被冷落的方便面
🍂
Easy to make and cheap to buy, instant noodles have long been China's ultimate convenience food.
食用方便，又价格实惠，方便面早就成为了中国最便捷的食物。
Be it a snack for students, a meal on the train, or just the go-to choice for hungry workers, more than 42.2 billion packets were sold in China and Hong Kong in 2013.
无论是作为学生的零食，火车上的一餐还是饥饿的工人们的临时之选，据2013年统计，中国和香港总共卖出了四千二百二十万桶方便面。
But by 2016 those sales had tumbled to 38.5 billion packets, according to the World Instant Noodle Association. And let's face it, they would know.
That's a drop of almost 17%.
但到了2016年，根据世界方便面协会统计，销售额下降到了三千八百五十万桶。让我们面对现实吧，他们知道，整整下降了17个百分点！
So what's going on?
到底发生了什么呢？
Well here are some theories - which suggest instant noodles could be, in many ways, a great indicator of how China is changing.
我们有一些理论分析—它们意味着方便面很可能从很多方面可以作为中国的变化的指示器。
The recipe for instant noodles is fairly straight forward: Just add boiling water, a sachet of sauce, and some small packets of dehydrated vegetables and meat.
方便面的配方可以说简单明了：只要加入沸水，酱包和脱水蔬菜肉包就可以了。
As appetising as that sounds, one factor in the slump could well be that some Chinese consumers are upping their expectations in the dining department.
尽管听起来还挺开胃， 销售额下降的其中一个因素可能就是中国的消费者们对餐饮的期望值更高了。
"The decline of instant noodle sales shows a shift in China's consumption patterns," said Zhao Ping of the Academy of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade,"国际贸易促进会中国学术委员会的赵萍说，“方便面销售量的下降说明了中国人消费模式的变化。”
"Consumers are more interested in life quality than just filling their bellies these days."
“近年来，相比于填饱肚子，消费者们更加追求生活品质。”
🍂爱生活
One of the big consumers of instant noodles - the theory goes - are migrant workers.
方便面最大的一个消费群体—理论上说—是外出务工的工人。
And when you think about it, it makes sense.
仔细想想，也很有道理。
They are away from home, often living in cramped conditions with limited cooking facilities, and keen to save as much money as they can to send back to their families.
他们远离家乡，通常居住在狭小的没有做饭工具的地方，又急于省钱寄回家里。
Until 2014 the number of rural Chinese who had moved to cities had been on the rise.
直到2014年，中国从农村到城市打工的人数呈上升趋势。
But that trend has now reversed for two consecutive years (and is expected to keep doing so when the 2017 data comes out).
但这一趋势现在反而呈下降势态（到2017年数据出来时应该会持续下降）。
Last year 1.7 million fewer migrant workers lived in cities than in 2015, which quite plausibly could be eating into noodle sales.
去年，城市打工人数比2015年下降了一百七十万，这很可能也就影响到了方便面的销售。
In fact China's total was roughly the equivalent of Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, India, the US, South Korea and the Philippines combined.
实际上，中国的销售业绩差不多相当于印尼，日本，越南，印度， 美国，韩国和菲律宾加起来的总和。
And that means global noodle manufacturers are unlikely to turn away from the Chinese market.
也就是说全球的方便面制造商们不太可能会放弃中国市场。
Japan's instant noodle business Nissin Foods, for example, is planning a stock market flotation in Hong Kong.
日本的方便面商尼森食品，比如说，正计划将其股票在香港上市。
It hopes to raise about $145m (£108m).
它希望能筹到一亿四千五百万美元。（一亿零八百万英镑）
It is rare for a Japanese firm to list in Hong Kong, but Nissin is talking up its prospects in China, where it is already the fifth biggest brand.
日本公司很少会在香港发展，但尼森食品看好中国，它目前已经是排在第五位的品牌了。
"Some consumers stopped consuming instant noodles, but most consumers want to increase the quality (of food they consume)," chief executive Kiyotaka Ando said last week.
首席执行官安岛清贵说，“有些消费者不再买方便面，但大部分消费者都希望提升（他们所购买）食物的品质。”
"We can supply high-quality products so we have more possibility to develop our business."
“我们就可以提供这样高品质的产品，所以我们的生意将前景大好！”
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