城市发展需要物美价廉的食物和充分的就业机会 Cities need good food, and jobs

One of the big joys of living in Beijing was the great farmers' market near China Daily. My wife and I go there once a week to stock up on great fresh vegetables, fruits, and meat for the coming week.

在北京生活的最大乐趣之一，是逛中国日报社附近的那家大农贸市场。我和妻子每周去那儿一趟，购买下周需要的新鲜蔬菜、水果和肉类。

We get piles of mangos, longyan, strawberries and the delicious little mandarin oranges. Plus, we get bags of vegetables — I don't know the English name of many of them. And, there is pork, chicken and really fresh, still alive when we buy it, fish and seafood for the week.

我们会买一堆芒果、龙眼、草莓、很甜的小柑橘和很多蔬菜（不少蔬菜我还叫不出它们的英文名）。我们买猪肉、鸡肉和活蹦乱跳的活鱼和海鲜。

Usually, it costs us less than 500 yuan, about 75 dollars, for a week's food for two people and a dog.

我们夫妻俩加上养的一只小狗，食品开销每周不到500块钱（约合75美元）。 

My wife is an excellent chef, cooking the foods of her native Yunnan province, so she knows how to prepare all these ingredients, some of which I don't even recognize.

我妻子是一个烹调高手，会做她云南老家的很多美食，对各种食材都了如指掌，包括一些我都不认识的食材。

Every time I go back to the US, I'm shocked when I go into a grocery store. For 75 dollars, I might get a little bit of expensive fruit. In the vegetable aisle, there is little choice and the prices are high. I don't like to think how much a big meal of shrimp or fish would cost.

我每次回到美国，走进任意一家超市，都会被里面的价格震住。75美元只能买到很少一点的高价水果，蔬菜可供选择的品种很少，还很贵。很难想象一顿丰盛的虾或鱼得花去我多少钞票。

Sadly, I'm already using the past tense when talking about the farmers' market. It is scheduled to close in March. Friends tell me that some other farmers' markets around the city are closing also. This happened to us a few years ago in another section of Beijing when an open-air farmers' market was there one day, gone the next.

可惜，这家农贸市场即将成为历史，并在3月份关门歇业。朋友告诉我，市区里的其他一些农贸市场也要陆续关闭。几年前，北京的另一个区也有类似情形。

There is a little supermarket nearby, but the prices are much higher, the selection is less, and the quality is lower than at the farmers' market. There is also an astonishingly expensive Japanese supermarket — the kind where the fruits are individually wrapped in cellophane — within walking distance. I guess we could rely on the guys who deliver restaurant meals on their motorcycles — but, that's not as healthy or tasty, and it's expensive.

中国日报社附近的另外一家小超市，商品种类少，价格高，质量还不如农贸市场。还有一家步行就能到的日本超市，价格更是贵得离谱，超市里的水果都是用保鲜膜包裹。虽然我们可以叫外卖送餐，但外卖不卫生也不好吃，费用也不菲。

What are we going to do?

我们将何去何从？

Very fortunately, there is another farmers' market a little bit further away that is staying open.  I'm hoping it doesn't go away, too.

还好，不远处还有一个农贸市场，希望它不会消失。

Of course, I've been looking at this very selfishly — just moaning about its impact on me. What about the hard-working people who run their small businesses there?

坦率地说，我是有点私心的，只是抱怨农贸市场关闭对我自身造成的影响。但那些辛辛苦苦做小本买卖的人会怎样呢？

Liu Lingling, who sells pork, says she is looking for a position in another farmers' market, but that is not easy to find because many markets are closing.  

做猪肉生意的刘玲玲（音）说，她正在另一个农贸市场找摊位，但不容易，很多农贸市场都面临关门。

If she cannot find a place to sell pork, she will have to return to her native Fujian province. The local government believes there are too many people who are not citizens here, so it wants them to return to their original homes, she says.

刘玲玲说，当地政府认为很多人不是本地人，应该返回原籍。如果找不到卖猪肉的场所，她就只能回福建老家了。 

And, Zhang Libin, who sells chicken, says she believes the market is closing because the landlord cannot make a profit. There are too many empty stalls in the building. She wants to move to the other market nearby, but the rents are much higher there.

卖鸡肉的张丽滨（音）则认为农贸市场的关闭是因为有很多摊位空置，房东赚不到钱。她想搬到附近的另一个市场去，但那里租金又很高。

A vegetable seller, who preferred not be named, said that she has been selling at farmers' markets in Beijing for 24 years, but may return to her native Sichuan province to take care of her 80-year-old father. Asked if every seller is from another province, she replied, "Of course, this is hard work and it's not easy to make money."

一位不愿意透露姓名的菜贩说，她已在北京的农贸市场干了24年，但现在可能要回老家四川照顾80岁的父亲。当被问及是否所有摊主都是外地人时，她回答说：“当然了，这活儿很辛苦，还不赚钱。”

And Zhang Caiying, from whom we buy fruit every week, says she and her husband, Hu Jichao, are still thinking about moving to the other market.  

我们每周都去张彩英（音）的摊位买水果。她说，她和丈夫胡纪超（音）也打算搬到另一个市场。 

"It's not easy to find a stall. … The rent here is 4,500 yuan per month, and the other market charges 6,000. With water fees, electricity fees, and sanitation fees, it will total 80,000 yuan per year. I try to save money everywhere… and, all of a sudden, it's 20,000 yuan per year more," she says.  

她说：“找一个摊位可不容易了。这里的月租是4500元，另一个市场的月租是6000元。加上水费、电费、环卫费，每年要8万元。我在每一个环节都精打细算……但突然间，搬到另一个市场，每年还要多花出去2万元。” 

"Students from UIBE (the University of International Business and Economics and the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology always buy here… Just now I delivered goods of several dozens of yuan's worth to the university. If I move, I'll probably lose many old customers," she adds.

她又说：“对外经济贸易大学和北京服装学院的学生经常来我这里买东西….我刚才还去学校送了几十块钱的货。如果我搬走了，会失去很多老客户。” 

I must add that her that customers will miss her very much.

我必须说，顾客们也会很想念她的。