當國際流行文化遇上中國文藝游客
Where are Chinese tourists going to next? Pop culture may hold some clues, from blockbuster rom-com 'Finding Mr. Right' to U.S. sitcom 'The Big Bang Theory.'
中國游客的下一個目的地在哪里呢?從流行文化中你或許能瞥見些許端倪，例如大熱的浪漫喜劇電影《北京遇上西雅圖》(Finding Mr. Right)、美國情景喜劇《生活大爆炸》(The Big Bang Theory)等等。
China is the source of most of the world's tourists as well as its biggest-spending travelers. In 2012 alone, 83 million Chinese went abroad and spent a whopping $102 billion, according to the most recent figures from the United Nations World Tourism Organization.
中國游客不僅數量上是世界第一，出手更是全球最闊綽。據聯合國(United Nations)世界旅業組織(World Tourism Organization)的最新數據，僅2012年一年時間里，中國赴外游客就有8,300萬人，總開支更是高達1,020億美元。
Now more than ever, popular culture is driving their decision making. Below are a few examples of how TV shows and hit movies are influencing Chinese tourists' travel choices.
現在，流行文化對人們旅游決策的影響超過以往的任何時候。以下是電視劇、熱門電影吸引中國游客的幾個典型例子。
SEATTLE
西雅圖
Over the past two years, Seattle -- that rainy city in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. -- has seen a 90% rise in visitor numbers from China, local officials say.
當地官員說，過去兩年中，美國西北部多雨城市、太平洋沿岸的西雅圖所迎接的中國游客數量驟增90%。
The reason: the huge popularity of the Chinese romantic comedy 'Finding Mr. Right,' in which a woman from mainland China travels to Seattle to give birth. Directed by Xue Xiaolu and starring Tang Wei, the film has grossed more than $85 million in China since its release last year. (The movie's Chinese title translates literally to 'Beijing meets Seattle.')
理由：叫好又叫座的中國浪漫喜劇片《北京遇上西雅圖》講述了中國大陸一名女子遠赴西雅圖生子的故事。這部由薛曉璐執導、湯唯主演的電影自去年上映以來在中國狂攬超過8,500萬美元票房。
The city has attracted so many Chinese tourists that CCTV, China's state broadcaster, sent a journalist to cover the city's New Year's Eve celebrations and a series of stories about the Pacific Northwest region.
鑒于西雅圖如此受熱捧，中國中央電視臺還專程派駐了一名記者報道西雅圖的新年夜慶典活動以及一系列有關西雅圖的故事。
LOS ANGELES
洛杉磯
Los Angeles has long been a favorite destination for Chinese tourists visiting the U.S. but lately, they've been asking for detours to nearby Pasadena to pay homage to their favorite sitcom, 'The Big Bang Theory.' Fans are requesting visits to places including the campus of California Institute of Technology as well as to a particular Cheesecake Factory outlet, which both figure prominently in the CBS sitcom that Chinese fans stream online.
洛杉磯一直是中國赴美游客的最愛，不過最近游客們還主動要求繞到附近的帕薩迪納去看看，向他們喜愛的哥倫比亞廣播公司(CBS)情景喜劇《生活大爆炸》(故事發生地即是帕薩迪納)致敬。劇迷們要求參觀加州理工學院(California Institute of Technology)校園、芝士蛋糕工廠(Cheesecake Factory)，這都是劇中人物經常出沒的地點。
'I've heard of tour guides being demanded by tourists that they go to those places,' said Sage Brennan, a Los Angeles-based retail consultant at China Luxury Advisors.
China Luxury Advisors駐洛杉磯零售顧問Sage Brennan稱，他就曾經聽說過有的客人要求導游帶他們到這些地方看一看。
'The show has really taken off with the Chinese, and it has all these crazy repercussions. Brands can capitalize on this,' he added.
他說，《生活大爆炸》在中國觀眾中真的很有人緣，反響非常熱烈;商業品牌可以利用這一點招徠顧客。
Officials said 708,000 travellers from mainland China visited the state in 2012, up from 517,000 the year before.
官員們說，2012年洛杉磯接待了70.8萬中國大陸游客，大大超出前一年的51.7萬人。
SOUTH KOREA
韓國
In the first 11 months of 2013, more than 4 million Chinese tourists visited South Korea, a 53% spike from the previous year due to the country easing visa restrictions to allow for freer travel from China.
2013年前11個月，有超過400萬名中國人赴韓國游玩，較上年同期增加了53%，原因是韓國放松了簽證要求、給予中國游客更多旅行自由。
But Wolfgang Arlt, of Germany's China Outbound Tourism Research Institute, says the popularity of Korean television series and movies have also influenced travelers. Popular series in China include 'The Heirs,' which featured South Korean heartthrob Lee Minho and last year became a huge hit on Youku, the Chinese equivalent of YouTube.
不過，德國研究機構中國出境游研究所(China Outbound Tourism Research Institute)的Wolfgang Arlt說，韓劇、韓國電影的熱播也起到了拉攏游客的作用。去年由韓星李敏鎬(Lee Minho)主演的熱門韓劇《繼承者們》(The Heirs)在中國視頻網站優酷網(Youku)人氣爆棚。
MAURITIUS
毛里求斯
Thailand became a major destination for the Chinese in 2013, thanks in large part to the 2012 box-office hit ' Lost in Thailand,' a buddy-comedy that smashed box office records. The tiny island country of Mauritius hopes it can similar buzz when the movie 'Five Minutes to Tomorrow' is released later this year. A China-Japan co-production, the movie is about identical twin sisters who fall in love with the same man. In the first 10 months of 2013, more than 34,000 Chinese visited the country, an increase of 99% from the previous year. Mauritian tourist authorities hope the movie can spur 100,000 Chinese visitors 'in the foreseeable future.'
2013年泰國成了中國觀光客眼中的大熱旅游地，一定程度上應當感謝2012年的叫座影片《泰囧》(Lost in Thailand)，這部“兄弟喜劇”不斷沖刷著票房紀錄。有了這樣的榜樣，彈丸島國毛里求斯希望今年晚些時候上映的中日合拍片《深夜前的五分鐘》(Five Minutes to Tomorrow)也能帶給它好運。這部影片講述的是一對同卵雙胞胎姐妹愛上同一個男人的故事。2013年前10個月，超過3.4萬中國游客來到這個國家觀光，較上年同期高出99%。毛里求斯旅游業部門希望這部影片在可預見的未來吸引10萬中國人到此一游。
EUROPE AND THE U.S.
歐洲和美國
The U.S., U.K., France and Germany remain the most frequented destinations for Chinese who travel to the West, but the sights they flock to within those countries often are unique to Chinese culture. For instance, Karl Marx's birthplace in Trier, Germany, has long been a pilgrimage spot, while a willow tree in Cambridge, England, is a must-visit for bus tourists because of a well-known poem by Xu Zhimo, who studied at the city's famed university in the 1920s.
美國、英國、法國和德國仍是中國人西行時最常去的地方。但是，游客們來這些國家時愛去的景點通常與中國有著獨特的瓜葛。比如，馬克思(Karl Marx)的出生地德國特里爾就一直是中國人的圣地。再比如，英國劍橋的一株柳樹也被搭乘巴士游英倫的中國游客們奉為必看之物，因為上世紀20年代詩人徐志摩曾經在劍橋大學求學并寫下了著名詩篇《再別康橋》，詩中就描繪過這株“河畔的金柳”。
'It's like a parallel universe,' said Mr. Brennan in Los Angeles. 'Pop culture comes up again and again when we do our research. But the Chinese interpretation is always different.'
前文提到的Brennan說，這就像是一個平行宇宙。在我們做研究的過程中，這種流行文化一再進入我們的視野，但中國人的解讀總是和我們不一樣。
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