紅熊貓　Jake Fischer

傅婧瑛

Draped in a gold-and-maroon dress，Rong Niu exhales.Six white metal bowls rest atop her jet-black hair，a bun holding everything in place.Its 15 minutes separate the Sixers and Celtics from halftime，When she takes the court，there will be no defense awaiting-only a towering unicycle and a sea of fans cheering on Red Panda，the leagues most popular intermission entertainment.She will glide across the hardwood.Her arms will gracefully beckon the crowds roar.

穿著金/褐紅色裙子的牛蓉長出一口氣。她烏黑的頭發上是六個白色金屬碗，一個發髻讓所有碗靜止。那是76人和凱爾特人比賽的15分鐘中場休息時間，當她走上場地時，不會有防守球員等待她——只會有一個高高的獨輪車，和眾多為紅熊貓歡呼的球迷，后者已經是NBA最受歡迎中場娛樂項目的代名詞。

With 90 seconds on the scoreboard，the procession marches down the carpeted path towards the court.“Dont drop any of those cups tonight！” a hefty security guard chimes.“Theyre bowls！” another quickly corrects.Niu only smiles，maintaining her silence，her breathe.“People think Im，maybe，weird，”she surmises.The arduous upbringing of an acrobat，overseen by a perfectionist father，can naturally have that effect.

計時表上還剩90秒時，一行人走到了與場地連接的地毯上。“今晚別摔杯子！”一名身材粗壯的保安大聲說道。“那是碗！”另一個人迅速做出糾正。牛蓉只是笑了笑，繼續保持沉默和呼吸節奏。“人們可能覺得我是個怪人。”她推測道。作為從小有著艱苦成長環境的雜技演員，再加上一個完美主義者的父親，她自然會出現這種心理。

GuiZhang Niu is not in attendance，but he is certainly present.Later，when shes asked whether dad played more of a parent or instructor role，Red Panda pauses.“I would say…yea…”her voice trails off，“I dont know，”Her act has traveled around the globe，improbably morphing a Chinese toddler into a grown，world class performer starring in NBA arenas across the U.S.He must be proud，even if apprehension still cripples the moments before every performance.“He said，‘Always focus.He knew I get nervous，”Niusays.“He always told me that，just to think that all of those people come here to watch you.That means you are the king.You have to show that you are in power now.”

牛貴章不在觀眾席，但她顯然有存在感。后來，被問到父親更多的是父親還是教導者時，紅熊貓停頓了。“我得說，是……”她的聲音越來越小，“我不知道。”她在全球表演，從一個中國嬰兒不可思議地成為世界級表演者，在各個NBA球館巡回表演。他一定會為她感到驕傲，即便每次表演前她都會感到恐懼。“他會說，‘永遠保持專注。他知道我會緊張。”牛蓉說，“他總會對我這么說，想想這些人都是來看你表演的。這意味著你是國王，你得表現出自己擁有權力。”

Niu's routine is derived from a traditional Chinese acrobat act.Although her father ramped the level of difficulty，staggering the bowls rim to rim-balancing each dish on merely their curving lines—rather than simply stacking them inside each spacious basin.“Literally everything he decided，”she says.As a 7-year-old，Niu began flicking the dishes skyward.Then after months of pedaling and balancing and maneuvering，she combined the two elements of the performance.

牛蓉的表演源于中國的傳統雜技，但她父親增加了難度，每個碗大小相同——這意味著每個碗只能靠弧線平衡——不能將小碗扣進大碗。“幾乎所有事都是他決定的。”牛蓉說。7歲時，牛蓉開始站在地上將碗拋向空中。再經過幾個月踩獨輪車，掌握平衡和技巧的練習，她將兩種表演元素結合在了一起。

For three years，GuiZhang would spend his mornings instructing at the nearby Taiyuan Art School，serving as the manager for its acrobatics program，and retum home to mold his protege.Nius sister，five years her junior，never took kindly to the sages methods.“We didnt know the line between when we practiced and eating at the dinner table，”Niu says.“Wealwaysthought，‘Hes so serious.”

三年時間里，牛貴章每天早上在附近的太原藝術學校做指導，他是學校雜技項目的負責人，隨后回家訓練門徒。比牛蓉大五歲的姐姐向來不認可父親。“練習和在飯桌吃飯，我們從來不知道區別。”牛蓉說，“我們總是覺得，‘他太嚴肅了。”

She joined the fabled Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe at 14，completing Taiyuans seven-year program in just four years.The troupe traveled through Asia，Europe and Africa.When Niu was 16，they stopped in Denver for a three-month stint at Elitch Gardens amusement park.The Colorado crowd erupted with each bowl Niu landed atop her skull，unlike she had ever heard before.“America，the audience gave me the most reaction.Theyre very outgoing，very cheerful，even if I make a mistake，”Niu says.“I decided.its so special，that country.”

她在14歲那年加入了傳說中的上海雜技團，只用四年時間就完成了太原的七年培訓。這個雜技團在亞洲，歐洲和非洲進行巡演。16歲那年，他們來到丹佛，在伊利奇花園主題樂園進行為期三個月的表演。每次把碗拋到頭頂上時，科羅拉多的觀眾都會爆發巨大的歡呼聲，比她過去聽到的任何聲音都大。“在美國，觀眾對我的反應最大。他們非常外向，非常快樂，就算我犯錯也是一樣。”牛蓉說，“我覺得，這個國家太特別了。”

Niu made the citys Sunset District，which is nearly half Asian，her home.She performed free shows，primarily school assemblies.Locals soon invited her to perform in Chinatowns New Year parade.“To them.Im a young kid just starting，”Niu says.Her act needed a marketable name，they told her.She bounced ideas off fellow diners at Dim Sum restaurants.Red，a lucky color in China，would bring good fortune to her daring feat.The Panda is the countrys national animal.Combining the two，coincidentally，forms the English word for the endangered animal of that namesake.What better way to honor a rare species with such unique skill？

牛蓉將家安在了舊金山的日落社區，這里接近一半都是亞裔。她主要在學校活動上進行免費表演。很快，當地人開始邀請她參加中國城的新年游行活動。“對他們來說，我是剛剛起步的年輕人。”牛蓉說。他們告訴她，她的表演需要可供營銷的名字。她在飯館和其他人討論了不少名字。紅色，這個中國的幸運色能夠為她具有風險的表演帶來好運，而熊貓是中國的國寶。將兩者結合，意外形成了在英語中具有瀕危動物意思的單詞。還有比用如此獨特的技能向稀有物種致敬更好的方法呢？

Fmally，alter one year，a talent agent named Reynold Clark dialed Niu the day before Thanks giving 1993.One of his acts had sustained an injury，and the Clippers needed an immediate replacement for halftime the following evening.Within hours she jetted to Los Angeles.

年復一年，終于在1993年感恩節前一天，一個名叫雷納德·克拉克的經紀人給她打了電話。他手下的一名表演人員受傷，快船需要在接下來的比賽中緊急尋找一個中場表演人員。幾小時后，她就來到了洛杉磯。

The Chppers ushered her into Memorial Sports Arena early the next morning，affirming her bowls and unicycle wouldnt damage the hardwood.The court survived，although she nearly brought the house down that night.Niu delivered a perfect performance in her NBA debut，tossing her four bowls cleanly atop her dome.“I got afour-times standing ovation，”she says.“Pretty much every time I flip…I cant believe this！”By the 1994-95 season，Red Panda appeared at over 40 NBA outings.

第二天早上，快船將她送進了紀念體育中心，一再確認她的碗和獨輪車不會損傷地板。地板沒問題，只不過那一晚她差點引爆了全場。牛蓉的NBA首秀很完美，將四個碗完美地拋在頭頂。“我四次得到全場起立鼓掌。”她說，“幾乎每次拋碗都這樣……我真不敢相信！”到1994-95賽季時，紅熊貓在NBA的出場次數超過了40場。

The Sixers annually open their schedule to Niu，inviting her to choose any two games that best suit her availability，preferring her appearances accompany their bigger，nationally-televised contests.If Philly makes the playoffs，their first booking call pings San Francisco.Niu practically holds a Bay Area residency with the nearby Golden State Warriors，impressing those within the locker room.“Its ridiculous.Its unbelievable，”head coach Steve Kerr has said.“Its one of the best halftime shows.Shes fantastic.”

76人每個賽季開始時都會邀請牛蓉，讓她在兩場比賽中自選合適的一場，也更希望她能在球隊全美直播的比賽中出場表演。如果76人打進季后賽，他們的第一個表演預訂電話也會打給舊金山。牛蓉基本是同在灣區，金州勇士的常客，她給球隊的人留下深刻印象。“這太夸張了，不可思議。”主教練斯蒂夫·科爾表示，“那是最好的中場表演之一，她太棒了。”

Red Panda typically reaches the arena 90 minutes before tipoff.It takes roughly 30 minutes to assemble the hefty unicycles three pieces into one cohesive machine.Next，shell follow the same 20-minute stretching routine she first learned in boarding school.She does her own hair and paints her own makeup.With the third quarter underway，she typically departs，preferring to heat the traffic back to her airport hotel.Teams provide her travel and lodging，and she commands between $2，500 and$3，000 per five-minute performance.

一般來說，紅熊貓會在比賽開始前90分鐘抵達球館。將獨輪車的三部分組裝在一起大約需要30分鐘。接著，她會按照小時候在寄宿學校學到的方式進行20分鐘的拉伸訓練。她自己編頭發，自己化妝。比賽進行到第三節時，她一般會離開球館，她希望躲開車流，盡快回到機場附近的酒店。她的差旅酒店由球隊提供，每5分鐘的表演，她的收費一般為2500到3000美元。

“IF YOU THINK AT THE BEGINNING YOU CANT DO IT， IF YOU PUT YOUR HARD WORK AND YOUR HEART IN THERE AND YOU LIKE IT AND YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT FROM MOST PEOPLE，THIS IS WHAT MY DAD TOLD ME.ALL IS POSSIBLE，I GUESS， IF YOU KEEP ON TRYING.”

“一開始你覺得自己做不到，但如果付出努力，用心，你會逐漸喜歡上做一些與大多數人不一樣的事。這就是我父親對我說的。我猜，如果一直嘗試，一切皆有可能。”

In the summers，she used to book three-month spells on cruise ships.This offseason shes helping a building management company complete odds and ends like paperwork and overseeing maintenance.Niu will make her annual return to Shanxi later this month.

夏天，她通常會預訂三個月的游輪旅行。今年夏天，她協助創立了一家管理公司，完成了諸如填寫文件，監督維修這些小事。本月晚些時候，她會進行一年一度的山西之旅，拜訪一些親戚和寄宿學校的同學。

The 2019-20 season awaits.Red Panda has no intention of retiring any time soon.She still craves perfection.Shes obsessed with mastering the technique.Its carried her this far，honoring her late father around the league and the world.“If you think at the beginning you cant do it.if you put your hard work and your heart in there and you like it and you want to do something different from most people，keep working on it，”she say.“This is what my dad told me.All is possible，I guess，if you keep on trying.”

2019-20賽季正進行，紅熊貓短期內沒有退休打算，她仍然渴求完美，她執著于精通這個技術。這個技術讓她走到了今天，在聯盟和世界各地向她已經去世的父親致敬。“一開始你覺得自己做不到，但如果努力，用心，你會逐漸喜歡上做一些與大多數人不一樣的事。”她說，“這就是我父親對我說的。我猜，如果一直嘗試，一切皆有可能。”