一個茶朝圣者的故事

文、譯 / Anastasia Sukhoretskaya

一個茶朝圣者的故事

A Story of One Tea Pilgrim

文、譯 / Anastasia Sukhoretskaya

亞歷山大的LAOS TEA 門店

“我說，讓世界一邊去吧，我只要我的茶?！蓖铀纪滓蛩够≌f《地下日記》中的人物如此說道。茶是一種故事，有它的講述者和聽眾。它可以浪漫柔和如紅茶，也可以舒緩鎮靜如綠茶，亦或是神秘清新如普洱茶。不同國家的人喝茶的方式以及選擇茶的種類不同，但喝茶確是全球共有的愛好。中國，作為一個茶葉愛好者的圣地，吸引了許多茶的朝圣者，這種芳香四溢的飲料把他們帶到了中國。亞歷山大就是這樣一位茶的朝圣者。2008年，茶葉的魅力促使他來到北京，此后便一直住在這里?？墒牵辉谥袊?，而是在老撾一個名為豐沙里的地方種植茶葉。

“I say let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea.” states one of the characters in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel“Notes from Underground”. Believe it or not, tea is a story, with its tellers and listeners. It can be romantic and warming like red tea, soothing and calming like green tea, or mysterious and refreshing like pu-erh tea. People drink tea differently in various countries, and choose different kinds of tea due to their preferences. The only thing doesn’t change - drinking tea is an international habit. China, being a Mecca for tea lovers, has attracted many a tea pilgrim, who, in pursuit of the fragrant beverage, drove here in stocks. Alexander Zhiryakov, one of the tea pilgrims, has been living in Beijing since 2008, and it was tea that got him to this place. However, it’s not China where he grows his tea. It is Laos, Phongsali.

在4月一個晴朗的早晨，我們在北京菜市口地鐵站附近的一個佛寺見到了來自莫斯科的亞歷山大。他不僅是一位茶的朝圣者，還是茶廠的生產總監。這次的采訪中他將給我們談茶葉生產、茶葉消費、茶葉偏好等關于茶葉的方方面面。我們剛一就坐，亞歷山大就把水瓶和一對茶杯從背包拿出來，給我們倒了來自老撾的茶?！皼]來中國之前，我在莫斯科一家美國公司工作，是一名中產階級的白領。”而現在，亞歷山大是一名成功的商人?！澳菚r候，我在莫斯科經常去茶俱樂部。茶愛好者在那兒聚集在一起聊聊天，喝點茶。”他接著說。那里的氣氛和關于神秘中國的談話迷住了他，他最終決定來中國。25歲時，他到北京大學進修中文。兩年后，亞歷山大回到了俄羅斯。沒過多久，他又回中國了。在莫斯科，做茶葉生意的主意開始萌芽，在北京，這個想法越來越強烈，最終在老撾生根發芽。亞歷山大在東南亞旅行的時候拜訪了老撾，從此與老撾結緣。他的朋友給他介紹了周圍的村莊，并給他品嘗了當地的茶。令人驚訝的是，生長在良好的氣候和零污染的環境下，茶的味道居然不好?！霸瓉硎前l酵工藝使茶美味！”于是，亞歷山大產生了在老撾建立茶廠的想法。

On a fine April morning we met with Alexander Zhiryakov, a Moscow-born tea pilgrim, production director in the Buddhist Temple near Caishikou subway station in Beijing to talk about tea production, tea consumption in the world, nation’s tea preferences and other topics all wrapped around tea. We took a seat. As a tea connoisseur, he dragged the thermos and a coupleof bowls out of his rucksack, and poured the Laos tea into them.“I was every bit successful middle-class man working for an American company in Moscow, ”Alexander, now a prosperous businessman, started. “At that time I frequented the Moscow tea clubs where tea lovers gathered to have a chat and drink tea. ”he proceeded. The atmosphere and talks about mysterious China captivated him so much that eventually he decided to venture into China. He was 25 when he started the two-year language program at Peking University. When the course was finished, Alexander returned to Moscow only to leave it for China again. The idea about tea making first occurred to him in Moscow, developed in Beijing and bloomed in Laos. During his travel around East Asia, he ended up in Laos, as a matter of chance. He was shepherded by his friend around the Lao villages where he had a chance to sample their tea. Surprisingly, grown and cultivated in the right climate and zero pollution environment, the tea didn’t taste that delicious. “It is the right fermentation process that makes the tea taste good. ” Alexander found out. And that’s where the idea about having a tea factory in Laos got its beginnings.

問：你在老撾擁有自己的茶場嗎？

答：沒有，老撾是一個社會主義的國家，作為外國人，你不可能擁有土地。茶園屬于農民，是市政財產。我們和村民合作，他們采集茶葉，然后我們的卡車把茶葉帶到工廠。我們在老撾建了一個中等規模的工廠。與當地人談生意不容易。一個人不能做決定，所以如果你跟一位村民談生意，這意味著你跟他的全村談生意，而不是和他一個人。

Q: Do you own the tea farms in Laos?

A∶ No, Laos is a socialistic country and as a foreigner you cannot own the land. Tea plantations belong to the villages. It is called municipal property. We cooperate with the villagers and ask them to collect tea leaves so that after they are finished we send the trucks and take the leaves to the factory. We rent a middlesize factory in Laos. Anyway, it is not easy to negotiate with the locals. Every decision is made collectively in Laos, and if you are talking business with a villager, you talk with the whole village, not just him alone.

問: 你們把茶出口到哪些國家？

答: 美國、歐洲、俄羅斯、中國臺灣。事實上，不同國家的人喜歡不同的茶。例如，美國人喜歡喝冰茶和袋裝茶。我們曾經在法國和臺灣賣茶葉，結果很有意思。法國和臺灣都有自己獨特的茶文化。我們把一模一樣的茶葉樣品寄給他們。在臺灣，他們盛贊這些茶葉樣品，而法國人卻不滿意這些茶葉。原來，區別在于泡茶的方法。臺灣人喜歡泡幾次茶，而法國人只泡一次。不同的泡茶方法影響茶的味道。此外，在中國流行的茶類像大紅袍、鐵觀音在西方國家并不受歡迎。

Q: To which countries do you export your tea?

A∶ The USA, Europe, Russia, Chinese Taiwan. Actually, tea preferences are not the same in different country. For instance, tea culture in the States is different from the Chinese or Russian. The Americans like drinking ice tea and packeted tea. We had a very interesting experience in selling tea in France and Taiwan. After the tea is gathered and processed, we give it a number and send to tea dealers in different countries. France and Taiwan have both their own unique tea culture. We send them the same tea samples. In Taiwan they praise it, in France they grade the tea very low, or vice versa. It turned out, the difference lies in the way they brew tea. The Taiwanese like to drink tea in several brews, while the French brew the tea only once which adds a different flavor to the same tea leaves. Besides, the French like it sweet, while the Taiwanese prefer it bitter as they believe in the health-giving qualities of tea in accordance with the Chinese medicine. Moreover, the tea popular in China like Da Hong Pao tea or Tie Guan Yin tea do not enjoy the same popularity in the Western countries.

問: 你們在老撾生產多少茶葉？

答: 我們生產茶葉不多，每年5到10噸。在中國和越南，茶的產量比較大，而老撾一年產量僅500噸，僅相當于中國的一個工廠。并且，由于茶生長在清潔的生態環境中，由人工采摘，價格偏高一些。大部分茶葉被發送到中國。在中國云南省，它跟云南普洱茶混合在一起。其余部分出口到別的國家。

Q: How much tea do you produce in Laos?

A∶ We have a rather small volume of tea production, from 5 to 10 tons per year. A lot of tea is produced in China and Vietnam, in Laos the whole annual production is only around 500 tons a year, the volume of one decent factory in China. And as tea is grown in the ecologically clean environment and all plucked by hand, the price is higher. A big part of our tea goes to China where it is mixed with Yunnan pu-erh tea. The rest of tea goes to other countries.

問:在老撾你們生產什么茶？

答:首先是普洱生茶、毛茶。我們有綠茶、紅茶（在西方國家被稱為黑茶）、白茶和普洱。其實，在老撾不生產普洱茶，我們只提供原料。在老撾缺少專家，所以我們把原料發送到云南進一步加工。

Q: What teas do you grow in Laos?

A∶ First, it’s raw tea for pu-erh, mao cha. We have green tea, red tea (or, as it is known in the West, black tea), white tea and puerh. Actually, we don’t produce pu-erh in Laos we only supply the raw material for it. We are short of pu-erh experts in Laos, that’s why we send the raw stuff to Yunnan for a further procession.

問: 為什么中國的紅茶在其他的國家被稱為黑茶呢？

答:這是歷史的問題。西方人看茶葉的顏色和外形，茶葉的顏色是黑色的或綠色的。而中國人看的是液體的顏色。因此，中國人區分六種茶類，而西方人只有兩類。

Q: Why is the red tea in China known as black tea in other countries?

A∶ That’s historical issue. The Westerners judge the color of the tea by its leaf appearance, its either black or green. But the Chinese look at the color of the tea liqueur. So, in China they distinguish six main tea types, and in the West it’s only two.

問:根據客戶的喜愛，你們生產的茶中最流行的是哪一種？

答: 歐洲人和美國人喜歡喝紅茶，亞洲人更喜歡綠茶。

Q: According to the preferences of you clients, what is the most popular tea among the teas you produce?

A∶ Europeans and Americans like drinking black tea, and the Asians more like green tea.

問:別的國家茶葉生產的情況是怎樣的？

答:在俄羅斯的南邊，每年綠茶和紅茶的產量達到400噸。俄羅斯有良好的茶樹生長潛力。法國的氣候不適合栽培茶樹，南部的氣候很干燥，北部又很涼。在美國，茶葉生產正在發展的過程中。他們主要栽培烏龍茶和紅茶。在印度、肯尼亞和錫蘭有茶葉拍賣。最大的茶葉拍賣在加爾各答，第二大在肯尼亞的蒙巴薩。一般印度茶比中國茶便宜一些，所以印度茶很有市場。

Q: What about tea production in other countries?

A∶ In Russia, its Southern regions, there are around 400 tons of tea, black and green, produced every year. Russia has good potential of growing tea. In France tea is not cultivated, the climate doesn’t suit∶ it’s too cold in the North and too droughty in the South. In the USA tea production is in the process of developing. They cultivate mostly oolong and black tea. In India, Kenya and Ceylon there are tea auctions to sell tea. The biggest tea auction is in Kolkata. The second biggest is in Mombasa, Kenia. Indian tea in general is cheaper than the Chinese, which makes it very marketable.

除此之外，我問了亞歷山大他最喜歡喝什么茶。他的回答在我意料之中：他最喜歡的是自己的茶葉，種植于高山、生長在老撾這塊福地。在我們的采訪結束后，他向我們揮手告別，去參加另外一個會議。茶的故事未完待續。

To top all the questions, I asked what Alexander’s favorite tea was. His answer was presumable∶ the one he made himself, high-mountain and grown in the blessed land of Laos. After our interview was finished, he left for another meeting and waved us goodbye. A tea story to be continued.

一群“茶癡”在老撾找到了新的方向

北京6月1日起“帶頂帶蓋”公共場所100%禁煙

Beijing to Ban Smoking in Offices, Queues for Public Transport

被稱為“史上最嚴”的《北京市控制吸煙條例》將于今年6月1日開始實施。這一條例于2014年11月28日由北京市十四屆人大常委會第十五次會議表決通過。

這部《條例》被稱為 “最全面控煙立法”，規定今后北京市所有“帶頂的、帶蓋的”公共場所、工作場所和公共交通工具100%禁煙；同時，幼兒園、中小學校、文保單位、體育場、婦幼保健機構、兒童醫院等室外公共場所也被列入全面禁煙范圍。室外也對吸煙多有限制，如排隊時禁止吸煙。違者將被處以個人最高200元，單位最高1萬元罰款。

On June 1, Beijing will implement its strictest anti-smoking policy yet. The policy was passed back in November,2014 by the Beijing Municipal People’s Congress and bans smoking in indoor workplaces and restricts smoking in queues outdoors while waiting for public transportation. Individual violators will be fined up to 200 Yuan, and workplaces can be fined up to10,000 Yuan.

上海：出租車早晚高峰禁用打車APP

Shanghai Bans Use of Taxi Apps During Rush Hour

近日，上海市運輸管理處、市交通執法總隊將會聯合下發通知，明確實施早晚高峰時段（即每日7：30至9：30、16：30至18：30）本市出租汽車嚴禁使用“打車軟件”提供約車服務措施，以緩解高峰時段打車難。并由五大骨干出租汽車經營企業現有營運車輛承擔高峰車營運任務，即在高峰時段內只承接乘客路面揚招，企業叫車電話預約調度和出租汽車營業站接客等業務。

Recently, Shanghai will ban the use of taxi apps during the city’s peak traffic hours∶ 7∶30 to 9∶30, and 16∶30 to 18∶30. The Shanghai Municipal Traffic Commission previously carried out a similar order that included five major taxi companies. The taxi companies, representing one-fifth of the city’s taxis, have already implemented the ban.

美國大學內中國國際生占29%

29% of International Students in the US are Chinese

根據美國國土安全部3月25日發布的報告，美國現有113萬外國學生，大多數在修讀大學學位。這一數據相比去年增加了14%；比2010年增加了50%；與2005年的外國學生數量相比大增85%。細看今年的數據，中國學生占據了國際學生的最大份額——331371人，或者說29%。在密歇根州立大學，短短9年間，來自中國的本科生數量增長了8倍，達近4000人。

The US Department of Homeland Security released a report

on March 25 stating that there are currently 1.13 million foreign students in the United States. Most of the students are pursuing a college degree. This marks a 14% increase from the number of foreign students in the US last year, and a 50% increase from the number in 2010. Looking at the data from the report, it is clear that Chinese students were the largest group of international students with 331,371 people, or 29%.At Michigan State University, the number of foreign students specifically from China has increased by eight-fold over the span of nine years. The university now has nearly 4,000 Chinese students.