A：In China at least, coffee is often associated with an exotic, well-to-do bourgeois lifestyle. Coffee is often considered a hobby of the well-educated, middle-class people. 在中国,说起咖啡,人们往往会想到异国情调,小资的优越生活方式.喝咖啡通常被认为是有修养的中产阶级的习惯.

B：Maybe that's why some young chaps often spend a whole afternoon in a coffee bar, surfing the net or just typewriting something with laptop. While they are savoring a coffee at a leisured pace, they are actually showing off! 也许,这便是有些年轻人动不动就花一整个下午泡在咖啡吧,摆开笔记本电脑,上上网,或者只是打打文件的原因吧.他们悠闲地品着咖啡,其实也是在炫耀自己.

A：Yes. Behind a lifestyle, there is a culture. Young people easily become blind worshippers of a Westernized life. While they may not really like coffee, they think it desirable and enviable to be lavish with money in those high-consumption places. 嗯.生活方式背后就是文化.年轻人很容易就迷信西式生活.他们也一定喜欢咖啡,但坚信,在那些高消费场所花钱至少令人羡慕.

B：Then what about tea? We need to bear in mind in the first place that tea, rather than coffee, has been the most popular drink for the Chinese people. 那你说喝茶怎么样?要知道,中国人最喜欢的饮料不是咖啡,而是茶.

A：Well. Tea represents another facet of popular culture. While a coffee bar is usually quiet and resonates with soft, elegant music, a teahouse is often a noisy, crowded, public space. People visit teahouses to associate with others, playing chess, chatting, or simply listening to operas. 嗯,茶大概是代表了大众文化的另一个侧面.咖啡吧是那种安静,高雅,余音缭绕的地方,茶馆则往往是嘈杂,拥挤的公共空间.人们去茶馆是想跟人说说话,下下棋,或者只是听听戏.

B：What a pity that the traditional teahouses, as depicted by Lao She, keep fading away so quickly in this metroplis. It is not easy to find an old-fashioned teahouse that suits the ordinary people's spending power either. Teahouses of today all feature a cozy, comfortable environment, and high-quality services, but can easily cost you a good deal—just like a coffee bar. 可惜啊,在北京这个大都市,老舍笔下那种传统茶馆正在迅速地销声匿迹.普通人去的起的那种老茶馆再也难找到了.如今的茶馆都是那种舒适,惬意的环境,还有高档的服务,但是太贵了,跟咖啡厅几乎不相上下.

A：Well, that's true. In a sense, it is not so much what you drink that really counts, as where and how you drink. 这是实话,在某种意义上,重要的仿佛不再是喝什么了,而是在哪儿喝,怎么喝.