What gifts to bring to China?

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海外游子(overseas)衣锦还乡，探亲访友送礼时最大的尴尬事是什么？当然是遭遇“中国制造”！如今，中国已成为“世界工厂”，这对海外华人造成的最大困扰就是送礼难。家电服饰早已不是什么稀罕货，而大牌奢侈品又价格高昂。“中国制造”更是成为归国送礼的禁忌。真是“送礼难，难于上青天”！

辞海拾贝

abundantly 丰富地，大量地

anthropology 人类学

backwater 闭塞的地方

ritual 例行公事, 老规矩

scavenge 搜寻

yard sale 现场出售，院子买卖
   
When Chinese Americans visit family and friends in their homeland, gifts from the U.S. are a must. But TVs and fashionable clothes aren`t rare anymore, and anything `Made in China` won`t do.
当美籍华人回老家探访亲友的时候，一定得从美国带礼物。但是如今电视机以及时髦服装已不再是什么稀罕货，而那些印着“中国制造”的礼品也无法拿出手。
George Bao felt like a rich man the first time he flew back to China from America.
第一次从美国飞回中国，乔治•包觉得自己好像一个富翁。

He had so many gifts for his family and friends, he was lugging eight cardboard boxes in addition to his suitcase. That was in the 1980s, when flights weren`t crowded. The airline didn`t even charge him for the extra luggage.
他给家人和朋友们带了很多礼物，除了自己的手提箱外，他装满了整整八个纸箱。那时正处于20世纪80年代，航班上人不多。航空公司甚至都没有收取他超重的那部分行李费。

As for what the gifts were, the memory makes him laugh. He had brought secondhand clothes scavenged from yard sales.
他回忆当时带的礼物不禁大笑起来。那都是在当地的旧货市场中淘到的二手衣物。

"My father was so happy," said Bao, who watched the elderly farmer put on his first Western suit, beaming even though it didn`t fit well. "China had nothing back then. Anything I brought back from the States was considered special."
乔治•包说：“我父亲特别高兴。”当了一辈子农民的老人第一次穿上了西服，虽然并不是很合身，但仍眉开眼笑。“过去那个时候，中国十分清贫。我从美国带回来的每一件物品都被认为是独一无二的。”

Times have changed. Living standards in China have risen fast — especially in the wealthier coastal areas. Hand-me-downs from the U.S. will no longer do.
时过境迁。中国的生活水平已大大提高——特别是富饶的沿海地区。回国探亲的人们已不再去买一些二手旧物。

And now that China has transformed itself from backwater to manufacturing powerhouse, it`s not so much what the gift is but where it comes from that matters, said Bao.
乔治•包表示，中国已经从一个落后国家转变为世界工厂，礼物是什么已不重要，重要的是它的产地。

"They may not all speak English, but everyone in China recognizes those three words," he said. "When they see the label `Made in China,` they will think, `How come you gave me this?` "
“他们不一定都会说英语，但人人都知道那３个英文单词。当看到‘Made in China’的标签时，他们就会想，‘你怎么送我这种东西？’”

These days, in other words, buying gifts to take to China is a major headache for Chinese Americans.
也就是说，如今买什么礼物带到中国去，已成为令美籍华人头疼的事情。

"It really does consume people when they make preparations to go back to China," said Clayton Dube, associate director of the U.S.-China Institute at USC.
“每次准备回国，都让人伤透脑筋。”南加州大学美中学院副主任克来顿•杜布如是说。

Like many visitors to China in the 1980s, Dube knew just what to get his in-laws. He bought a Japanese color TV in Hong Kong and lugged it on and off trains and buses to their home in mainland China. Back then, televisions, refrigerators and washing machines were luxury items. Few Chinese families could afford them.
上世纪８０年代，与那时回国探亲的许多人一样，杜布很清楚该给太太家的亲戚带些什么。他在香港买了一台日本产的彩电，然后一路坐火车、汽车，把它运到中国大陆。那时候，电视机、冰箱和洗衣机都属于奢侈品，在中国很少有人能买得起。

Now all manner of electronics are abundantly available in China, but giving remains important.
现在，尽管中国的家用电器种类繁多且产量可观，但送礼依旧很重要。

"People can`t imagine going back to China without bringing something," said Dube. "The gift is part of the ritual."
杜布说：“人们无法想象空手回国的场景，带礼物已成为一种习惯。”

Yunxiang Yan is an anthropology professor from UCLA who has written extensively about gift-giving in Chinese culture. But even for him, figuring out what to take has become so overwhelming that he now chooses not to give any gifts.
加州大学洛杉矶分校的人类学教授严云翔（音译），曾写了大量有关中国送礼文化的文章。但即便是他，有时也不知道该送些什么，所以他现在干脆不带任何礼物。"

One reason I don`t give gifts is because I go back so frequently, a couple of times a year," said Yan. "We are living in a shrinking global village with increased communication and traveling. Now, going to China is like visiting a next-door neighbor who lives a similar lifestyle. So there is no more need."
严云翔说：“我之所以不带礼物，是因为如今一年要回国好几次。我们生活在一个日渐缩小的地球村中，通讯发达，旅行频繁。现如今，到中国去就像拜访一位跟你有着相同生活方式的邻居一样。所以也就没有送礼的必要了。”

catfelix

And now that China has transformed itself from backwater to manufacturing powerhouse, it`s not so much what the gift is but where it comes from that matters.