There are 21,600 reporters covering the Olympic Games, the vast majority from outside China, and a lot of them will be going home with a nasty taste in their mouths.
Al Himmer and Erik Kirschbaum blogged about their experience of crash-dieting during the Olympics, with most of the venues offering only cookies and bananas for reporters putting in 10 or 12 or 14 hours covering a sport.
Inside the Main Press Centre, there is plenty of food to be had. It’s not going to win any gourmet awards but the turkey on whole wheat is just fine and it’s hard to go wrong with a salad bar.
Sadly, it’s the Chinese food that is the real letdown.
Beijing is a city in which any given alley offers everything from noodle soups to savoury pancakes to fresh hot soy milk, and it is difficult to forgive Olympic caterers for reducing a culinary culture so rich and varied to a mushy blandness.
For those of us who live in Beijing, this dietary disaster is only a temporary privation — in a couple of days the Games will be over and we can once again eat three meals a day from three different regions of China if we so chose.
But it’s my colleagues from out of town who I feel sorry for. After several weeks in Beijing, many have had no chance to experience the pleasant surprise of biting into a soup-filled dumpling. They have not slurped the cilantro-spiced broth of a bowl of beef noodles or felt their tongues go numb from Sichuan peppers.
What a pity if they return home thinking chow mein and fried rice are the real deal.
【译文】
报道奥运的记者有21600人，大多数来自国外，而他们中许多人恐怕要带着坏胃口回到各自的家。
Al Himmer和Erik Kirschbaum在博客里记录下他们奥运期间糟糕的用餐经历，大多数场馆只提供曲奇饼和香蕉，而记者需要为报道工作10或12或14个小时。
主 新闻中心里提供很多食物，不过也得不到美食家的好评，除了火鸡火腿三明治和自助沙拉还行。
伤心的是那里提供的中国食物实在令人沮丧。
在北京这座城市里，遍布大街小巷的饮食店都能提供汤面、咸烧饼和滚烫的鲜豆浆。真不能原谅奥运膳食提供方将如此丰富多样的饮食文化硬生生折腾得平淡无味。
对于我们这些住在北京的人来说，这个饮食灾难只是暂时的困难，几天之后奥运就将结束，我们就能再次过上一日三餐的正常生活，只要我们愿意，每餐都能选择不同的地区口味。
但我真为国外来的同行们感到抱歉。在北京的几周里很多人还没机会体验咬一口汁水满满的小笼包（注：或馄饨或饺子）那种惊喜感，也不能为一碗加了香菜的牛肉拉面啧啧赞叹，更别提四川辣椒带来的舌头发麻感。
如果他们觉得炒面和炒饭就是中国的正餐而就此回家的话着实是个遗憾。
【读者评论】
August 22nd, 2008 3:41 pm GMT
It is always the same at these big events.
I remember at the World Cup in France in 1998 eating the most awful frozen ‘Croque Monsieur’ sandwiches. Mass catering isn’t easy to get right but it is a pity to miss out on the real local cuisine. - Posted by Simon Evans
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大型赛事的状况差不多都是这样。我记得1998年法国世界杯召开时最难吃的冷冻法式三明治。大众饮食并不容易得到满足不过错过真正的当地美食确实挺遗憾的。
August 22nd, 2008 3:43 pm GMT
I like food - Posted by jim
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我爱美食。
August 22nd, 2008 4:06 pm GMT
Can’t you guys simply go to local restaurants instead of eating the stadium food? - Posted by fsc
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为什么你们不干脆去当地的餐馆吃饭，非要吃各个场馆的食物？
【截图】 | 
狗仔卡
发表于 2008-8-23 01:58
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只能说这些记者太轴了，就算是不开奥运会，平时里体育场馆的饭菜也不能当作真正餐馆的饭菜来吃。想吃好的难道不能抽空去饭馆吃么？北京那么多菜系的饭馆，真不知道这帮记者的眼睛怎么长的。要骂人了！
