“年”字號飄紅 今年情人節低調浪漫
[ 2007-02-14 09:44 ]
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春節、情人節PK，春節明顯占上風。今天是西方的情人節，只因一不小心趕在春節前4天，于是乎，今年的情人節少了幾絲玫瑰浪漫的柔情，卻多了幾把春節紅火的熱情。對遠離家鄉的情侶而言，為了“趕”春節，為了能與父母團聚共度“土節”，他/她們只能忍痛暫舍另一半，與洋節說“再見”。 |
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Valentine's Day is for lovers' unions and the Chinese New Year for
family reunions.
But when the two come around the same time, it can be a headache and a
heartache as Miranda Li can testify.
The young office executive is distraught because her boyfriend left for this
weekend's family reunion yesterday, on the eve of Valentine's Day.
Despite her tears, he had to catch the train back home, leaving his
girlfriend all alone in Beijing. The reason: It would have been impossible to
get a train ticket any later if he has to be home for New Year's eve on
Saturday.
Li's plight illustrates how Valentine's Day, which has been becoming
increasingly popular among Chinese in the past decade, has been subdued by the
traditional Chinese New Year.
Roses, for example, are affordable. They were sold at 5-8 yuan ($0.64-1.03)
each yesterday in Beijing, almost the same as their usual price but a quarter of
the price for last year's Valentine's Day.
Hotels have plenty of rooms. Sources at www.ctrip.com, one of the largest
hotel-booking websites in China, said that hotels are offering discounts for lovers staying overnight, but most
hotel rooms in downtown Beijing are not booked yet. Last year there were many
more bookings, an assistant said.
Restaurants offering a romantic ambience are suffering. A manager surnamed
Wang at a popular Yunnan restaurant in Beijing's nightlife centre Sanlitun said
that only fewer than half of the tables had been booked by last night. Last
year, all the tables were booked, he said.
The lack of a mood for love can be attributed mainly to a busy schedule prior
to the Chinese New Year. People are leaving for hometowns, visiting business
partners, cleaning houses and booking family dinners and can spare little time
for a Western festival.
（China Daily）
Vocabulary:
distraught：極其煩惱的
discount：打折、折扣
（英語點津陳蓓編輯） |
