當雞年遇上龍蝦 年夜飯上的西方來客
Will lobster one day become a Chinese New Year dinner staple like fish and dumplings?
有一天，龍蝦會像魚和餃子一樣，成爲中國春節年夜飯的主菜嗎？North American distributors and Chinese e-commerce platforms are seeing a growing demand from China for Western lobster.
北美經銷商及中國電子商務平臺發現，中國對西方龍蝦的需求正不斷增長。Despite lobster prices reaching highs in the winter due to smaller catches, China's appetite rises significantly ahead of the Lunar New Year and further drives prices up.
儘管由於漁獲量較小，龍蝦的價格在冬季達到了峯值，但是中國人的食慾在新年之前有了顯著的上升，並進一步助推價格上漲。
The Chinese name for lobster is "dragon prawn". Once cooked, the "red dragon" makes a delicious dish with lucky meaning.
龍蝦的中文名是“龍蝦”。在被烹飪之後，這種“紅色的龍”就成爲美味的菜餚，寓意幸運。
More Chinese are adding garlic steamed lobster and lobster congee to the most important meal of the year.
越來越多的中國人正在將蒜蓉蒸龍蝦和龍蝦粥納入一年中最重要的一頓晚餐中。Distributors are also seeing an escalating competition. A Chinese company even chartered a plane this month to fly lobsters from Canada to China.
經銷商也感到了正在愈演愈烈的競爭。本月，一家中國公司甚至租用飛機將龍蝦從加拿大空運到中國。The Boston Lobster Co, founded in 1986, discovered the huge Chinese market six years ago. The company saw that many Chinese people who traveled to Boston, or local Chinese Americans who were going back China to visit family, would order live lobsters to take home.
成立於1986年的波士頓龍蝦公司在六年前發現了巨大的中國市場。公司發現，很多到波士頓旅行的中國人或者回家探親的本地美籍華裔，都會預定活龍蝦帶回家。E-commerce is playing a big role in Chinese consumption of American lobsters. Retailers such as , China's second-largest e-commerce platform after Alibaba's Taobao, has been doing same-day or even two-hour delivery in major cities that could reduce the precious "out-of-water" time for live lobsters.
電子商務在中國消費美國龍蝦方面發揮了重要作用。諸如京東（中國僅次於阿里巴巴淘寶的第二大電商平臺）這樣的零售商一直在主要城市同天甚至相隔兩小時運送龍蝦，這樣可以縮短活龍蝦珍貴的“失水期”。Josh Gartner, vice-president of international corporate affairs at , said the company has seen more than an eightfold increase in the sales of US fresh food in the three weeks leading up to the Spring Festival compared to last year.
京東國際事務交流副總裁喬希·加特納表示，與去年相比，在春節前的三週內，公司的美國新鮮食品銷售額增長了八倍以上。
