中國辣條正在邁出國門,走向世界

Forget about steamed buns and smelly tofu, and meet the hot new Chinese snack -- latiao! The spicy sticks that are enjoying their fifteen minutes of fame on the global palate.

忘記饅頭和臭豆腐吧，來看看最新流行的中國小吃--辣條！這種辛辣的小吃正在享受在全世界大出風頭的快感。

The cheap "delicacy" is made from gluten, the stuff that makes bread dough chewy. The stick of protein is spicy and is commonly sold at roadside stands.

這種廉價的“美味”是由麪筋做的--它可以使麪包嚼起來更筋道。這種蛋白質棒非常辣，在路邊攤都可以買到。

The snack leapt to national and international fame recently when an overseas Chinese student posted a picture of his foreign classmates "enjoying" the snack online.

最近，一名海外留學生在網上貼出了他的外國同學非常“享受”辣條的視頻，使得這個零食躍入了國內外的視線，名聲大噪。

The latiao fervor came one month after it caught the attention of a British film crew, and in February, the BBC aired a three-part documentary on Chinese New Year celebrations in which the two presenters were seen roaming a typical Chinese snack street, latiao in hand.

辣條還引起了英國電影攝製組的注意。二月份，BBC播出了三集紀錄片《中國新年》，片中兩位主持人手裏拿着辣條，在中國一個典型的小吃街閒逛。一個月之後，辣條熱開始興起。

A still from the documentary, also posted on WeChat, fueled a sense of online patriotism, with many shocked -- horrified, even -- that foreigners would go nuts over the humble latiao, which costs as little as 0.5 yuan (8 U.S. cents). #Latiaomostpopularsnack became one of the "most-trending" on microblog Sina Weibo.

該紀錄片的劇照也被轉發到了微信，激發了網友們的愛國主義情懷，許多人驚呆了，甚至感到震撼。外國人也會對中國這麼不起眼的辣條發狂，要知道這東西售價才0.5元（8美分）。“最受歡迎的零食辣條”也成爲了新浪微博的“熱門話題”。

Of the top ten "Chinese snacks" on eBay, four items are latiao in different packagings, with prices ranging from 10.33 dollars to 25 dollars. Searching "Chinese snacks" on , latiao is the first item to pop up, with each packet priced at 12.99 dollars.

在易趣網上排名前十的“中國零食”中，有4項都是不同包裝的辣條，價格從10.33美元到25美元不等。而在亞馬遜上搜索“中國零食”，彈出的第一項結果就是辣條，每包售價12.99美元。

Liu, a Chinese student studying in New York, said latiao was a favorite snack since he was a child, but after arriving in the United States, he had to buy it on the Internet. "As time goes by, more of my classmates are beginning to enjoy the snack," Liu said.

在美國留學的小劉表示，辣條是他小時候非常喜愛的零食，但自從他到了美國，就只能從網上買到了。他說，“隨着時間推移，我的很多同學們也開始喜歡上了辣條。”

Not everyone is pleased to see latiao in the international spotlight, as the snack is often produced in unhygienic circumstances. A story about latiao being made in dirty workshops in Henan generated headlines recently. Many have complained about diarrhea and stomachache after eating the snack.

不過對於辣條走向國際化，並不是每個人都很樂於看到的。因爲作爲一種零食，它的生產場所往往不衛生。最近，河南一家辣條作坊骯髒的製作場所成了新聞頭條。許多人都投訴吃過辣條後腹瀉、胃痛。

Xu Zichen, the Luhe food inspection official, said the local government has closed many unqualified latiao makers or upgraded their facilities to guarantee food safety.

六合食品檢測官員徐子晨表示，當地政府已經關閉了很多不合格的辣條生產廠商，或者升級他們的設備以保證食品安全。