茶叶蛋A cultural brawl is brewing between China and Taiwan over a seemingly innocuous snack.doc

A cultural brawl is brewing between China and Taiwan over a seemingly innocuous snack: the tea-flavored egg. 中国大陆和台湾的网民围绕一种无伤大雅的小吃“茶叶蛋”爆发了一场口水战。The roots of the controversy lie in an undated Taiwanese TV segment featuring a guest consultant who says that common Chinese people cant afford tea eggs, hardboiled eggs simmered in tea leaves, spices and soy sauce that are a popular snack in Taiwan, China and beyond. 论战的导火索是一档不知何时录制的台湾综艺节目，该节目的嘉宾高志斌称，普通中国老百姓吃不起“茶叶蛋”一种用煮熟的鸡蛋在茶叶、香料和酱油中慢炖而成的小吃，在台湾、中国大陆以及其他很多地区非常流行。We only see Chinese people who visit Taiwan, but they are just the 40 million to 50 million among 1.4 billion Chinese and probably from big cities, Gao Zhibin says in the video, which offers advice for Taiwanese on how to open food and beverage businesses in mainland China. 高志斌在节目中称，台湾人看到大陆团来台湾敢花钱，但他们只是14亿大陆人中的4千万到5千万人，而且可能来自大城市。这档节目为台湾企业如何在大陆开展食品和饮料业务出谋划策。The film clip has become popular for highlighting the perception gap between people on China and Taiwan, heirs to opposing sides in the Chinese civil war. It resurfaced on Chinese social media in recent days after students in Taipei began occupying the legislature to protest moves by Taiwans ruling party to pass a pact to liberalize trade in services between the island and China. 这段视频在网上大热，凸显出了大陆人和台湾人的认知鸿沟。最近几天，在台北学生占领立法院抗议台湾执政党通过两岸服贸协议后，这段视频重新被中国大陆社交媒体翻出来热议。By Monday afternoon, tea eggs had soared to rank as the most-discussed topic on Sina Weibo , with Mr. Gaos original TV clip gaining more than 195,000 views online. Most commenters mocked the idea that in China, where the average per capita income is about $7,500, people couldnt afford tea-flavored egg that generally cost less than 25 cents. 截至周一下午，“茶叶蛋”已经成为新浪微博(Sina Weibo)上讨论最热烈的话题，该节目视频的网上浏览次数已超过195,000次。多数人在评论中嘲笑了高志斌所谓大陆人吃不起茶叶蛋的观点。中国大陆的人均收入大约为7,500美元，而一颗茶叶蛋的价格通常不足25美分。Mr. Gao couldnt be reached for comment, but he echoed his previous sentiments in a November interview, saying, Indeed, more than half of Chinese villages cannot afford even a tea egg.记者无法联系到高志斌置评，不过他在去年11月份接受采访时重申了之前的感受。他称，超过一半的中国农村人的确消费不起茶叶蛋。Many mocked Mr. Gao online by waxing poetic on the importance of tea eggs for Chinese people and pretending to agree with Mr. Gao on how aspirational a good they remain. 很多网民调侃高志斌，夸张地论说茶叶蛋对中国人的重要性，并假装赞同高志斌的观点，说茶叶蛋是多么让人梦寐以求的东西。It makes me think of when my mom quietly told me, You go get married, your father will take the private hoard of money hes saved for 20 years to buy you a single tea-pickled egg to be your dowry, one user wrote sarcastically. That way, you wont be looked down on by your husbands family. 一位用户不无讽刺地写道：这不禁让我想起来，妈妈偷偷地告诉我，“你去嫁人，你爸会把攒了20年的私房钱拿出来给你买个茶叶蛋，作为你的嫁妆。这样，你就不会被夫家的人看不起了”。Others noted the disappearing discrepancy between Taiwan and Chinas levels of wealth. 其他人则指出台湾和大陆财富水平之间的差距在不断消失。Before, Taiwan people saw mainland Chinese people as their country-bumpkin relatives. They didnt think that someday they might become the nouveau riche. I guess the old saying, Now its my time, in 30 years itll be your time, is true, wrote another. 另外一位用户写道：过去，台湾人把大陆人看成他们的乡巴佬亲戚。他们没有想过有一天大陆人可能成为暴发户。我想老话“30年河东，30年河西”说的一点不假。If Taiwans economy doesnt get better, in another 10 years, Taiwan and the mainlands divide will become even wider. Taiwan will have fewer resources and will be running out of time, this person added. 这位用户还写道：如果台湾经济不出现好转，再过10年，台湾和大陆之间的差距会变得更大。台湾的资源会更少，很快就到头了。Dozens of Taiwanese students-at times numbering as many as 1,000-have occupied the governments legislature since last week to protest the trade pact. According to Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeous government, the pact is important to promote business with China Protesters, however, fear that the deal will harm small businesses in Taiwan and undermine the islands independent politics and economy. 数十名台湾学生（有时多达1,000人）自上周起一直占领着台湾立法院，抗议台湾和大陆之间的贸易协定。据台湾总统马英九(Ma Ying-jeou)的政府称，该协定对促进台湾和大陆之间的商贸往来很重要。不过，抗议者担心，该交易将损害台湾的小企业，破坏台湾独立的政治和经济体系。Some microbloggers quipped that the protesters urgency might really lie in a concern over gastronomy. 一些微博用户调侃说，抗议的真正原因可能是对美食的担忧。Taiwan students are worried that those mainland Chinese who cant afford tea eggs will flood Taiwan and compete with Taiwanese for tea-pickled eggs, wrote another Weibo user. Thats why theyre demanding that the government reverse the trade pact.另外一位新浪微博用户写道：台湾学生担心买不起茶叶蛋的大陆人会涌入台湾，与台湾人抢茶叶蛋，所以他们要求政府取消贸易协定。