“I’m more Chinese than you are!” the guy sat next to me suddenly cried out, causing me to jump and inhale the mouthful of noodles I had been enjoying at the time. It’s not a sentence you hear often, even in China, and especially not from a 20-something Jewish man from California.
坐在我旁邊的那個(gè)男人突然喊道：“我比你更像中國(guó)人！”他嚇得我跳了起來，猛吸了一口嘴中的面條。即使在中國(guó)，你也不會(huì)經(jīng)常聽到這句話，尤其還是出自一個(gè)來自加利福尼亞的20多歲的猶太男子之口。

To somehow prove his point, the man slammed his wallet on the table and produced several pictures he’d recently had taken with his Chinese girlfriend at a Beijing photography studio. She was in a traditional qipao dress, and he was wearing a sparkly T-shirt, leather wristbands and a pair of shades, trying his best to look moody.
為了證明自己的觀點(diǎn)，這名男子將錢包甩在桌子上，并曬出幾張和他中國(guó)女友最近在北京一家攝影工作室拍攝的合影。他的女友穿著傳統(tǒng)的旗袍，而他穿著閃亮的T恤，戴著皮革腕帶和一副墨鏡，盡力讓自己看起來神情憂郁。

The guy was a friend of a friend who had joined a group of us for a feast of beef noodles, lamb skewers and beer. In his defense, his declaration was in response to someone else saying that I was in fact more Chinese than him, because I had a Chinese wife and had lived in the country longer.
這家伙是我一個(gè)朋友的朋友，他加入我們一群人的聚餐，一起享受牛肉面、羊肉串和啤酒。他說這話是為了回?fù)羝渌苏f我實(shí)際上比他更“中國(guó)”，因?yàn)槲移拮邮侵袊?guó)人，并且我在中國(guó)生活的時(shí)間更長(zhǎng)。

“But I’m not in the slightest bit Chinese,” I responded, after coughing up a lungful of noodles. I pointed out that both my parents are Caucasian, although that should have been obvious from my pasty white features. “And nor are you Chinese,” I added.
我咳出一大口面條后回答道：“但我沒有一點(diǎn)中國(guó)人血統(tǒng)?！蔽冶硎?，自己的父母都是白人，盡管這一點(diǎn)從我蒼白的膚色中能明顯看出。“你也不是中國(guó)人，”我補(bǔ)充道。

Yet my fellow diner seemed uninterested in genealogical fact. For him, “being Chinese” meant he had truly embraced his adopted home, soaked in its culture, and become “one of the locals”.
然而他似乎并不在乎血緣事實(shí)。對(duì)他來說，“做中國(guó)人”意味著他已經(jīng)真正接受他的第二故鄉(xiāng)，融入中國(guó)文化中，成為“一個(gè)當(dāng)?shù)厝恕薄?/p>

It was an odd exchange, but over the years I’ve caught several groups of expats arguing over who was “more Chinese”. Sometimes these debates have even included people of Chinese heritage born in other countries, who surely have an unfair advantage.
這是一次奇怪的交流，但多年來，我多次遇到一群外國(guó)人爭(zhēng)論誰(shuí)“更像中國(guó)人”。有時(shí)一些外國(guó)出生、擁有中國(guó)血統(tǒng)的人也會(huì)加入辯論，這些人顯然有不公平的優(yōu)勢(shì)。

While some expats struggle to adapt to China’s unique ways, there are others who take intense pride in how quickly they pick up local habits.
當(dāng)一些外國(guó)人還在努力適應(yīng)中國(guó)的獨(dú)特之處時(shí)，也有人對(duì)他們能迅速適應(yīng)當(dāng)?shù)亓?xí)俗感到非常自豪。

I’ve always been skeptical of the “When in Rome” advice I’ve received, though.
不過，我一直對(duì)我收到的“入鄉(xiāng)隨俗”的忠告持懷疑態(tài)度。

One summer night, a British friend – who had lived in Beijing for some years by that point – advised me I should always shout in China, particularly when asking questions to a stranger. To test his theory, as soon as we finished dinner at a restaurant, he sought out a random passer-by to ask directions.
某個(gè)夏天的夜晚，一位已經(jīng)在北京生活了幾年的英國(guó)朋友告訴我，我應(yīng)該在中國(guó)大聲說話，在向陌生人提問時(shí)更應(yīng)如此。為了測(cè)試他的理論，我們?cè)谝患也宛^吃完晚餐后，他立刻隨機(jī)向一位路人問路。

“Watch this,” he said, before turning to bellow a question in Mandarin at a middle-aged woman standing in the street. After asking the whereabouts of the nearest public restroom three times – each time receiving only an equally loud “WHAT?” in response – my friend smiled, thanked the perplexed woman, and walked away.
他說，“看著?！比缓筠D(zhuǎn)而用普通話向一位站在街上的中年婦女提問。他問了三遍最近的公共衛(wèi)生間在哪兒——每次都只收到一個(gè)同樣響亮的回答：“什么？”我的朋友笑了，謝過那個(gè)困惑的女人，然后離開。

Of course, you never truly appreciate the habits you pick up from living in a foreign country until you return home and sit down for a family meal.
當(dāng)然，只有當(dāng)你回到家里，坐下來享受家庭聚餐時(shí)，你才能真正體會(huì)到你在國(guó)外生活所養(yǎng)成的習(xí)慣。

“Are you going to do that every meal?” my mother asked during the first trip back with my wife, as I loudly slurped the noodles I’d requested at lunch in place of potato fries.
我第一次和妻子回國(guó)時(shí)，我的母親問道：“你打算每頓飯都這么干嗎？”，因?yàn)槲乙蟀盐绮偷氖項(xiàng)l換成面條，并在桌上大聲吸溜著吃面。

My wife looked over, tutted, and added, “He’s so Chinese.”
我的妻子看了看，嘖嘖道：“他太中國(guó)了?！?/p>

英文來源：“CHINA DAILY”微信公眾號(hào)
翻譯：胡佳李（實(shí)習(xí)）
編審：董靜 丹妮
音頻編輯：焦?jié)?/p>

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About the author & broadcaster

Craig McIntosh is a news editor at China Daily. Originally from the northeast of England, he moved to Beijing in late 2008. He previously worked at regional and national publications in the UK and the US.

Contact the writer at craig@chinadaily.com.cn