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Durian is to fruit what truffles are to mushrooms: Pound for pound, the fruit has become one of the most expensive on the planet.
榴莲对于水果，就好比松露对于蘑菇：论磅计价，榴莲已成为全球价格最贵的水果之一。
Depending on the variety, a single durian can sell for anywhere between $10 to hundreds of dollars.
根据品种的不同，一个榴莲可以卖到10美元至几百美元之间。
But Chinese demand, which has pushed up prices fifteenfold over the past decade, has frustrated Southeast Asian consumers, who see durians morphing from a plentiful fruit growing in the wild and in village orchards to a luxury commodity earmarked for export.
但中国的需求在过去十年中使榴莲的价格上涨了15倍，这让东南亚消费者感到沮丧，他们看到榴莲从一种在野外和村庄果园中大量生长的水果，变成了一种专门用于出口的奢侈品。
Countries are exporting a fruit that is an integral part of their identities and cultures, especially in Malaysia, where it is a unifying national icon among its many ethnic groups.
各国正在出口的这种水果是其身份和文化中不可分割的一部分，特别是在马来西亚，榴莲是该国众多民族之间团结的国家象征。
“God gave us a desire for durian,” said Hishamuddin Rais, a Malaysian film director and political activist.
“上帝赋予了我们对榴莲的渴望。”马来西亚电影导演和政治活动家希沙姆丁·赖斯说。
Eating an entire durian, which for most people is too rich and filling to do alone, is often a social event in Southeast Asia.
对大多数人来说，吃一整个榴莲会让人感觉太腻、太撑，很难吃完，因此在东南亚，吃榴莲通常是一个社交活动。
The act of opening a durian, which requires a very sharp knife or machete, feels festive and brings friends together the way that sharing a bottle of fine wine does in other cultures.
要打开榴莲需要用一把非常锋利的刀或大砍刀，这让人感觉有节日气氛，并且能把朋友们聚集在一起，就像在其他文化中分享一瓶美酒也能让朋友聚集一样。
Mr. Hishamuddin pointed out that a traditional expression declares it a tragedy if a Malay person doesn’t like durian.
希沙姆丁指出，有一句老话说，如果一个马来西亚人不喜欢榴莲，那就是一场悲剧。
The fruit is even embedded in the country’s financial lexicon: The Malay word for a windfall is durian runtuh, a term that offers the joyous image of durians collapsing to the ground.
这种水果甚至已经融入了该国的金融词汇：马来语中表示意外之财的词是durian runtuh，这个词表示的是榴莲掉在地上的欢快景象。
The China surge is reshaping the durian supply chain.
中国的崛起正在重塑榴莲供应链。
It’s relatively easy to deliver the fruit in the back of a truck to regional destinations like Kuala Lumpur, Singapore or Bangkok.
用卡车把水果运到吉隆坡、新加坡或曼谷等地区性目的地相对容易。
But shipping it to Guangzhou, Beijing and beyond, especially when the fruit is ripe and most flavorful, can be perilous.
但将其运往广州、北京等其他地区，尤其是在果实成熟且味道最佳的时候，可能会很危险。
The fruit’s potent smell can resemble a gas leak.
榴莲的强烈气味闻起来像煤气泄漏。
One of many examples of durian-incited emergencies was in 2019, when a Boeing 767 passenger jet took off from Vancouver, British Columbia, with a shipment of durians in the cargo hold.
由榴莲引发了许多紧急事件，其中之一发生在2019年，当时一架波音767客机从不列颠哥伦比亚省温哥华起飞，货舱内装有一批榴莲。
According a report by Canadian regulators, the pilots and crew “noticed a strong odor throughout the aircraft” soon after takeoff.
根据加拿大监管机构的一份报告，飞行员和机组人员在起飞后不久“注意到整个飞机上有一股强烈的气味”。
Fearing a problem with the plane, the pilots strapped on their oxygen masks and told air traffic controllers that they needed to land urgently.
担心飞机出现问题，飞行员系上氧气面罩，并告诉空中交通管制员他们需要紧急降落。
Once on the ground, the durian was discovered as the culprit of the foul smell.
等到了地面，人们发现榴莲原来是恶臭的罪魁祸首。
Malaysia has tried to solve the transport problem by freezing the fruit before shipping.
马来西亚试图通过在运输前冷冻榴莲来解决运输问题。
One of the pioneers of the process was Anna Teo, a former flight attendant who noticed on her travels that durian was not available overseas.
开创这一流程的人物之一是安娜·特奥，她曾是一名空姐，在飞行中注意到榴莲在海外无法买到。
She quit her airline job and experimented with cryogenic freezing techniques in a rented warehouse, hauling her children to durian farms on weekends.
于是她辞去了航空公司的工作，在一个租来的仓库里试验低温冷冻技术，周末就带着孩子们去榴莲农场。
She found that freezing not only mitigated the fruit’s odor but also prolonged its shelf life.
她发现，冷冻不仅减轻了榴莲的气味，而且延长了其保质期。
Today, in a suburb of Kuala Lumpur, Ms. Teo oversees more than 200 employees at the company she founded, Hernan, which exports frozen durian as well as mochi and other durian products.
现在，在吉隆坡的一个郊区，特奥管理着她所创立的和南公司的200多名员工，该公司出口冷冻榴莲以及麻糬和其他榴莲产品。
