回国到底送什么？（双语）

 

    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。 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.

    第一次从美国飞回中国，乔治•包觉得自己好像一个富翁。 George Bao felt like a rich man the first time he flew back to China from America.

    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。 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。 As for what the gifts were, the memory makes him laugh. He had brought secondhand clothes scavenged from yard sales.

    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。” "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."

    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。 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.

    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。 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.