方壶斋

在北美我去过几个地方的唐人街： 达拉斯， 休斯敦，纽约，多伦多，蒙特利尔， 旧金山。 总的印象是各地的唐人街都差不多， 就是一些商店的堆积， 外加什么同乡会， 商会什么的。 在这些唐人街里， 大多数人都讲广东话。这当然是历史原因造成的。

Chinatown

In north American I have been to several Chinatowns: in Dallas, Houston, New York, Toronto, Montreal and San Francisco. The overall impression is that all of them look alike, just a whole bunch of stores, plus the so called Association of Folks of the Same Country and the Chamber of Commerce. Most people in these Chinatowns speak Cantonese. This, of course, comes down from history.

因为现在住的地方离旧金山最近， 所以旧金山的唐人街去的次数多一些， 但不是自己开车去的， 都是搭顺风车。 去的目的也不是看风景。 我想， 一个中国人跑到美国来逛唐人街， 是愚蠢的， 因为中国到处都是唐人街。搭顺风车去， 就是顺便买吃的东西。要是专程去买，所费的时间和汽油远远超过买几个菜省下的几分钱。不过虽说买吃的， 去了几次以后， 连买食品的劲头都没有多少了。 这是因为在美国住久了， 饮食习惯也有所变化， 趋于简单，对于中国烹饪的那些花样，渐渐地有些陌生了。甚至去年回国的时候， 都没有想起到什么象样的地方吃一顿。 在唐人街， 看到那林林总总的干货，鲜货，活货，熏货，腊货，除了回想起小时候 吃的家里做的湖南湖北风味的年饭， 一点也动不了想要疯狂购买，回去饱餐一顿的念头。

Because where I live now is close the San Francisco, the Chinatown there is the one I frequent most. I do not drive there, though, but by means of rides when there is someone going. I just go there to buy some stuff to eat. If I make a special trip just to buy food, the time and the gas both do not justify the few cents saved from the cheaper prices there. Yet, talking about buying food, I must say that after several trips my interest in buying food dwindled a lot. This is because after some time in the U.S., my eating habit has become Americanized and simpler. The various tricks of Chinese cooking have now become strangers to me. Last year, when I went back to China, I even did not remember to find a decent place to eat some genuine Chinese food. In Chinatown, when I see those dried stuff, fresh stuff, living stuff, smoked stuff and cured stuff, I can only remember the lunar new year's family feasts of the Hubei and Hunan styles, but they do not drive me crazy to buy a lot and feed myself on them at home.

我想， 唐人街在美国之所以能成为一景， 实实在在是因为中国人太爱吃， 太能吃了。 为了满足口腹之欲，中国人在旧金山这个地方建立了一个国中之国。虽说这里的中国人都归美国管辖， 说这里是中国文化的一个飞地， 一点也不为过。 从中国来的人， 不会说英语没有关系， 只要在唐人街找到工作和住处，他用不着到别的地方去 （当然， 唐人街的工作也不是那么好找的）。有一次在唐人街的一家理发馆，我发现那里的师傅只能说广东话，连普通话都讲不来，而其中有些人的年龄并不是太老。

I think that the reason why Chinatown becomes a scene in the U.S. is because the Chinese love eating too much and know too much about how to eat. To satisfy the desires of their mouths and stomachs, the Chinese created a country within a country in San Francisco. Although they are the subjects of the United States, to say that Chinatown is a cultural sovereignty of the Chinese is no exaggeration. A person from China may not be able to speak English, but as long as he can find a job and a place to live in Chinatown, he needs to go no where. Once in a barber's shop there I found that none of the barbers spoke English, not even Mandarin, and some of them were not very old.

旧金山唐人街旁边就是意大利街。 那里的街灯柱子上都贴着意大利三色旗。 但是在这个意大利街区， 我并没有看到多少意大利人，更听不到意大利语。除了那三色旗以外，标志这是个意大利街区的只有一些咖啡馆，皮扎饼店和一两座天主教堂。也可能意大利人在旧金山别的地方扎堆住， 也可能人家根本就不扎堆住，反正在这里， 你不会感到进入了一个国中之国。

Adjacent to San Francisco Chinatown is the Italian town, where the three colored Italian national flag decorated the street lamp poles. I do not see many Italians in this Italian town. Apart from the three colors, what indicates that this is an Italian town is a group of coffee bars, pizza restaurants and one or two Catholic churches.

旧金山还有一个日本城， 规模远远比不上中国城，但主要也是由商店组成的。和唐人街不同的是， 那里的人流不那么拥挤，街面上也比唐人街干净利落一些。 当然，那里也没有唐人街低廉的价格和小吃铺一般的各种饼屋。

There is a Japanese town in San Francisco which is much smaller than China town. It however also consists mainly of shops. The difference is that place is not as crowded and the streets are cleaner. Of course they do not have low prices and pastry restaurants like those in Chinatown.

虽然唐人街有各种颇具规模的饭馆和广东早茶， 我每次去， 到了中午的时候，还是喜欢吃小吃铺里的东西。 一则现成， 二则便宜， 三则随便， 四则没有小费。 我喜欢吃那种油炸的， 里边有豆馅的糯米面麻球， 一元一角三个。外加别的小点心， 两三块钱就饱了。 这里也有两个菜，一个饭的自配餐，两块七毛五。 吃这种时， 我就挑那久违的红烧肉。

There are quite some magnificent restaurants in Chinatown, some serve Cantonese-style pastry on carts that are priced according to size. The Cantonese call them "morning tea". Even so, every time I go there, at noon I like to eat in the pastry restaurants. Firstly, it is ready made. Secondly, it is inexpensive. Thirdly, it is casual. Fourthly, it is tip-free. I like that kind of fried sticky rice balls with fillings of bean mud that sell for three per dollar. Plus other cookies, two or three dollars will be enough. In such restaurants, one can also selected any two kinds of dishes with a staple food such as rice or noodle. The cost is $2.75. In selecting my dish, I often choose the brown-sauce-braised pork.

一次一个同事发现了糯米麻球的好吃。第二次去旧金山的时候专门跟着我找买麻球的店。 终于找到了以后， 我们一人买了三个。 因为计划另外买午饭吃，就只吃了一个， 剩下的放到背包里。 后来买菜的时候， 这位同事突然觉得手中空空，大惊 失色地叫道：“哎，我的小包怎么不见了？“ 我听了以为是丢了钱包，心想这下麻烦了。 那位同事赶紧在背包里翻， 终于找到了，竟然是那个装着剩下两个麻球的小塑料袋！

Once a colleague discovered the tastiness of fried sticky rice flour dumplings covered with sesame. The second time we were there, she followed me in search of the restaurants that sell this food. We finally found one and each bought three. Because we planned to eat lunch, we ate only one of them and put the other two away in our backpacks. Shortly afterwards, when we came out of a grocery store, she suddenly shouted, fear showing on her face, "Where is my small bag?" Thinking that she meant her purse, I thought now we had a problem. She did a quick search in her backpack and found it: it was nothing but the small plastic bag containing the two sesame balls!

唐人街里来来往往的人， 不是华侨就是美籍华人，当然偶尔也有少数国内来的 旅游者。 华侨这个词，小时候听起来觉得很有层次。那是因为报纸上满是“爱国华侨，” “归国华侨，”这类字眼。 那些真地回国的华侨，在媒体上露面是都是西服笔挺， 背头油光的。社会上有人用“高等华人”形容之。现在到了唐人街 一看， 看到的都是辛辛苦苦干活的普通人。其穿戴举止，有的颇似民工，有的则象乡下刚进城的村妇。我想， 这才是生活的真实画面吧。

People coming and going in Chinatown are either overseas Chinese or Chinese Americans, with of course occasional tourists from China. The word overseas Chinese sounded very high-brow to me when I was a kid, for in the newspapers, we often saw such phrases as "patriotic overseas Chinese" and "Overseas Chinese returning (to serve the motherland)". Those who did return often appeared in media in smart looking western suits and shining, oily hair combed all back. The common people referred to them as "Chinese of a higher grade". Now in Chinatown, what I see are hardworking common people. The way they dress make them look sometimes like a migrant worker and sometimes like a rustic country woman fresh in a metropolitan. This, I think, is the real picture of life.

唐人街里除了肉店， 菜店， 杂货店以外，最显眼的就是药店和金店了。药店里最显眼的就是各种参类， 公然地摆在柜台上地面上，从二十五元一磅的西洋参到上百元一磅的西洋参，高丽参， 长白参。不知道为什么中国人那么爱吃参？是不是中国人一出了国就气血亏损？ 我问同去的美国人吃不吃，答约不吃。为什么 中国人一定要吃参， 而中国人的平均寿命又不见得因此长多少？

In addition to meat stores, grocery stores and stores that sell whatever we use in our daily life, the most attractive stores in Chinatown are drug stores and jewelry stores. What is most eye-catching in drug stores is ginseng of various species, glaringly taking the most noticeable place on counters and on the floor. They range from American ginseng of $25 a pound to American ginseng, Korean ginseng and Chinese ginseng of more than $100 a pound. I wonder why the Chinese are so fond of ginseng. Is it because once abroad, they need to compensate for some loss in their physique? I asked my fellow American travelers if they ate ginseng. They said no. Indeed, why must the Chinese eat ginseng and yet the average life span of them is not necessarily extended?

唐人街的金店， 和美国的金品店比起来， 当然是辉煌得多。这是因为美国的金饰品多是14K的， 而中国人的则要 K数高为好。另外中国人除了项链耳环手镯以外， 还有金字牌匾， 所以弄得金品柜台精巧雅致不足，富贵庸俗有余。

The jewelry stores in Chinatown boast more splendor than their American counterparts. Gold jewelry in America is in most cases 14K, but the Chinese prefer higher gold content. Besides, apart from necklaces and wrist rings, there are also sign boards with gold coated Chinese characters. The gold jewelry store is thus less exquisite than richly vulgar.

我对于唐人街， 说不上喜欢不喜欢。 除了买东西以外，我是用不着唐人街来满足自己的怀乡之情的。 这不但因为在今天这个高度信息化的时代，装模做样地怀乡简直就是一种病态， 而且因为唐人街和我熟悉的街市， 实在是太少地相似。

I do not like nor dislike Chinatown. Except for shopping, I do not need Chinatown to bust my homesickness. This is not only that in this information age, pretending to be homesick is indeed a sickness, but also that the Chinatown in America bears little semblance to the streets that are intimate to me.

2002. 5. 31