新書《沒有"中國製造"的一年》（A Year Without "Made in China"）

BATON ROUGE, LA. - Last year, two days after Christmas, we kicked China out of the house. Not the country obviously, but bits of plastic, metal, and wood stamped with the words "Made in China." We kept what we already had, but stopped bringing any more in.

去年，聖誕節過後兩天，我們把"中國"從家裡踢了出去。當然，我們並非把這個國家踢出去，而是不再使用一些標明"中國製造"的塑料、金屬和木製產品。我們保留已經擁有的"中國製造"的產品，而不再購進任何新產品。

The banishment was no fault of China's. It had coated our lives with a cheerful veneer of toys, gadgets, and $10 children's shoes. Sometimes I worried about jobs sent overseas or nasty reports about human rights abuses, but price trumped virtue at our house. We couldn't resist what China was selling.

這種驅逐行動不是中國的錯。我們生活中充斥著來自中國的各種東西--玩具、小玩意和10美元一雙的童鞋。有時，我也擔心流失到海外的就業機會或者有關侵犯人權的報導，但價格最終總是戰勝我們的價值觀。我們根本無法拒絕中國出售的產品。

But on that dark Monday last year, a creeping unease washed over me as I sat on the sofa and surveyed the gloomy wreckage of the holiday. It wasn't until then that I noticed an irrefutable fact: China was taking over the place.

但是，去年在那個黑色的星期一，當我坐在沙發上，環顧節日過後的滿地狼藉時，一種不安慢慢湧上心頭。直到那一刻，我才注意到一個不容辯駁的事實--中國正在佔領這個地方。

It stared back at me from the empty screen of the television. I spied it in the pile of tennis shoes by the door. It glowed in the lights on the Christmas tree and watched me in the eyes of a doll splayed on the floor. I slipped off the couch and did a quick inventory, sorting gifts into two stacks: China and non-China. The count came to China, 25, the world, 14. Christmas, I realized, had become a holiday made by the Chinese. Suddenly I'd had enough. I wanted China out.

桌子上的電視機、門邊的一堆網球鞋、聖誕樹上的彩燈、地板上的洋娃娃，屋裡隨處可見中國製造的產品。我起身離開沙發，迅速進行了一次盤點，把所有的禮物分成了兩大類--中國製造的和非中國製造的。最後的統計結果是：中國產品25件，非中國產品14件。我意識到聖誕節已經成了中國人制造的節日。突然，我覺得夠了。我想把"中國"關在門外。

Through tricks and persuasion I got my husband on board, and on Jan. 1 we launched a yearlong household embargo on Chinese imports. The idea wasn't to punish China, which would never feel the pinprick of our protest. And we didn't fool ourselves into thinking we'd bring back a single job to unplugged company towns in Ohio and Georgia. We pushed China out of our lives because we wanted to measure how far it had pushed in. We wanted to know what it would take in time, money, and aggravation to kick our China habit.

經過略施小計和一番苦口婆心的勸說，我把丈夫也爭取過來。於是，1月1日，我家開始了為期一年的抵制中國產品的活動。這個想法並非為了懲罰中國，它根本不會感覺到我們的抗議帶來的這點微乎其微的影響。而且，我們也不會欺騙自己，認為我們把一個就業機會還給了俄亥俄州或者佐治亞州的某家公司。我們把中國拒之門外是因為想衡量一下，中國到底在多大程度上滲入了我們的生活。我們想知道放棄使用中國產品到底需要花費多少時間和金錢，以及會帶來多少不便。

We hit the first rut in the road when I discovered our son's toes pressing against the ends of his tennis shoes. I wore myself out hunting for new ones. After two weeks I broke down and spent $60 on sneakers from Italy. I felt sick over the money; it seemed decadent for a pair of children's shoes. I got used to the feeling. Weeks later I shelled out $60 for Texas-made shoes for our toddler daughter.

我們碰到的第一個問題就是兒子的網球鞋已經小得無法再穿了。給他買一雙新鞋搞得我疲憊不堪。經過兩週的奔波後，我終於受不了了，花60美元給他買了一雙從義大利進口的運動鞋。這筆錢花得讓我有點心疼，因為這個價錢對於一雙童鞋來說似乎有點奢侈。但我很快就習慣了這種感覺。幾周後，我又花了60美元給我們蹣跚學步的小女兒買了一雙得克薩斯州製造的鞋子。

We got hung up on lots of little things. I drove to half a dozen grocery stores in search of candles for my husband's birthday cake, eventually settling on a box of dusty leftovers I found in the kitchen. The junk drawer has been stuck shut since January. My husband found the part to fix it at Home Depot but left it on the shelf when he spotted the telltale "Made in China."

 隨後，我們在許多小事上遇到了麻煩。為了給丈夫的生日蛋糕買蠟燭，我開車去了6家雜貨店都沒有買到，最終不得不用在廚房裡找到的一盒落滿灰塵的蠟燭將就。我家的一箇舊抽屜從1月起就拉不開了。我丈夫在"家得寶"發現了修抽屜用的工具，但當他發現這個工具也貼著"中國製造"的標籤後，就又把它放回了貨架上。 

Mini crises erupted when our blender and television broke down. The television sputtered back to life without intervention, but it was a long, hot summer without smoothies. We killed four mice with old-fashioned snapping traps because the catch-and-release ones we prefer are made in China. Last summer at the beach my husband wore a pair of mismatched flip-flops my mother found in her garage. He'd run out of options at the drug store.

  家裡的攪拌器和電視機壞了，這也帶來了小小的危機。我們還不得不用起了舊式的捕鼠器，因為新式的也是中國製造的。

Navigating the toy aisle has been a wilting affair. In the spring, our 4-year-old son launched a countercampaign in support of "China things." He's been a good sport, but he's weary of Danish-made Legos, the only sure bet for birthday gifts for his friends. One morning in October he fell apart during a trip to Target when he developed a sudden lust for an electric purple pumpkin.

"It's too long without China," he wailed. He kept at me all day.

The next morning I drove him back so he could use his birthday money to buy the pumpkin for himself. I kept my fingers off the bills as he passed them to the checker.

避開中國製造的玩具更是一件令人難以應付的事。春天，我們4歲的兒子發起了一次反抵制行動，堅決支援"中國的東西"。兒子一直是一個重友情的人，但是最終他厭倦了總把丹麥生產的"樂高"玩具送給朋友作為生日禮物。10月的一天早晨，我們去百貨公司購物的時候，他突然喜歡上了一個電動的紫色南瓜玩具。

兒子哭著說："我們都多久不用中國的東西了。"他為此糾纏了我一天。

第二天早晨，我又開車帶他去百貨公司，讓他用自己生日時得到的錢去買那個南瓜玩具。

My husband bemoans the Christmas gifts he can't buy because they were made in China. He plans to sew sleeping bags for the children himself. He can build wooden boats and guitars, but I fear he will meet his match with thread and needle.

"How hard can it be?" he scoffed.

The funny thing about China's ascent is that we, as a nation, could shut the whole thing down in a week. Jump-start a "Just Say No to Chinese Products Week," and the empire will collapse amid the chaos of overloaded cargo ships in Long Beach harbor. I doubt we could pull it off. Americans may be famously patriotic, but look closely, and you'll see who makes the flag magnets on their car bumpers. These days China delivers every major holiday, Fourth of July included.

I don't know what we will do after Dec. 31 when our family's embargo comes to its official end. China-free living has been a hassle. I have discovered for myself that China doesn't control every aspect of our daily lives, but if you take a close look at the underside of boxes in the toy department, I promise it will give you pause.

Our son knows where he stands on the matter. In the bathtub one evening he told me how happy he was that "the China season" was coming soon.

"When we can buy China things again, let's never stop," he said.

我不知道12月31日我家的抵制行動正式結束的時候，我們會怎麼做。沒有中國產品的生活一團糟。我發現，中國並沒有控制我們日常生活中的每個地方，但如果你看看百貨公司玩具部的盒子下面，我保證你還是會大吃一驚的。

After a year without China I can tell you this: You can still live without it, but it's getting trickier and costlier by the day. And a decade from now I may not be brave enough to try it again.

經過一年沒有中國的日子後，我可以告訴你：沒有中國你也可以活下去，但是生活會越來越麻煩，而且代價會越來越大。以後10年我可能都沒有勇氣再嘗試這種日子。

Sara Bongiorni is a freelance writer and is working on a book about her family's yearlong adventure in the global economy.