睡在新澤西玩在紐約的中國遊客

The day began early. By 7:30 a.m., the 56 tourists from China were standing in line in the parking lot of the hotel in which they had spent the night.

這是早早開始的一天。上午7:30，來自中國的56名遊客排成一隊，站在頭天過夜的酒店外的停車場。

They were eager to do the things first-time tourists do — sail past the Statue of Liberty, stand atop the Empire State Building and stroll through the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

他們盼着去做第一次來的遊客都要去做的事——坐船看自由女神像，登頂帝國大廈，去大都會藝術博物館逛逛。

But first they had to get to the city.

但他們得先到達那個城市才行。

That meant climbing aboard a shiny tour bus and settling in for a 45-minute ride past roadside billboards and a state prison and through the Holland Tunnel.

也就是說，他們要坐上一輛鋥亮的旅遊大巴，在路上行駛45分鐘，沿途經過各種廣告牌和一座州監獄，穿過荷蘭隧道。

It is a scene that is repeated many times each Morning in a stretch of New Jersey better known for oil refineries, swamps and traffic-choked highways than for providing beds for tourists from halfway around the world.

每一天早上，在新澤西州的某個地方，這樣的場面都會出現多次，這裏本來以煉油廠、沼澤和堵塞的交通幹道而聞名，人們從沒想到它還能爲跨越半個地球而來的遊客們提供牀位。

But with the number of Chinese tourists to New York soaring, New Jersey has become an unlikely base camp for many of them, including this group, which had spent the night at the Wyndham Garden Newark Airport, a scant quarter-mile from one of the runways at Newark Liberty International Airport.

但隨着來訪紐約的中國遊客激增，新澤西州居然成了其中很多人的過夜之地，這個旅行團也是其中之一，頭天晚上這些遊客就住在紐瓦克機場溫德漢姆花園酒店(Wyndham Garden)，那裏距離紐瓦克自由國際機場的其中一條跑道不足1/4英里。

Chinese sightseers are fueling a subculture of hotels that have cheap rooms and early-morning checkouts to give tour buses a chance to beat the traffic. Some New Jersey hotels, like the Wyndham Garden, have expanded their breakfast buffets to appeal to Chinese guests, serving such Chinese favorites as the rice porridge congee alongside American standards like waffles with maple syrup.

中國的觀光客正在促發一種酒店亞文化：酒店提供便宜的房間，爲方便遊客大巴避開交通高峯，還有在清早就結賬退房的服務。有些新澤西的酒店爲吸引中國遊客還擴展了自助早餐食譜，在經典的美式早餐楓糖華夫餅之外增添了中國人喜歡的稀飯等食品，溫德漢姆花園酒店正是這麼做的。

The number of Chinese visitors to the city jumped 182 percent from 2010 to 2013, according to NYC & company, the city’s tourism marketing agency, and New York ranks second as a destination for Chinese travelers in the United States, after Los Angeles. How many Chinese stay in New Jersey is difficult to determine, but the tour company that sent the bus to the Wyndham Garden — one of many tour operators in the city that specialize in tours for Chinese people — dispatched 16 buses that picked up more than 600 Chinese tourists from several New Jersey hotels that day. The passengers ventured into the city as day-trippers, spending only a morning and an afternoon in Manhattan.

根據紐約旅遊促進機構NYC & Company的數據，從2010年到2013年，來紐約的中國遊客跳增182%，紐約成爲赴美中國遊客的第二大目的地，僅次於洛杉磯。究竟有多少中國遊客在新澤西過夜，這個數字很難統計，但是派車來溫德漢姆花園酒店接遊客的這個旅遊公司當天總共派出了16輛大巴，從新澤西的幾個酒店接了600多名中國旅客，而紐約還有其他許多專做中國遊客生意的旅行社。

Price is the big factor, industry analysts say. The average hotel room around the Newark airport was $116 a night last year, according to Mark VanStekelenberg, a senior vice president of PKF Consulting USA, which follows the hotel industry. The average in Manhattan was $294 a night, he said. But tour companies command discounts that can drive the cost lower.

業界分析師說，價格是重要因素。長期關注酒店業的美國PKF諮詢公司資深副總裁馬克·範斯特克倫伯格(Mark VanStekelenberg)說，去年紐瓦克機場附近的酒店房間均價是116美元一晚，而曼哈頓地區的酒店均價是294美元一晚。不過旅遊公司會拿到折扣以降低成本。

The result is that many New Jersey hotels are filling rooms, even if they do not offer the same amenities as the Waldorf-Astoria. “People in New York and New Jersey think of Newark and New York as two different places,” said Sean Hennessey, the chief executive of Lodging Advisors, a hotel industry consulting company. “Outside this area, it’s all New York.”

其結果就是新澤西的酒店雖然不像華道夫-阿斯托利亞酒店(Waldorf-Astoria)那樣便利，但也住滿了人。“紐約和新澤西人都覺得紐瓦克和紐約是完全兩個不同的地方，”酒店業諮詢公司“租房顧問“(Lodging Advisors)的首席執行官肖恩·亨尼西(Sean Hennessey)說。“出了紐瓦克纔是紐約。”

New Jersey had benefited as the economy strengthened with the end of the recession and business travel to Manhattan rebounded, said Warren Marr, a managing director of the consulting firm PwC. “When you get to where demand in Manhattan is really strong and rates in the hotels go up, you get this swoosh through the tunnels, and the hotels near Newark Airport fill in.”

PwC諮詢公司的總經理沃倫·馬爾(Warren Marr)說，隨着經濟衰退的結束，經濟開始好轉，前往曼哈頓的商務旅遊亦出現反彈，新澤西也從中受益。“去曼哈頓的需求增強了，而酒店價格也增長了，這時就出現了商機，紐瓦克機場附近的酒店就填補進來了。”

Chinese travelers are hardly alone in New Jersey — tourists and tour operators from other countries book thousands of rooms a year there, especially for groups that fly into Newark. But a surging middle class in China and relaxed visa restrictions have opened leisure travel abroad to a much larger share of the population. Still, Mr. Hennessey said, tourism from China “remains significantly more cost-conscious than tourism from a lot of other countries.”

住在新澤西的並不只有中國遊客——其他國家的遊客和旅遊團組織者們每年也會在這裏預訂成千上萬個酒店房間，特別是那些飛往紐瓦克的旅行團。但隨着中國中產階級的增加，以及簽證限制放鬆，中國人去海外旅遊度假的人數大大增長。不過，亨尼西說，中國的旅行團“明顯比其他國家的旅遊團對價格更爲敏感”。

New York tourism officials, not surprisingly, are striving to draw visitors to hotels on the other side of the Hudson.

不出人所料，紐約旅遊行業的官員們正在努力把遊客從哈德遜河對岸的酒店吸引過來。

NYC & Company has set up what it calls a training academy in Shanghai for Chinese travel agents who dream of breaking into the New York market. New York State opened a tourism office in China this year, and state tourism officials presented workshops, “Becoming China Ready,” in upstate New York in July to teach travel agents and local governments how to promote themselves to the Chinese market.

NYC & Company在上海建立起一個培訓機構，爲夢想打入紐約市場的中國旅行社提供培訓。今年紐約州在中國設立了一個旅遊辦事處，今年7月，旅遊業官員在紐約州北部舉行了名爲“爲中國做好準備”的研討會，向旅行社和地方政府傳授在中國市場上做推廣的經驗。

China Southern Airlines, the country’s largest passenger carrier, recently added another destination: John F. Kennedy International Airport. China Southern is scheduling four flights a week from its hub in Guangzhou, in southeastern China. (There are already more than 24 flights a week from China at Kennedy and 14 at Newark Liberty.)

中國客運量最大的航空公司中國南方航空公司最近新添了一個目的地：約翰·F·肯尼迪國際機場。南航每週從位於中國東南部的航空樞紐——廣州向肯尼迪國際機場安排四個航班（目前中國每週至少已有24個航班飛往肯尼迪機場，14個航班到紐瓦克自由機場）。

For tourism-dependent businesses like hotels, the appeal is straightforward. The average spending by travelers from China totaled about $7,427 a person last year, $941 more than in 2012, according to the Commerce Department. More than that, though, the Chinese market promises significant growth. Some projections put the increase in Chinese travelers to the United States at 35 percent a year.

對於酒店這樣依賴旅遊業的行業來說，吸引力是顯而易見的。根據商務部的數據，去年中國遊客在美國的人均消費是7427美元，比2012年增長了941美元。不僅如此，中國市場還有可能出現顯著增長。一些機構預測前往美國的中國遊客將以每年35%的速度增長。

Tour operators who specialize in bookings for Chinese say there are two main areas where Chinese tour operators look for hotel rooms in New Jersey, one around the Newark airport, the other along the New Jersey Turnpike around the exits for North Brunswick and Edison. They appeal to tour wholesalers booking groups that have spent a day in places like Washington or Philadelphia and plan to spend the next day in Manhattan.

專門針對中國遊客做酒店預訂的旅遊從業者說，中國的旅行商主要在新澤西的兩個地區找酒店房間：一處是紐瓦克機場附近，另一處是在新澤西收費高速公路靠近北布倫瑞克與艾迪森出口一帶。它們對那些計劃在華盛頓或費城之類地方遊覽一天，之後在曼哈頓遊覽一天的旅遊團特別有吸引力。

For the Wyndham Garden, Chinese tourists provide “a steady flow of regular business” that cushions the ups and downs of the domestic market, said Don Sheneman, the general manager. Chinese guests, he said, represent 25 to 30 percent of check-ins, and one of the owners, Steven Wu, said the Chinese had pushed the hotel’s occupancy rate as high as 85 or 90 percent.

溫德漢姆花園酒店的總經理唐·舍尼曼(Don Sheneman)說，中國遊客已經成爲該酒店的“日常穩定客流”，緩和了國內市場的高低起落。他說，中國遊客佔入住人數的25%到30%，酒店的另一位擁有者史蒂夫·吳（Steven Wu，音譯）說，中國人將酒店的入住率提高到85%至95%。

To accommodate more guests, the hotel recently converted 50 of its 349 rooms to what are called double doubles. The hotel took one king bed out of each of those rooms and installed two double beds, so that more travelers could double up.

爲了容納更多賓客，酒店最近把349個房間中的50間改造爲所謂的“雙重雙人間”——將這些房間裏的一張超級大牀搬出去，換成兩個雙人牀。這樣更多遊客可以擠着住進來。

Even so, Michael Tchong, a tour operator who often books groups at the hotel, said New Jersey did not always have enough rooms to handle reservations for Chinese guests. “That’s how many there are,” he said.

儘管如此，經常在這家酒店爲旅遊團訂房的旅遊從業者邁克爾·洪（Michael Tchong，音譯）說，在新澤西，有時不能爲中國遊客訂到足夠的房間。“中國遊客就有這麼多，”他說。

Mr. Tchong said that when Chinese visitors were told they would be staying in New Jersey, 30 minutes from New York City, some complained. “They say, ‘We’d rather be 15 minutes away, not 30,’ ” he said. “We put them in Secaucus.” (Secaucus is about six miles from the city.)

洪先生說，當中國遊客得知自己將住在新澤西，離紐約市有30分鐘車程時，有些人會抱怨。“他們說：‘我們想住開車15分鐘就能到的地方，不是30分鐘’，”他說。“我們會把這樣的遊客安排在錫考克斯。”（錫考克斯距離紐約市有六英里。）

Mr. Hennessey cited another advantage of hotels in New Jersey: Tour buses can return to the hotel during the day. “When you stay in the city, you have to worry about where you park the bus,” he said, while in New Jersey, “the bus can park over there.”

亨尼西說，新澤西的酒店還有一個優點：旅遊大巴可以在白天回到酒店。“呆在城裏的時候，你還得操心把大巴停在什麼地方，”他說，而在新澤西，“大巴可以停在酒店。”

David Zhao, the tour guide on the bus from the Wyndham Garden, said the concept of staying in New Jersey on a trip to New York was hard for some Chinese to understand. “In China, hotels are usually all inside the city limits,” he said. “It’s just the opposite of the situation here.” He added, “In Chinese cities there are always hotels that are affordable.”

大衛·趙(David Zhao)是從溫德漢姆花園酒店出發的那輛大巴上的導遊，他說“去紐約旅遊，住在紐瓦克”這個概念對於有些中國人來說很難理解。“在中國，酒店通常都在城區之內，”他說。“這兒的情況卻正相反。”他還說，“中國城市裏，總會有人們住得起的旅館。”

As if to compound the confusion, some of the Chinese on Mr. Zhao’s bus had arrived a day or two earlier and had stayed in hotels in the city. Xia Yuyan, 32, and her father, Xia Xinhua, 74, said a Best Western hotel in Flushing, Queens, had let her father “acclimate to the United States first.”

更麻煩的是，趙先生這輛大巴上，有幾個中國人是提前一兩天到達的，他們住在城裏的酒店。32歲的夏雨燕（音譯）說，皇后區法拉盛的“最好的西部”酒店讓她的父親，74歲的夏新華（音譯）“先適應了美國”。

He had arrived from Wuzhou, in eastern China. Ms. Xia had traveled from Versailles, Ky., where she has taught for a year and a half. She said she would not have known that she was not in New York if Mr. Zhao, the tour guide, had not mentioned it. “What’s the difference between New York and New Jersey?” she asked. “I know they’re in two different states, but what’s the difference?”

夏新華來自中國東部的婺州，夏雨燕則是從肯塔基州的凡爾賽趕來，她在那裏教了一年半書。她說，如果導遊趙先生不提，她根本不會知道自己沒有住在紐約。“紐約和新澤西有什麼不一樣？”她說，“我知道它們屬於不同的兩個州，但這有什麼關係？”