背景介绍：
苏州，这座历史悠久的城市，以其独特的运河景观和古朴的白色建筑群闻名，近年来咖啡文化悄然兴起。自2010年以来，中国咖啡消费量显著增长，尽管仍远低于美国，但已跃升为全球品牌咖啡店数量最多的国家。咖啡在中国的历史虽起步艰难，受清朝政府抵制外国文化影响，但自80年代市场改革后，外国品牌速溶咖啡和咖啡店相继进入，尤其是1999年星巴克的进入，引领了年轻中产阶级的咖啡消费潮流。如今，平价咖啡品牌如瑞幸咖啡迅速崛起，咖啡市场进一步繁荣，并出现茶咖啡等创新饮品。
China is now
the world leader in coffee shops
中国现已成为咖啡店数量全球第一的国家
But the average Chinese person still guzzles much less than a typical American
但中国人均咖啡消费量仍远低于美国
The historic city of Suzhou, about an hour’s drive from Shanghai, is criss-crossed with canals. Old whitewashed buildings line the banks. A century ago some of these would have been chaguans, or traditional teahouses, where locals gathered to discuss the news or conduct business.
历史名城苏州，距离国际大都市上海约一小时车程，其境内运河纵横交错，景致独特。河岸两旁，古老的白色建筑整齐排列，诉说着岁月的沧桑。一个世纪前，这些建筑内或许藏匿着几间传统茶馆，当地人常聚于此，或聊家长里短，或洽谈业务往来。
Today a visitor is more likely to find shops serving a different kind of beverage. There are dozens of Starbucks outlets in Suzhou, as well as other coffee sellers. Some even look like old chaguans—from the outside at least.
而今，游客踏入此地，更可能邂逅各式饮品店铺，体验不同的味蕾之旅。苏州城内，星巴克门店林立，其他咖啡店亦多达数十家，有的甚至巧妙融入老茶馆的风貌，至少在外观上，令人恍若隔世。
Between 2010 and 2022 coffee consumption per person in China rose fourfold, according to the International Coffee Organisation, a group of producer and user countries. (China’s GDP per person doubled over the same period.)
国际咖啡组织——一个由生产国和消费国共同组成的团体——的数据揭示，自2010年至2022年间，中国人均咖啡消费量实现了四倍的增长。（同期，中国人均GDP亦翻了一番。）
The average Chinese person still drinks a fraction of the amount of coffee guzzled by the typical American: 0.1kg per year compared with 4.7kg. But last year China surpassed America, becoming the country with the most branded coffee shops (places like Starbucks) in the world, as the World Coffee Portal, a research firm, reported. China is home to nearly 50,000 such outlets.
尽管如此，中国人年均咖啡消费量仍远低于美国：两者分别是0.1公斤和4.7公斤。然而，据研究公司世界咖啡门户报道，令人瞩目的是，去年中国已超越美国，成为全球品牌咖啡店（如星巴克等）数量最多的国家，中国此类门店数量已有近5万家。
The early history of coffee in China is fuzzy. By some accounts it was Danes who opened the first coffee shop in the country in the 1830s. The drink didn’t catch on, in part because the Qing dynasty took a dim view of foreigners and sought to curb their influence.
咖啡在中国的早期历史，犹如雾里看花，不甚清晰。有说法认为，丹麦人于19世纪30年代在中国开设了首家咖啡店。但遗憾的是，这种舶来品并未迅速流行开来，部分原因在于清朝政府对外国文化的消极态度及其遏制外国影响力的努力。
A record from that period described coffee as a “black liquor, which the foreign devils drank after meals, saying it can help with digestion”. A century later Lu Xun, a celebrated author, wrote that he didn’t drink the stuff: “I always thought it was for the foreign excellencies.” He and most other Chinese people preferred tea.
当时的一份记录甚至将咖啡描绘为“外国魔鬼饭后饮用的黑色液体，据说有助于消化”的奇异之物。一个世纪之后，著名作家鲁迅亦曾坦言，自己从不饮用此物：“我一直以为这是专为外国使节准备的。”他与大多数国人一样，更偏爱茶的韵味。
But after China introduced market reforms and opened up to the world in the 1980s, foreign firms such as Maxwell House and Nestlé brought instant coffee to the country. They catered to local tastes, making their mixes sweeter and less bitter than what they sold elsewhere.
然而，自20世纪80年代中国实施市场改革并对外开放以来，麦斯威尔和雀巢等外国品牌携速溶咖啡涌入中国市场，通过调整口味以适应本地需求，使得中国的咖啡甜度更高，苦味减轻。
Western-style coffee shops arrived years later—chief among them Starbucks in 1999. The company’s freshly brewed coffee was new to China. Having a laptop in one hand and a (relatively expensive) cup of Starbucks in the other became a way for young middle-class people to indicate their status.
西式咖啡店则稍晚几年才现身，其中最具标志性的便是1999年进入中国的星巴克。其现煮咖啡对中国消费者而言，无疑是一种新鲜事物。一手拿着笔记本电脑，一手捧着（相对昂贵的）星巴克咖啡，成为了年轻中产阶级彰显身份与地位的新风尚。
The biggest coffee-drinking demographic is still “white-collar workers in first-tier cities aged between 20 and 40”, according to Deloitte, a consulting firm. China’s experience mirrors that of Japan some 50 years ago, when rising incomes led to more coffee consumption. A surge in office jobs—and long working hours—in China has also fuelled demand.
咨询公司德勤指出，目前最大的咖啡消费群体仍是“一线城市中20至40岁的白领阶层”。中国的这一发展历程，不禁让人联想到大约50年前日本的经历，彼时日本民众收入的增长同样带动了咖啡消费的激增。而在中国，办公室工作的迅速增多以及长时间的工作模式，也进一步刺激了咖啡市场的需求。
Today, though, a wider range of the population is partaking thanks to the rise of domestic coffee chains selling affordable brews. The leader is Luckin Coffee, with over 20,000 outlets. Starbucks, by comparison, has 7,300 shops.
然而，如今，随着主打平价咖啡的国内连锁品牌的崛起，越来越多的消费者开始加入咖啡爱好者的行列。其中，瑞幸咖啡以其超过2万家门店的数量遥遥领先。相比之下，星巴克在中国拥有7300家店铺。
A cup of basic Luckin coffee is about a third of the price of an equivalent Starbucks offering. Luckin’s sales in China exceeded Starbucks’ for the first time in 2023. Both chains are expanding into smaller cities.
一杯基础款瑞幸咖啡价格，大约是同等星巴克咖啡价格的三分之一。2023年，瑞幸在中国的销售额首次超越了星巴克。两家连锁品牌都在向更小的城市扩张。
Coffee companies in China are also still trying to cater to local tastes. One innovation has been the “tea-coffee”, a concoction that blends the two drinks. Luckin serves such fare as Oolong Latte and Jasmine Sea Salt Latte. Qing-dynasty officials are surely rolling in their graves.
中国的咖啡企业亦在不断探索，力求更好地迎合本地消费者的口味。其中一项创新便是“茶咖啡”，这一饮品巧妙地将咖啡与茶两种文化融合于一体。瑞幸咖啡便推出了乌龙拿铁、茉莉海盐拿铁等独特口味。试想，清朝官员们若泉下有知，定会气得打滚。
苏格拉底有一句名言：我知我无知。说的是，当你认识到的东西越多就越发现自己无知。苏格拉底认为，人对于客观世界的认识是有限的，且不可能完全认识客观世界，并且不应对客观世界刨根究底。神对于世界的规划自有安排，若人一意孤行地探索世界和自然的奥秘，则最终将亵渎甚至触怒神明。正因为人对神所构建的世界不可能实现完全认知，因此那些宣称自己能够认识和改造世界的人，本身便是无知的代言。尽管苏格拉底的关于“ 我知我无知”的观念的解读，在现在看来有失客观科学。但至少苏格拉底告诫人们，人的认知是有限的，现有的知识甚至可能存在错误和疏漏。同样地，我们在求学之路上也要报以我知我不知的心态，才能走得更远。最后，祝愿莘莘学子都能终有所成！
