名字叫十三香，其实这种酱汁是由32种草药和香料制成的。

Another boon for theindustry came around the same time, when Liu Zhuquan, a village official inHubei province responsible for agricultural development, pioneered a newtechnique for cultivating crayfish. Mr Liu realised that rice paddies, withthick grass, plentiful water, and reliable drainage, were an ideal environmentfor crayfish.

大概在同一时间，小龙虾行业迎来了另一个利好。。、水量充足、排水可靠的稻田是小龙虾的理想环境。

“At that time, the villagewas in bad shape. Grain prices were low, and a lot of fields were left fallowbecause farmers couldn’t even cover their costs,” he said. “I had a feelinglike I wanted to help farmers bust out of their rut.”

：“那时候农村的情况不太好。粮食价格很低，大量农田被休耕，因为农民们连种地的成本都担负不起。我那时就想帮助农民摆脱这一困境。”

The industry is ideal forregions that had missed out on China’s economic boom, which was based onmanufacturing, construction and heavy industry.

该行业对于那些错过了中国以制造业、建筑业和重工业为基础的经济繁荣的地区是一个理想选择。

Xuyi county’s Hongze Lake isone of the largest in China but is mostly free from the industrial pollutionthat plagues some other Chinese water systems. The animal’s naturally shortlifespan — a brood can mature from eggs to full-grown in two months — meansthere is little need for hormones to promote growth.

盱眙县洪泽湖是中国最大的淡水湖之一，而且基本没有受到工业污染，不像中国其他一些深受污染困扰的水系。小龙虾自然寿命很短，一窝虾从卵到生长完全只需两个月，这意味着几乎无需添加激素以促进生长。