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Finance & economics
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Kebab consumption
淄博烧烤消费
What a barbecue crazy says about China's economic growth prospects
烧烤热潮反映了中国经济增长的何种前景
Over the past few decades, the small, industrial city of Zibo has been best-known for its petrochemical output.
过去几十年里，淄博这个小型工业城市以其石油化工产出而闻名。
In recent months, however, it has become the centre of a national barbecue craze and social-media phenomenon unlike anything China has seen before.
然而，近几个月来，它已经成为一个前所未有的全国烧烤热潮和社交媒体现象的中心。
Tourists have flooded the city in the central province of Shandong in the hope of munching its mythical kebabs, posting videos on Douyin, the local version of TikTok, and then departing.
游客们涌入这座位于中部省份山东的城市，希望大嚼传说中的烤肉串，在抖音（中国本土版的TikTok）上发布视频，然后离开。
Arenas have been converted into makeshift dining halls in order to cope with the massed crowds.
市内各种场地已被改造成临时用餐区，以接待大量人群。
To ease constraints on the supplies of meat and grills, local banks have started handing out low-interest loans designed specifically for merchants in barbecue-related industries.
为了缓解肉类和烤具供应的限制，当地银行已经开始发放专门针对烧烤相关行业商户的低息贷款。
During the recent May Day holiday, one of the most important weeks of the year for domestic shopping and entertainment spending, the chemicals hub was listed as a top tourist destination alongside other popular places such as the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors.
在最近的五一假期期间，这个化工中心与长城、兵马俑等其他热门景点一起被列为首选旅游目的地。五一假期是一年中对国内购物和娱乐支出而言最重要的几个星期之一。
A widely shared internet meme jokes that the last time this many people showed up in the city was during the Siege of Qi, a famous battle that took place in the area in 284 BC.
一个被转发很多的网络迷因开玩笑说，上一次淄博有这么多人还是在公元前284年的五国伐齐。
This frenzied activity in Zibo should be helping China recover from its zero-covid era.
这一次的淄博热应该有助于中国从动态清零时代恢复过来。
Analysts have highlighted consumption as a bright spot in the Chinese economy this year amid a gloomier outlook for construction and manufacturing.
分析人士强调，在建筑业和制造业前景黯淡之际，消费是今年中国经济的一个亮点。
Indeed, at first glance activity during the recent holiday appears to be strong.
的确，最近五一假期的活动初看上去似乎很强劲。
The resumption in tourism has been stunning.
旅游业的复苏令人震惊。
A record 274m people travelled, up 19% from before the pandemic.
创纪录的2.74亿人出行，比疫情前增加了19%。
Yet other data reveal a more modest recovery -- only to levels last seen in 2019, before covid-19, and not beyond them.
然而，其他数据显示复苏实际上更温和，只是恢复到新冠肺炎之前的2019年的水平，而不是超过2019年。
Although more people travelled this year, spending per head was down by more than 10% against 2019, according to HSBC, a bank.
根据汇丰银行的数据，尽管今年出行的人数更多，但人均消费与2019年相比下降了10%以上。
As a consequence, domestic tourism revenues were up by a mere 0.7% on four years ago.
因此，国内旅游收入仅比四年前增长了0.7%。
“Chinese consumers are not back to normal,” warns the boss of an asset-management firm.
“中国消费者还没有恢复到常态水平。”一家资产管理公司的老板提醒道。
They are focused on food and fun, not big-ticket items like cars, he says.
他说，人们消费的主要是食物和娱乐，而不是像汽车这样的大件商品。
Auto sales were down 1.4% year on year in the first four months of 2023.
2023年前四个月的汽车销量同比下降了1.4%。
Young folk are going out of their way to spend less.
年轻人正在想方设法减少开支。
Since the end of zero-covid, many tourists have described themselves as “special-ops” travellers.
自从动态清零政策结束以来，许多游客将自己描述为“特种兵”游客。
This alludes to dropping into a location, spending as little time and money as possible, and then moving on to the next spot -- much as an elite military outfit might pass through a location unnoticed.
这种说法暗示的是到一个地方，待的时间尽可能短、花的钱尽可能少，然后转移到下一个地方，就像精英军事小组不被察觉地走过一个地方一样。
The activity has become something of a sport, where young people visit a list of popular places and check them off by posting pictures on social media.
这项活动已经成了一种运动，年轻人去参观一连串热门景点，然后在社交媒体上发布照片打卡。
Zibo’s kebabs have been one of the top items to tick off from the list.
淄博烧烤就成了打卡清单上最热门的项目之一。
It is not, though, just youthful frugality behind weak consumption figures.
然而，疲软的消费数据背后不仅仅是年轻人的节俭。
Urban disposable incomes barely grew, at least by Chinese standards, in the first three months of the year, up just 2.7% in real terms compared to the same period a year ago, notes Raymond Yeung of ANZ, a bank.
澳新银行的杨宇霆指出，今年前三个月城市居民可支配收入几乎没有增长，至少按照中国的标准是这样，与去年同期相比，实际增长仅为2.7%。
A fifth of youngsters are now out of work, double the rate in April 2019, he adds.
他补充说，现在有近五分之一的年轻人失业，是2019年4月的两倍。
Zibo kebabs are the perfect treat for a budget traveller.
对于低预算游客来说，淄博烧烤是完美的款待。
They are consumed at low tables with a small stove, heated by coal.
人们坐在低矮的桌子旁，用煤炭加热的小炉子吃烧烤。
When the fat starts to drip, the meat is scraped into a thin pancake and dipped first into a garlic and chilli paste and then into a salty mixture of sesame and peanut.
烤串开始滴油后，用薄煎饼把肉捋下来，包着肉的煎饼先蘸上大蒜和辣椒酱，然后再蘸上芝麻花生做的咸味酱。
A bottle of the city’s local beer, called Lulansha, comes to less than three yuan ($0.40).
一瓶名为绿兰莎的本地啤酒售价不到三元(合0.40美元)。
Four people can eat and drink for hours on less than 350 yuan.
四个人吃喝几个小时，花费不到350元。
The craze is about more than the simple food.
淄博烧烤热不仅仅是因为这种简单的食物。
One barbecue purveyor who has operated a shop for several years in the city’s Linzi district points out that anyone can sell chuan’r, as the dish is called locally.
一位在淄博市临淄区经营烧烤店多年的店主指出，谁都可以卖串儿（这是烧烤在当地的叫法）。
It is Shandong’s big-hearted hospitality that people across the country are seeking out in Zibo.
但全国各地人民来淄博，为的是山东的大方好客。
