大陸網民與臺灣開展"大陸人吃不起茶葉蛋"口水戰

A cultural brawl is brewing between China and Taiwan over a seemingly innocuous snack: the tea-flavored egg.

中國大陸和臺灣的網民圍繞一種無傷大雅的小吃“茶葉蛋”爆發了一場口水戰。

The roots of the controversy lie in an undated Taiwanese TV segment featuring a guest consultant who says that comMon Chinese people can't afford 'tea eggs,' hardboiled eggs simmered in tea leaves, spices and soy sauce that are a popular snack in Taiwan, China and beyond.

論戰的導火索是一檔不知何時錄製的臺灣綜藝節目，該節目的嘉賓高志斌稱，普通中國老百姓吃不起“茶葉蛋”──一種用煮熟的雞蛋在茶葉、香料和醬油中慢燉而成的小吃，在臺灣、中國大陸以及其他很多地區非常流行。

'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.

高志斌在節目中稱，臺灣人看到大陸團來臺灣敢花錢，但他們只是14億大陸人中的4千萬到5千萬人，而且可能來自大城市。這檔節目爲臺灣企業如何在大陸開展食品和飲料業務出謀劃策。

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 Taiwan's ruling party to pass a pact to liberalize trade in services between the island and China.

這段視頻在網上大熱，凸顯出了大陸人和臺灣人的認知鴻溝。最近幾天，在臺北學生佔領立法院抗議臺灣執政黨通過兩岸服貿協議後，這段視頻重新被中國大陸社交媒體翻出來熱議。

By Monday afternoon, 'tea eggs' had soared to rank as the most-discussed topic on Sina Weibo , with Mr. Gao's 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 couldn't afford tea-flavored egg that generally cost less than 25 cents.

截至週一下午，“茶葉蛋”已經成爲新浪微博(Sina Weibo)上討論最熱烈的話題，該節目視頻的網上瀏覽次數已超過195,000次。多數人在評論中嘲笑了高志斌所謂大陸人吃不起茶葉蛋的觀點。中國大陸的人均收入大約爲7,500美元，而一顆茶葉蛋的價格通常不足25美分。

Mr. Gao couldn't 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.'

記者無法聯繫到高志斌置評，不過他在去年11月份接受採訪時重申了之前的感受。他稱，超過一半的中國農村人的確消費不起茶葉蛋。

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.

很多網民調侃高志斌，誇張地論說茶葉蛋對中國人的重要性，並假裝贊同高志斌的觀點，說茶葉蛋是多麼讓人夢寐以求的東西。

'It makes me think of when my mom quietly told me, 'You go get married, your father will take the private hoard of money he's saved for 20 years to buy you a single tea-pickled egg to be your dowry,' ' one user wrote sarcastically. ' 'That way, you won't be looked down on by your husband's family.' '

一位用戶不無諷刺地寫道：這不禁讓我想起來，媽媽偷偷地告訴我，“你去嫁人，你爸會把攢了20年的私房錢拿出來給你買個茶葉蛋，作爲你的嫁妝。這樣，你就不會被夫家的人看不起了”。

Others noted the disappearing discrepancy between Taiwan and China's levels of wealth.

其他人則指出臺灣和大陸財富水平之間的差距在不斷消失。

'Before, Taiwan people saw mainland Chinese people as their country-bumpkin relatives. They didn't think that someday they might become the nouveau riche. I guess the old saying, 'Now it's my time, in 30 years it'll be your time,' is true,' wrote another.

另外一位用戶寫道：過去，臺灣人把大陸人看成他們的鄉巴佬親戚。他們沒有想過有一天大陸人可能成爲暴發戶。我想老話“30年河東，30年河西”說的一點不假。

'If Taiwan's economy doesn't get better, in another 10 years, Taiwan and the mainland's divide will become even wider. Taiwan will have fewer resources and will be running out of time,' this person added.

這位用戶還寫道：如果臺灣經濟不出現好轉，再過10年，臺灣和大陸之間的差距會變得更大。臺灣的資源會更少，很快就到頭了。

Dozens of Taiwanese students--at times numbering as many as 1,000--have occupied the government's legislature since last week to protest the trade pact. According to Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou's 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 island's independent politics and economy.

數十名臺灣學生（有時多達1,000人）自上週起一直佔領着臺灣立法院，抗議臺灣和大陸之間的貿易協定。據臺灣總統馬英九(Ma Ying-jeou)的政府稱，該協定對促進臺灣和大陸之間的商貿往來很重要。不過，抗議者擔心，該交易將損害臺灣的小企業，破壞臺灣獨立的政治和經濟體系。

Some microbloggers quipped that the protesters urgency might really lie in a concern over gastronomy.

一些微博用戶調侃說，抗議的真正原因可能是對美食的擔憂。

'Taiwan students are worried that those mainland Chinese who can't afford tea eggs will flood Taiwan and compete with Taiwanese for tea-pickled eggs,' wrote another Weibo user. 'That's why they're demanding that the government reverse the trade pact.'

另外一位新浪微博用戶寫道：臺灣學生擔心買不起茶葉蛋的大陸人會涌入臺灣，與臺灣人搶茶葉蛋，所以他們要求政府取消貿易協定。