【雙語美文】傾國傾城的紅茶丨Long history of the blackened leaves
來源：中國日報網 作者：葉軍 整理：福建啟航翻譯公司
現在很多人都喜歡紅茶，沖泡之后，湯色紅潤、香氣怡人。可你知道嗎，過去兩百年中，在這些紅色的葉片背后有多少歷險、多少陰謀，甚至兩個帝國的興衰為之左右？
What Westerners call black tea is red tea for the Chinese. Although the color of the tea looks black, the leaves and soup after brewing look red.
西方人所說的black tea其實中國人叫紅茶。中西思維不同，紅茶干茶的顏色雖然是黑的，湯色和沖泡后的葉底卻是紅色的。
The Chinese side of the story about the invention of the first black tea, lapsang souchong, started in Tongmuguan, Fujian province’s city of Wuyishan. The birth of the tea, the first to reach the Western world from Fujian, originated from an accident.
中國最早的紅茶當屬福建武夷山桐木關出產的正山小種。正山小種是最早到達西方的茶，可它的起源純屬意外。
據說，明末年間，有一隊清軍人馬在桐木關一家茶農家借宿。其中有的士兵當晚就睡在原本要做綠茶的茶青上了。軍隊離開之后，焦急的茶農把已經萎凋紅變的茶葉炒制，并用松枝加溫烘干。沒想到這個茶沖泡之后，湯色明亮紅潤，具有松煙的香氣和桂圓的味道。
To the tea farmer’s surprise, the unintended taste and flavor became a hit in the market, and the whole area started to make the tea to satisfy market demand.
意想不到的事情發生了，此茶上市之后，居然大受歡迎。不久之后，整個桐木關地區都開始制作此茶，以滿足市場需求。
Around the end of the 16th century and the start of the 17th century, Dutch businesspeople took tea to Europe. Catherine of Braganza, when she married British King Charles II in 1662, took the tea drinking habit from Portugal to the British court.
16世紀末到17世紀初，荷蘭商人將茶帶到歐洲。葡萄牙公主凱瑟琳在嫁給了英國國王查爾斯二世的時候，將飲茶的習慣帶到了英廷。
滇紅
It was hard to say if residents in the United Kingdom had the choice of drinking green tea, because it is said that after long sea transportation, green tea from China naturally fermented into black tea.
很難說當時英國人是不是能選擇喝綠茶。因為有一種很常見的說法是當時，長時間的海運之后，中國運過去的綠茶都自然發酵變成紅茶了。
At the time British people still didn’t know that black tea and green tea are made from the same leaves, so Scottish botanist Robert Fortune (1812-1880) met with disbelief when he pointed out that only a different processing method made black tea and green tea different.
那個年代，英國人還不知道紅茶和綠茶其實都由綠色茶葉制成。以至于當蘇格蘭植物學家羅伯特.福瓊提出，紅茶和綠茶的區別僅僅是工藝不同，原料都是綠色茶葉的時候，他備受質疑。
Fortune was sent by the British East India Co to steal tea from China. He took more than 20,000 tea plants and seedlings to the Darjeeling region of India in 1851. Although most of the tea plants he introduced to India are said to have died, trained Chinese tea workers he took there are believed to have equipped the country with the necessary technology and knowledge for tea making.
福瓊接受英國東印度公司的派遣，進入中國偷茶。1851年，他從中國偷運出兩萬個發芽種子和茶樹苗，帶到印度的大吉嶺地區試種。雖說大多數茶苗沒有成活，他帶到印度去的有經驗的中國茶葉制作工人為發展印度茶行業提供了充分的制作技術和知識。
That was between the First Opium War (1839-1842) and the Second Opium War (1856-60), caused by the East India Company’s introduction of opium to China, as an attempt to make up for the trade deficit caused by huge tea import from China.
福瓊進入中國的時間正是第一次鴉片戰爭（1839-1842）和第二次鴉片戰爭（1856-60）之間。而鴉片戰爭的起源正是因為東印度公司為了消減進口中國茶葉帶來的巨大貿易逆差，向中國輸出了鴉片。
Tea was not widely consumed in Britain until the 18th century. The price of tea in Europe fell steadily during the 19th century, especially after Indian tea began to arrive in large quantities, as the British attempt to establish a tea industry in India paid off. Residents of the UK and in the West formed the habit of drinking black tea with sugar and milk.
茶葉在18世紀才在英國被廣泛飲用。19世紀的時候，茶葉價格不斷下降，特別是當印度茶大批量上市之后。英國在印度建立茶產業的目的達到了。英國和西方飲茶者逐漸養成了喝紅茶放糖和奶的飲用習慣。
Although China’s green tea production and exportation is the highest in the world, its tea export still ranks lower than that of Kenya and Sri Lanka. Tea exports have been difficult, both because of the growing high cost of making tea and strict safety standards in other countries.
雖然中國的綠茶產量和出口量都是世界最大的。在這個紅茶消費占主導的世界，中國茶出口仍然落后于肯尼亞和斯里蘭卡。出口增加很困難，主要是因為制茶成本提高，以及國外茶葉檢測標準特別嚴格。
At the same time, Chinese still mainly consume green teas. In 2015, green tea took up 53 percent of China’s market share, shows data from the China Tea Marketing Association. Black tea sales were estimated to account for 9 percent, ranking third, after oolong, which took up 12 percent of market sales.
同時，據中國茶葉流通協會的數據，中國人仍以喝綠茶為主。2015年，綠茶銷量占國內市場的53%，紅茶銷售占9%，位居第三。第二是烏龍茶，占12%。
斯里蘭卡錫蘭紅茶
Black tea consumption has been rising in China in the recent years. People consider black tea healthy, because it is warming to the stomach and is believed to lower blood sugar and blood fat.
中國的紅茶銷量近年來一直在增長。人們認為紅茶有溫胃的作用，而且能降血糖和血脂。
Jinjunmei, a golden-colored black tea made with early spring teas from Tongmuguan of Wuyi Mountain, has been popular over the years for its honey flavor, mellow, fruity and flowery taste.
過去10年在中國紅茶市場最風靡的是金駿眉，用武夷山桐木關的春茶制作。茶湯溫和圓潤，花香蜜香濃郁。
Traditional black teas, such as keemum, Fujian’s Tanyang congou, and Bailin congou, which went on hot sales overseas in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), are recovering their tradition, and looking for a comeback to the market.
其它的中國傳統紅茶，如安徽祁門紅茶，福建的坦洋功夫和白琳功夫茶，在清朝都有海外熱銷的光輝歷史。而現在，它們都在尋求東山再起。
祁門紅茶
China’s tea importation has also been rising. Young Chinese people are interested in tasting Indian Darjeeling, Sri Lankan Ceylon teas and trying milk tea made with black tea.
中國的茶葉進口也在上升，以東南亞紅茶為主。中國的年輕人對印度的大吉嶺、斯里蘭卡的錫蘭紅茶都樂于嘗試。他們喜歡喝用這些紅茶制作的奶茶。
China exports most of its best agricultural products, with the exception of tea, the best of which are mainly sold domestically, said Wang Qing, deputy director of the China Tea Marketing Association.
據中國茶葉流通協會副會長王慶說，中國大多數最高品質的農產品都出口了。只有一個例外，就是茶。最好的茶以國內銷售為主。
Luckily for the Chinese, despite the West’s attempt to steal teas from China, the country seems to have managed to keep the best for itself.
近兩百年的紅茶博弈之后，對于中國人來說，幸運的是，雖然西方試圖從中國偷茶，最好的茶還是在中國。
作者葉軍，中國日報生活方式資深編輯
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傾國傾城的紅茶丨Long history of the blackened leaves
