美国人眼中的倒霉中国单身汉

China's housing boom spells trouble for boyfriends
Many women won't marry a man who doesn't own a home. This recent shift, along with soaring real estate prices, has created a woefully frustrated class of bachelors.
有不少女人不会嫁给一个没房子的男人。这个近来的变化，随着房子价格的高升，造就了一批沮丧的单身汉。
June 21, 2010By David Pierson, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Beijing — Mike Zhang considered himself serious boyfriend material. He knew what to order at an Italian restaurant. He could mix a tasty margarita. And he always volunteered to carry his girlfriend's handbag.
来自北京
Mike张 认为自己是个称职的男朋友。他知道如何在意大利餐馆点菜。他知道怎么调一杯可口的margarita酒，他也总是自告奋勇帮女朋友提包。
Then came the deal breaker. Zhang, a 28-year-old language tutor and interpreter, couldn't afford an apartment in the capital's scorching property market.
然后，决定的一刻来了。张，一个28岁的语言辅导老师和翻译，无法在灸手可热的首都买得起房子。
Rather than waste any more time, his girlfriend of more than two years dumped him.
不想再继续浪费时间，交往两年多的女朋友甩了他。
Zhang's misfortune is not uncommon. China's housing boom has created a woefully frustrated class of bachelors.
张的杯具并不罕见。中国的房地产膨胀造就了一批沮丧而无可奈何的单身汉。
Home prices in major cities including Beijing and Shanghai have easily doubled over the last year as families and investors rush to grab a piece of the Chinese dream. A typical 1,000-square-foot, two-bedroom, one-bath apartment in the capital now costs about $274,000. That's 22 times the average annual income of a Beijing resident.
过去的一年中，当人们都想在中国梦里分一杯羹的同时，房屋价格随随便便地翻了倍还有多。在北京，普通的1000平方尺，两室一厅的公寓现在已涨到$274,000. 这个价格是北京居民普通年收入的22倍。
Unlike in the United States, where home buying traditionally takes place after marriage, owning a place in China has recently become a prerequisite for tying the knot. Experts said securing an apartment in this market signals that a man is successful, family-oriented and able to weather challenging financial circumstances. Put succinctly, homeownership has become the ultimate symbol of virility in today's China.
在美国，买房一般都发生在结婚后。与其不同的是，最近以来，在中国拥有自己的房子已成为了婚姻的前提。专家们说，在这个市场里，能够巩固一套房子意味着一个男人成功，顾家，与能够承受经济能力挑战。简洁地说，在今天的中国，男人拥有自己的房子已成为男子阳刚之气的最高象征。
"A man is not a man if he doesn't own a house," said Chen Xiaomin, director of the Women's Studies Center at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law. "Marriage is becoming more and more materialistic. This is a huge change in Chinese society. No matter how confident a woman is, she will lose face if her boyfriend or husband doesn't have a house."
“男人如果没有自己的房子，不算是个男人。” 上海政法学院女性研究中心主任陈晓敏如是说。“婚姻正在变得越来越现实。无论一个女性如何自信，如果她的男友或丈夫没住房，她就会丢面子。”
Dating websites are now awash with women stipulating that hopefuls must come with a residence (and often a set of wheels) in tow.
"I'm 25 years old, looking for a boyfriend.... I want you to have an apartment and a car.... The apartment has to be built after 2000 and the car has to be better than a minivan," read one post on the popular Chinese Web portal Baidu.
在约会网站上，大量女性都提出交往对象要有住房（甚至于车）。中国百度上一个帖子这样写道：“本人25岁，觅男友，希望你有一套住房和一辆汽车。房子必须是2000年以后盖的，汽车必须要比小货车高档。”
Material matters weren't quite so important when previous generations courted. Most Chinese were poor. Property was controlled by the state and homes were doled out through an individual's work unit. When China was more agrarian, marriages were usually arranged, and it was customary for a bride's family to provide a dowry — be it money, bedding or even a sewing machine.
在上一代人的婚姻中，物质条件没这么重要。大多数中国人都很穷，住房由国家单位控制。在中国更农业化的过去，婚姻一般都是父母包办，而且女方家里提供嫁妆是司空见惯 - 不管是钱，床上用品，还是缝纫机。
But economic reform and mass urbanization in the last 30 years have upended these norms. In 1998, the central government launched one of the largest transfers of wealth in human history by allowing Chinese to buy their homes from the state, often with subsidies. The privatization of property spurred the creation of a commercialized housing industry with developers and investors.
但过去30年的经济改革和大规模城市化颠覆了这些。1998年，中央政府推行了人类历史上最大的一次财产转移，让中国人从政府手上拿补助而买房。财产私有化促使人们商业性开发与投资，从而造就了房地产。
Young Chinese are coming of age at a time of exploding wealth and rising expectations for material success. In a survey last year on Sohu.com, a popular Web portal similar to Yahoo, 73% of respondents said homeownership was a necessity for marriage. An almost equal percentage said they had difficulty buying an apartment.
年轻的中国人处于一个财富激增、对物质成功的期望不断攀升的时代。去年在搜狐的一次调查中，73%的受访者认为房子是结婚必需品，但也有相同比例的人说买不起房。
"Not everyone has rich parents who can help you buy an apartment," said Chen Kechun, a 25-year-old Beijing native whose relationship disintegrated after his six-month search for an affordable home proved fruitless. "I learned that if a girl decides to marry you, you better have a strong financial foundation."
“不是所有人的父母都有钱帮你买房子。” 25岁的北京人陈可春（译音）如是说。在花了6个月寻找在他经济负担之内的房子而无果后，他和女友的感情也随之而去。“我始终才知道，如果一个女孩决定嫁给你，你最好先有稳定的经济基础。”
Growing male frustrations have given rise to a new female archetype: the bai jin nu, or gold-digger.
男人越来越高涨的失意造就了一个新的女性形象：拜金女。
On the wildly popular TV reality program "Don't Bother Me Unless You're Serious," one woman tried to size up a suitor by asking matter-of-factly, "Do you have money?"
在非常红的节目“非诚勿扰”上，一个女人非常直截了当地问她的相亲对象：“你有钱吗？”
The man cut to the chase: "I have three flats in Shanghai."
男人也非常不含糊地答道，“我在上海有三套房。”
The hard-boiled bachelorette, Ma Nuo, has gone on to become one of China's most recognizable bai jin nu. Marry for love? Fat chance, said the material girl: "I would rather cry in a BMW than smile on the back of my boyfriend's bicycle."
没心没肺的单身女，马诺，已经成为了中国最典型的拜金女。为了爱情而结婚？扯淡！物质女马诺说道，“坐单车？我还是坐在宝马里哭吧。”
Ma's mercenary take on matrimony may be extreme; still, single women in China are driven by intense societal pressure to find a mate who can deliver the digs.
马诺对婚姻唯利是图的看法或许很极端；但事实上，社会压力使得中国单身女性不得不寻找可以拿得出手的伴侣。
Though more women are becoming career oriented, China remains stubbornly traditional. Males are expected to be breadwinners while females rear a family's only child.
尽管越来越多的女性就业，中国仍保持着“男性养家糊口”“女人继承香火”的传统。
"My parents think it's important.... They would rather I marry someone who owns his own property," said Wei Na, 28, an advertising saleswoman in Beijing. "It just makes you feel more safe if a man has his own place. I think most women feel the same way."
“我的父母认为（住房）很重要。他们宁愿我嫁一个有自己的房子的人。” 28岁的北京广告销售小姐Wei Na说道。“如果男人有房子，女人会觉得更有安全感。大部分女人都应该这么想吧。”
Fang Jing is trying to hold on to his relationship. The 29-year-old has been trying to persuade his girlfriend to share in the $250,000 cost of a Shanghai apartment so that they can wed next year.
Fang Jing正在试图挽回他的感情。29岁的他正在试图说服他的女朋友和他一起承担一套在上海的标价$250,000的房子，以便他们明年好结婚。
"She didn't agree immediately. She's still hoping I can take care of it myself," Fang said. "But we have to face reality. In Shanghai it's difficult for one person to afford an apartment. When we face something as important as this, men and women have to be equal."
“她没有马上答应我。她还在期望我能一个人包了。” Fang说道，“但我们必须面对现实。在上海，一个人哪买得起房？当面对着买房这么大的一件事，男人和女人应该平等。”
Fang will need about $75,000 to afford the 30% down payment on the home the couple want. That's a lofty goal, considering that the computer technician is between jobs and has no savings. He's counting on both sets of parents to chip in.
Fang需要付百分之30，也就是$75,000的头款。这是一个很渺茫的目标，尤其是对于一个无存款，还正在跳槽中的电脑修理员来说。他得靠双方的父母帮他们一把。
Wang Haijun, a real estate agent on Beijing's east side, said he can always tell when a desperate bachelor walks into his office."They're always the least rational buyers," Wang said. "They don't care how little money they have. They just want an apartment as soon as possible. They take on a mortgage with the longest terms and highest interest rates. But they have no choice. They have to get married. I feel sorry for them."
北京的房产中介王海军（音）说，他总能分辨出走进来的单身汉，“他们通常是最不理智的买家，不关心自己有多少钱，只想尽快拥有一套住房，办的是期限最长、利率最高的贷款。但他们别无选择。他们得结婚。我感到非常非常遗憾。”
Zhang, the language tutor and interpreter, wanted to marry his girlfriend, a receptionist at a language school. The two shared a love for American TV — "Sex and the City" for her and "Lost" for him.
小张，语言老师兼翻译，曾经想娶他的女朋友，一个语言学校的接话员。他们的共同爱好看美国电视；她喜欢看sex and the city;而他则喜欢看lost.
The closer they grew, the more she asked about their future and a home.
"I told her I loved her and would marry her if she didn't mind not having a house," Zhang said. "But she said no. I told her I wanted a house too, but I didn't know how. I'm not rich."
但当他们的关系越来越亲密的同时，她为了他们的未来和房子也逼他越来越紧。“我告诉她，我爱她 - 如果她不在意没有房子，我定会娶她。但她说不行。我说我也想要房子，但没办法。我没钱。”
Zhang began checking real estate listings in his neighborhood a year and a half ago. He was stunned. An apartment of about 1,000 square feet cost $150,000. Zhang's parents, who run a modest bakery in northeast China, offered to help. But the $30,000 down payment was still well out of reach.
小张大约一年半前开始咨询他周围的房地产情况。他被惊得目瞪口呆。1000平方尺的房子就要$150,000。小张的父母在东北开了一个小规模的糕点店。他们提出帮助，但想达到$30,000的头款仍然是水中捞月。
His girlfriend grew increasingly concerned. She wanted to get married while her grandparents were still healthy and could celebrate her wedding. Last December, she called off the relationship.
他的女朋友变得越来越忧虑。她想趁着她爷爷奶奶在世的时候把婚姻大事办了。但去年12月，她与他分手了。
Zhang says he's finally over the breakup. His appetite has returned. He has even gone on a couple of dates.
小张说他终于从分手中走出来了。他的胃口又回来了；他甚至出去约了几次会。
He acknowledges he must begin saving money for an apartment, but he resents being judged by his inability to purchase property. He would rather have a woman love him for his charm than for the roof he puts over her head.
他明白他必须为了房子而努力，但他很抵触把有房子看作筹码。他也希望找个爱他本人而不是爱他房子的女人。
"People's values have changed," he said. "It doesn't matter if you're a nice guy or you're fun or good natured or have a sense of humor. They don't care. All they care about is a house."
“人们的价值观变了。” 小张说道。“男人如果人品好，性格好，还有幽默感 - 这都通通没用。她们不在乎。她们在乎的只是房子。”

COWARD

那个妈的发克竟然比我们先逃了，而且是尾巴夹在两腿之间逃跑那种。真是贱。
之前还贸贸然做出种种承诺和甜言蜜语，现在却是自己弃甲而逃。用COWARD这个字来形容他是最恰当不过的。
而我们几个不甘就此被埋没的人才呢，也是跳槽的时候了。当船长都不顾尊严TMD的先跳船了，我们做水手的还留在这烂船上干屁啊？