Travel in Chinese Lesson 75 Lijang Food

同事：来到丽江，一定要尝尝丽江的特色小吃。这个地方的小吃就不错，保证让你们满意而归。

雪梅：丽江小吃？太好了，咱们走吧。

人豪：你是在这儿出生的吗？

同事：不是，不过我很小的时候就到这儿来了。

人豪：那你应该算是“丽江通”了。

同事：不敢当！你们想吃什么？

雪：我想吃丽江耙耙，这一定是丽江的特产。

同事：你刚到丽江，知道的还挺多的嘛。不过，我们一般都把它当早饭吃。

人豪：除了这个，丽江还有什么特色菜你给推荐推荐？

同事：这家饭馆是丽江特色餐馆，凡是菜谱上的菜都是丽江的特色菜。

像这个鸡豌豆粉、乳饼什么的，都挺好吃。

同事：服务员，点菜。

雪梅：真好看，这是哪个民族的服装？

服务员：这是纳西族妇女的服饰。

雪梅：你为什么还戴着围裙呢？

服务员：哦，这不是围裙，是我们纳西族服装的一部分。

同事：对，而且这些围裙大多是黑色、蓝色和白色的。

人豪：我听说纳西族的女人非常能干。

同事：还真是这样。这儿的女人格外能干。你猜猜，她们衣服的后面是什么？

雪梅：那是一块披肩。

同事：对，这七个圆形的图案，你们看像什么？

人豪：还真看不出来。

同事：那是七颗星，而她的头饰代表的则是月亮。

雪梅：听起来就很有意思。

同事：不仅是图案有意思。不同的颜色也有不同的含义。

人豪：哦，是吗？

同事：你们看，这披肩上白色的代表天，黑色的是地，这种披肩和头饰合在一起被称作“披星戴月”。

雪：“披星戴月”？这表示…….

服务员：它表示纳西族女人每天早出晚归，劳动很辛苦。

同事：所以这套衣服也可以看作是纳西族女人辛勤劳动的象征。

雪梅：原来是这样。

同事：菜都凉了，我们先别聊了，赶快吃。吃完我带你们去四方街看看。
 

Translation:

College: Now that you ’re in Lijiang, you have to try Lijiang snacks. This place has nice snacks, you’ll love it.

Xuemei: Please.

Renhao: Were you born here?

College: No，but I’ve lived here for a very long time.

Renhao: So you must be a“Lijiang expert”.

College: What would you like to eat?

Xuemei: I want to eat Lijiang baba flatbread. That must be a Lijiang specialty.

College: You know a lot for someone who’s just arrived in Lijiang. But we usually eat that for breakfast.

Renhao: What other Lijiang specialties can you recommend?

College: This restaurant serves only Lijiang specialties，everything on the menu is unique to Lijiang. Like this chickpea jelly salad and goat milk cake，they’re all delicious.

College: Waiter, we’d like to order.

Xuemei: What sort of folk costume is this?

Waiter: It’s the costume of the Naxi women.

Xuemei: Why are they wearing aprons?

Waiter: Oh, that’s not an apron. It’s part of the Naxi folk costume.

College: They’re mostly black, white and blue.

And the colors are different before and after marriage.

Renhao: I’ve heard that the women of Naxi are very capable.

College: That’s true. The women here are very capable. Guess what’s on the back of their clothes?

Xuemei: It’s a pattern with seven cicles.

College: Right, what do you think this pattern with seven circles is supposed to look like?

Renhao: I can’t really tell.

College: It’s seven stars, while her headdress symbolizes the moon.

Xuemei: That’s fascinating.

College: Not only are the patterns interesting, but the different colours have meanings too.

Renhao: Oh really?

College: Look，the white on this shawl represents heaven, and the black represents earth. The shawl and the headdress together are called“wearing the moon and stars”.

Xuemei: What does that mean?

Waiter: It symbolizes the fact that Naxi women work very hard, they leave the home early in the morning and only return late at night.

College: So the costume is a symbol of the hardworking Naxi women.

Xuemei: Oh right.

College: Come on! Let’s eat, then I’ll take you to Sifang Jie.
 

Bookmarks

1) 大多 for the most part

例）中国北方的天气大多都比较干燥。

The weather in northern China for the most part is relatively dry.

例）酒店的服务员大多都会说英语。

Most of the staff in the hotel can speak English.

2) 格外 exceptionally

例）你穿这件红衣服格外好看。

You look exceptionally good in that red outfit.

例）今天格外冷，你得多穿点儿衣服。

It’s exceptionally cold today. You have to wear a little bit more.

Sign Posts

The Naxi Ethnic Group

With a population of about 300000, the Naxi Ethnic Group mainly live in Lijiang, with the rest being scattered throughout Yunnan Province as well as in Sichuan and Tibet.

The Naxi language is traditionally written in a unique pictographic script called the Dongba script, created more than 1,000 years ago. These complicated pictographs are unique, and quite distinct from Chinese pictographs. The script is highly regarded for its anthropological value, as it is considered to be a living fossil of early pictographic writing styles. Many characters do seem to bear a resemblance to what we would consider typical cave drawings. Due to frequent economic and cultural exchanges with the Han people since the Yuan and Ming dynasties, Naxi people have gradually adopted Chinese as their main means of communication, as well as developed an alphabetic script for their own language.

Their traditional music is also considered a living fossil. One particular style known as Dongjing Music is a type of Taoist music which was introduced to Yunnan from the central regions of China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Deeply rooted and widely spread among the Naxi people, Dongjing Music is today one of the most well-preserved traditional musical forms in all of China. Another style known as Baisha is one of ancient China's few large-scale, classical orchestral forms of music. It is said that this music dates from the Yuan dynasty. The early Yuan emperor Kublai Khan reportedly left half of his band and many musical scores as a gift to the Naxi people in appreciation for the help they had given him while crossing a treacherous river.

Traditionally, the Naxi believed in the Dongba religion, which is a form of Shamanism, and also in Lamaism. Sorcerers, called "Dongba," are invited to chant scriptures at weddings, funerals, and New Year Day and other festivals.

Naxi women wear wide-sleeved loose gowns, with jackets and long trousers, tied with richly decorated belts at the waist. They often wear sheepskin slung over the shoulder, on which are seven stars exquisitely embroidered, with sun and moon symbols, one on each side. This reflects the Naxis' admiration for diligence -- "people start working early in the morning and do not stop until late in the evening." Men's garments are similar to those of the Han people. In certain parts of Naxi society, women formed the main work force and a matriarchal family structure was dominant, with the woman considered head of the family.

This is a unique and fascinating ethnic minority in China, centred in the area of Lijiang.

Substitution and Extension

1）凡是……都 whatever is this, is also that

例）凡是和京剧有关的东西他都喜欢。

He likes everything to do with Peking Opera.

例）凡是中国的电影他都爱看。

He loves to watch any Chinese movie.

2）是……的象征 a symbol of

例）天安门是北京的象征。

Tian’anmen is a symbol of Beijing.

例）龙是中国的象征。

Dragon is a symbol of China.