London Chinatown 倫敦唐人街
Bilingual signs in Chinatown
Helen: Hello, I'm Helen. Welcome to "On the Town" from BBC Learning English.
Sun Chen: Hi 大家好,歡迎收聽 BBC Learning English 為您制作的都市掠影.我是孫晨。
Helen: In this programme, we take you around interesting places in London.
Sun Chen: 那么今天我們有什么好地方可以給大家介紹介紹呢?
Helen: How about somewhere we can get a really nice Chinese meal?
Sun Chen: 吃中餐最棒的地方,那可得去倫敦唐人街了。
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London's Chinatown is located in central London. The main street is Gerrard Street. Developed and improved since the 1950s, it has become one of the city's best known tourist spots and cultural focal points for the Chinese community of London. Sun Chen: 倫敦唐人街的地理位置就在市中心的黃金地段,所以交通非常方便。
Helen: It's right in the middle of the West End and it's very easy to get to on the public transport system, but driving there would be a nightmare.
Sun Chen: I wouldn’t even dream of doing that. 在倫敦還是坐地鐵最快。那么唐人街最主要的馬路是 Gerrard Street, 我們中國人就把它取名叫爵士街。
Helen: In Chinatown, when you see the street signs on the side of buildings, they usually have Chinese characters on them as well.
Sun Chen: 唐人街的街名牌上有英文,也有中文,比如說 Lisle Street, 就是麗人街,不過如果問路的話,最好還是記住英文街名,不然英國人是聽不懂的。
Helen: That's a very sensible tip. You know the British are very bad at learning foreign languages.
Sun Chen: Well, everyone in China is learning English, so no worries for Brits visiting China. Anyway, 倫敦的唐人街大概是在1950年左右成立的。
Helen: And the site has remained more or less the same for the past 50 years.
Sun Chen: 總的來說,這里不是很大,大概走15 分鐘就可以把整個唐人街兜一圈。
Helen: Hello, you are listening to 'On The Town' from BBC Learning English, and today we are introducing Chinatown.
Sun Chen: 唐人街最吸引人的地方是這里的中餐館。
Helen: On Friday evenings, every restaurant is filled with customers and on the weekends, the queues for dim sum are really long.
Sun Chen: 雖然唐人街占地面積不是很大,可是這里密密麻麻的也有100 多家餐館,星期五晚上和周末是最忙的時候。
Helen: Personally, I try to avoid the weekends if I can.
Sun Chen: Why's that?
Helen: Well, you know the chefs are going to be rushed off their feet when the restaurant is full and usually the food and service are not as good.
Sun Chen: 忙得暈頭轉向 rushed off their feet, 如果在餐館最忙的時候去吃飯,有時候做的菜還有服務可能就跟不上了。所以看來上館子還得算準了時間。What sort Chinese food could you get in Chinatown then?
Helen: Let's find out from some of the regular visitors.
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I love dim sum; you know the little Chinese dumplings?
I’m into hot and spicy food. Sichuan hotpot with lots of chilli, that’s my favourite.
I eat aromatic crispy duck every time I go out for a Chinese. Also I like sweet and sour pork.
Sun Chen: 唐人街這十年來可是變化不小,以前主要是以西化了的粵菜為主,現在能吃到川菜,東北菜還有上海菜。
Helen: At lunch time, many restaurants offer delicious dim sum and they are very good value for money.
Sun Chen: 廣式早茶 dim sum 也是很多英國人喜歡吃的, 而且價廉物美 value for money.
Helen: Another popular dish is crispy aromatic duck with pancakes, usually as a starter.
Sun Chen: 香酥烤鴨 aromatic duck, 是很多人的 starter 頭盤第一選擇。 What else?
Helen+Sun Chen: Other common choices included sweet and sour pork, (糖醋豬肉),chicken in black bean sauce (黑椒炒雞丁), spring rolls (春卷) and wonton soup (餛飩湯)and the list goes on and on.
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I love dim sum; you know the little Chinese dumplings?
I’m into hot and spicy food. Sichuan hotpot with lots of chilli, that’s my favourite.
I eat aromatic crispy duck every time I go out for a Chinese. Also I like sweet and sour pork.