【2010.7.25 每日电讯报】龙年
【原文标题】Year of the dragon【中文标题】龙年
【登载媒体】http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ ... -of-the-dragon.html
【来源地址】http://bbs.m4.cn/thread-256668-1-1.html
【译 者】 长今兮虞
【翻译方式】 人工
【声 明】 本翻译供Anti-CNN使用，未经AC或译者许可，不得转载。
【译 文】
China’s new rich are on a shopping spree in Britain. Neil Tweedie explains what they’re snapping up .
By Neil Tweedie
Published: 9:56PM BST 25 Jul 2010
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01685/china1_1_1685302c.jpg
Far East to West End: China‘s big spenders have few qualms about flaunting their wealth, and have taken over from the Russians and the Arabs in the high-end bling market
远东到西方：中国有钱人对炫富几乎没有犹豫，在高端奢侈品市场代替了俄国人和阿拉伯人。
It doesn’t do nowadays to be an estate agent in the more fashionable parts of London with no working knowledge of feng shui. Understanding that the number four is unlucky in Chinese folklore and that a staircase sited directly behind the front door is similarly inauspicious – it means luck and prosperity will flow straight out of the house – can be the difference between closing or losing a sale.
现在如果没有风水知识就没法在英国的时尚地区做房产代理。了解四在中国文化中是个霉运的数字，知道梯子直接在前门的后面是不吉利的---意思是幸运和财富会直接从家里流出---知道不知道这些风水知识可以决定你能不能卖出房子。
“We had agreed the sale of a lovely house to a Chinese couple who were prepared to pay just over £4 million,” says Andy Buchanan, director of estate agents John D Wood & Co, Chelsea. “They sent the plans off to a feng shui master back home, who had advised their family on all previous purchases. The master, who was blind, was given the brochure and floorplans to handle and urged the couple not to buy the house. To our surprise, they pulled out of the deal without a moment’s hesitation.
“我们决定将一栋很好的房子买给一对中国夫妇，尽管他们只打算出£4 million多一点点的价”John D Wood & Co, Chelsea房产代理总管Andy Buchanan说，“他们请风水先生帮他们看这栋房子的风水，在此之前他们每次购买都会请这位风水先生给他们参谋。这位盲人风水先生看过手册和房子设计图以后强烈建议这对夫妻不要买这栋房子。让我们震惊的是，他们竟然毫不犹豫地决定不买这栋房。
“Chinese buyers won’t even agree to view a property which has the digit four in the address, is on the fourth floor, or has four bedrooms. This superstition runs so deep that sometimes one hesitates to send the brochure to the buying agent if the property has any connections with the number four.”
“中国的购买者甚至不会同意去看地址是四位数，或者在四层，或者有四个卧室的房子。这种迷信思想影响之大以至于有时当房子和四的有任何关系时连手册都不敢给买主看。”
The need for feng shui-friendly estate agents is the latest symptom of China’s worldwide spending spree, the effects of which are now being felt in Britain. Be it prime property in London, copper mines in Peru and Zambia or dairy farms in New Zealand, the Chinese want it. As Western economies stagnate or contract, that of China continues to grow its way to global pre-eminence at a rate of about nine per cent per year.
这种对懂得风水知识的房产代理的需求是中国日益扩大的全球影响力的最新象征，英国正在感受着这种强大的影响力。中国人想要英国最好的房产，秘鲁和赞比亚最好的铜矿以及新西兰最好的乳制品农场。现今西方经济停滞不前或者萎缩，而中国的经济持续以大概每年9%的速度增长，持续走向世界杰出水平。
Nowhere is China’s confidence seen more clearly than in its demand for luxury goods. Last year the People’s Republic overtook the United States to become the second biggest market for the luxury sector; and by 2015 it will have overtaken Japan, with a market projected to be worth £11 billion annually.
现在中国的信心已经比它对奢侈品的需求更加清晰了。去年中国取代了美国成为奢侈品领域的第二大市场，在2015年它会超过日本，拥有一个价值每年£11 billion的市场。
Beijing’s decision to let the yuan appreciate against Western currencies, together with purchase tax rates of 20 per cent or so on luxuries bought in China, has made the shopping expedition to London or Paris a practical proposition for the country’s expanding bourgeoisie. Stroll along Bond Street and there you will find them: mainland China’s new rich, successors to the Russians and Arabs in the market for high-end bling.
北京决定让人民币增值，同时在中国购买的奢侈品上收取20%左右的购买税率，从而使直接去英国和法国购物变成了中国扩张的中产阶级们实用的选择。漫步在邦德街上，你就会发现在高端产品市场中中国大陆的新生富人们代替了曾今的俄国人和阿拉伯人。
“Middle-class and affluent Chinese consumers have become the number one foreign buyers on London’s high streets, enjoying greater disposable income, a strong yuan and a weak pound,” says Ken Grant, managing director of FDKG, a consultancy specialising in advice on the Far Eastern luxury market. “Chinese high-net-worth consumers want to show they have money, and items like jewellery are a powerful means of doing so. Watches are a very popular gift in China, the most popular indicator of wealth for men, who still hold the purse strings.”
“中产阶级和富裕的中国消费者已经成为伦敦大街上外国消费者的第一名，享受着更高的税后收入，强大的人民币和变弱的英镑，”作为关于远东奢侈品市场的专业咨询师，FDKG的经理Ken Grant说，“中国的高消费者想要秀他们有钱，像珠宝这一类的物品是一种可以有力证明自己有钱的方式。手表在中国是一种很普遍的礼物，对男人来说是一种最流行的可以显示富有的证明物，他们依然拿着钱包串。”
A study by FDKG found that Chinese consumers now out-spend Russians in Mayfair shops.
一个FDKG的研究发现中国消费者在伦敦高级居住区商店里的花销超过了俄国人。
Most mainland Chinese money is new money, and new money is rarely subtle. Well-known luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Rolex and Burberry predominate on shopping lists, the items bought often intended as gifts for relations, friends and business associates, not to mention mistresses. Three quarters of luxury watches bought by the Chinese are presents, helping to maintain guanxi (one’s network of friends and contacts).
大多数中国大陆的钱是新钱，新钱很少是假的。像Louis Vuitton, Rolex 和Burberry等这些著名的奢侈品品牌的购物单绝大多数是给亲友以及商业合作者，情妇的礼物。中国人购买的奢侈表的四分之三是用于维持关系的礼物。
The number of shoppers visiting Britain from China can only grow. The country’s middle class is expected to reach 315 million by 2015, greater than
从中国旅游到英国的购买者数目只会增加。预计这个国家的中产阶级在2015年会达到315 million，比美国的人口数目还多。
the population of the United States. There are now 875,000 dollar millionaires in the communist paradise, sporting an average age of just 39. They own an average of three cars and 4.4 luxury watches, and suffer no qualms about flaunting their wealth.
在这个共产主义乐园中现在有875,000 dollar百万富翁，平均年龄为39岁。他们平均拥有三辆车和4.4个奢侈品手表，可以毫不犹豫地炫耀自己的财富。
The mainland Chinese influence is now being felt in the London property market. Earlier this year the Hong Kong-based billionaire Joseph Lau bought a house in Belgravia’s Eaton Square for £33 million. Mr Lau enjoys the finer things in life, owning some 10,000 bottles of wine and an Andy Warhol portrait of Chairman Mao bought for £12 million. Far Eastern investors like him see London as a safe place to park money and, always with an eye to a bargain, are currently responsible for a fifth of new-build purchases in the city centre.
中国大陆的影响波及到了伦敦房产市场。今年香港百万富翁Joseph Lau在贝尔塔莱维亚区的伊顿广场用 £33 million买下了一栋房子。刘先生在生活中喜欢享受更好的物品，他拥有大约1000瓶的葡萄酒和一幅价值 £12 million的Andy Warhol绘制的毛主席肖像画。像他这样的远东投资者认为伦敦是一个放置金钱很安全的地方。他们一直关注着交易市场，购买了位于城市中心的新建房产的五分之一的房子。
“2009 was the year of the Italians but this year the Asian buyers have pushed them out,” says Mr Buchanan. “It may well be currency that is playing a large part in the shift.”
“2009年是意大利年，可是亚洲消费者把意大利人挤出去了，”Buchanan先生说。“在这个变化中，货币扮演了很重要的角色。”
Chinese buyers often prefer properties near well-known landmarks or the Thames. The reason sometimes lies in a certain naivety. Mainland Chinese regard Britain through the lens of stereotypes, and tend to prefer purchases that conform to them.
中国购买者一般比较喜欢一些和著名纪念点或者泰晤士河附近的房子。而其原因有时是有点天真的。中国大陆人通过一些比较老套的有色眼镜去认识英国，同时倾向于购买那些可以证明他们理解的房产。
“I was once asked by a wealthy Chinese contact to advise him on buying a castle,” says Mr Grant. “It didn’t matter where – England to him was full of castles and that was where one lived. I had to explain that castles cost an awful lot to run, which was why most people didn’t live in them.
“我曾今问过一个富有的中国人，尝试着对买城堡的事给他一些建议，”Grant先生说。“不论是哪儿--英国在他的眼中应该是有很多城堡的，而且人们都应该住在城堡里。我只好向他解释住城堡会有可怕的耗费，所以大多数人都不住在城堡里面。”
“The UK, to mainland Chinese, really means London – there isn’t much concept of the rest of the country. But they like Britishness and we sometimes miss a trick in not promoting a traditional view of the UK in China in the way that the Italians, say, do for their country.”
“英国，对于中国大陆人，实际上等同于伦敦--他们对这个国家的其他地区没有多少概念。但是他们喜欢英国，我们有时没击中靶心，在中国没有像意大利为自己的国家那样推动宣传队英国的传统认识。
The eccentricity of Chinese buying habits takes other forms. Fine wine may be a status symbol in the high-end restaurants of Shanghai but many locals are not so enamoured of the actual taste.
中国购买者的反常习惯有其他的形式。好的葡萄酒在上海的高级餐厅是身份的象征，但是很多当地人其实并不喜欢它的味道。
“The Chinese used to water down the cheap wine they first encountered and now consider that the normal way to drink it,” says Mr Grant. “Which can be a bit of a shame when you’ve just opened a nice Margaux.”
“中国人经常会给他们第一次接触的廉价葡萄酒加水，但是现在认为这是喝葡萄酒的正常方法，”Grant先生说。“这种行为会是打开一瓶上等马尔戈红葡萄酒后的很丢人的事。”
That will change, of course, as the elite of the world’s new hyperpower get used to the trappings of wealth. In the meantime, the British would be well advised to play up to those stereotypes.
当然，这种状况会变的，世界新的超级强国的精英人士会习惯于炫富。同时，英国被建议扮演那些老套的原型。
“We were selling a charming mews house for an elderly lady who had lived there for decades, and the house hadn’t been modernised at all,” says Mr Buchanan. “A Chinese mainland buyer looked round it and immediately offered a price which was considerably above the guide price, on the condition that the owner would leave all her trinkets, pictures, rugs, furniture and doilies and teaspoon collection, when she moved out.
“我们曾给一个老太太卖她居住几十年的房子，那间房子没有任何现代化装饰。”Buchanan先生说。“一个中国大陆购买者参观了一圈后立即给了一笔高于建议价格的客观的数字去买这栋房，而条件是房主可以留下她所有的装饰品，画，地毯，家具和装饰垫布以及茶匙收藏品。”
“His translator explained that he wanted 'authentic quintessential England’, and was willing to pay over the odds to get the complete package. He was disappointed when we explained that the contents would not be included in the sale as they were the owner’s personal treasures. He still paid over the guide, though.”
“他的翻译解释说他想要“真正的英国精髓”，为了得到完整的感觉他愿意同时购买那些杂物。当我们说那些物品时房主的私人物品不出售时，他非常失望。但他还是出了比建议价高的价钱。” 有钱人会更有钱，没钱的人会更穷。 加的那个dollar指的是“以美元计算的百万富翁”。 地址是四位数? the digit four in the address是指数字4吗？
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