Intermediate - Chinese Food at Foreign Prices (C2326)

A: 先生,里面请!请坐,想吃点什么?
xiānsheng, lǐmiàn qǐng! qǐng zuò, xiǎng chī diǎn shénme?
Sir, please come in! Please sit. What would you like to eat?
B: 你们洛阳有什么好吃的?
nǐmen Luòyáng yǒu shénme hǎochī de?
What's tasty here in Luoyang?
A: 我们这里的面食很有名。要不要尝一尝?
wǒmen zhèlǐ de miànshí hěn yǒumíng. yào bu yào cháng yi cháng?
Our noodles are very famous here. Do you want to try them?
B: 行,有菜单吗?我看一下菜单。
xíng, yǒu càidān ma? wǒ kàn yīxià càidān.
Okay. Do you have a menu? I'll take a look at the menu.
A: 好。
hǎo.
Okay.
B: 哎,老板,我的菜单怎么跟他们的不一样?
āi, lǎobǎn, wǒ de càidān zěnme gēn tāmen de bù yīyàng?
Hey, boss. Why is my menu different from theirs?
A: 哦,您是外国人,我怕您看不懂汉字。
ò, nín shì wàiguórén, wǒ pà nín kàn bu dǒng hànzì.
Oh, you are a foreigner. I'm afraid that you can't read Chinese.
B: 有图片就行,我可以看图片。
yǒu túpiàn jiù xíng, wǒ kěyǐ kàn túpiàn.
Looking at the pictures is fine. I can look at the pictures.
A: 那个菜单没有了,你就看这个吧。
nà gè càidān méiyǒu le, nǐ jiù kàn zhè gè ba.
There aren't any menus left. Just look at this one.
B: 老板,这个面要五十块?
lǎobǎn, zhè gè miàn yào wǔshí kuài?
Boss, these noodles are 50 kuai?
A: 这是我们的特色面。
zhè shì wǒmen de tèsè miàn.
These are our specialty noodles.
B: 那怎么他们的菜单上写的是十块?你专门宰外国人啊!
nà zěnme tāmen de càidān shàng xiě de shì shí kuài? nǐ zhuānmén zǎi wàiguórén a!
Then why is it written as 10 kuai on their menu? You're just looking to rip off foreigners!
A: 不是不是。
bùshì bùshì.
No, no.
B: 不是什么?同一个东西,外国人的价格比中国人贵这么多,太不公平了。
bùshì shénme? tóng yī gè dōngxi, wàiguórén de jiàgé bǐ Zhōngguórén guì zhème duō, tài bù gōngpíng le.
No? It's the same thing, and the foreigner prices is so much more than the Chinese price. It's not fair.
C: 哎哟,老板,你不能这么做生意的,这样做太丢我们洛阳人的脸了。
āiyōu, lǎobǎn, nǐ bù néng zhème zuò shēngyì de, zhèyàng zuò tài diū wǒmen Luòyáng rén de liǎn le.
Jeez, boss, you can't do business this way. If you do this, it makes people from Luoyang look bad.
A: 那你要吃什么?给你便宜点。
nà nǐ yào chī shénme? gěi nǐ piányi diǎnr.
Then what do you want to eat? I'll make it cheaper for you.
B: 我不吃了。
wǒ bù chī le.
I don't want eat anything.

Key Vocabulary

洛阳 Luòyáng Luoyang, a city in Henan Province
面食 miànshí noodles
有名 yǒumíng to be famous
cháng to taste
菜单 càidān menu
to be afraid of
看不懂 kàn bu dǒng to not be able to read
汉字 hànzì Chinese character
图片 túpiàn image, picture
特色 tèsè specialty, distinguishing feature
专门 zhuānmén specially
zǎi to overcharge
tóng equal, same
价格 jiàgé price
公平 gōngpíng fair
做生意 zuò shēngyì to do business
丢脸 diūliǎn to lose face, be ashamed

Supplementary Vocabulary

首都 shǒudū capital
唐朝 Tángcháo Tang Dynasty
照片 zhàopiàn photograph, picture
强调 qiángdiào emphasis
电子产品 diànzǐ chǎnpǐn electronics
宰牛 zǎiniú to slaughter cows
宰羊 zǎiyáng to slaughter sheep
河南 Hénán Henan, a province in China

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