Easy to make and cheap to buy, instant noodles have long been China's ultimate convenience food.
方便面既容易做又能便宜買(mǎi)到，所以一直是中國(guó)最便利的食品。

Be it a snack for students, a meal on the train, or just the go-to choice for hungry workers, more than 46.2 billion packets were sold in China in 2013.
它是學(xué)生們的零食、火車(chē)上的一餐，或者只是饑餓的工人們的首選。2013年方便面在中國(guó)的銷(xiāo)量逾462億包。

But by 2016 those sales had tumbled to 38.5 billion packets, according to the World Instant Noodle Association. That's a drop of almost 17%.
然而，世界方便面協(xié)會(huì)表示，到2016年，方便面的銷(xiāo)量已驟降至385億包，跌幅近17%。

Given most other instant noodle markets have remained fairly steady over the past few years - it is an unusual pattern.
考慮到在過(guò)去的幾年里，方便面在其他多數(shù)市場(chǎng)上依然保持著相當(dāng)穩(wěn)定的銷(xiāo)量，而中國(guó)市場(chǎng)則是一個(gè)罕見(jiàn)的范例。

So what's going on? Well here are some theories - which suggest instant noodles could be, in many ways, a great indicator of how China is changing.
那么發(fā)生了什么呢？以下是幾種推測(cè)，這也說(shuō)明，從很多方面來(lái)講，方便面可能是中國(guó)正如何做出改變的一個(gè)有力的指示器。

Aspiration: Customers want better food
渴望：顧客想要更好的食品

The recipe for instant noodles is fairly straight forward: Just add boiling water, a sachet of sauce, and some small packets of dehydrated vegetables and meat.
方便面的做法十分直截了當(dāng)：你只需要往面里加入沸水、一包醬料以及幾小袋脫水蔬菜和肉的調(diào)料包即可。

As appetising as that sounds, one factor in the slump could well be that some Chinese consumers are upping their expectations in the dining department.
方便面就像它聽(tīng)起來(lái)那樣讓人很有食欲，但其銷(xiāo)量驟降的一個(gè)因素可能是一些中國(guó)消費(fèi)者提高了自己對(duì)飲食的期望。

The decline of instant noodle sales shows a shift in China's consumption patterns. Consumers are more interested in life quality than just filling their bellies these days.
方便面銷(xiāo)量的下降也說(shuō)明了中國(guó)消費(fèi)模式的轉(zhuǎn)變。如今，與只是填飽肚子相比，消費(fèi)者更注重生活質(zhì)量。

Population shift: Rural workers are going home
人口遷移：農(nóng)民工返鄉(xiāng)

One of the big consumers of instant noodles - the theory goes - are migrant workers. They are away from home, often living in cramped conditions with limited cooking facilities, and keen to save as much money as they can to send back to their families.
從理論上講，方便面最大的消費(fèi)者群體之一是農(nóng)民工。他們離開(kāi)了家鄉(xiāng)，往往生活在烹飪條件有限且擁擠的環(huán)境中，而且他們渴望盡可能多地省下一些錢(qián)寄回家里去。

Until 2014 the number of rural Chinese who had moved to cities had been on the rise.
直到2014年，中國(guó)涌向城市的農(nóng)民工的數(shù)量還在上漲。

But that trend has now reversed for two consecutive years.
然而，這種趨勢(shì)如今已經(jīng)連續(xù)兩年朝相反的方向發(fā)展了。

Travel: Infrastructure improving, habits changing
旅行：基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施的改善和生活習(xí)慣的改變

Travelling in China 20 years ago, I filled my stomach (and time) by eating pot after pot of instant noodles during cross-country train journeys, which sometimes lasted three days or more.
20年前去中國(guó)旅行，在跨越全國(guó)的火車(chē)之旅中，我會(huì)一碗接一碗地吃著方便面來(lái)填飽肚子（并打發(fā)時(shí)間），有時(shí)候這種旅程會(huì)持續(xù)3天或更久。

But Chinese trains and stations have improved. Journeys are quicker, and the range of food options are far more international - meaning noodle sales on the railways have fallen.
然而，中國(guó)的火車(chē)和車(chē)站已經(jīng)改進(jìn)了。旅程變得更快了，而且食品選擇的范圍也更國(guó)際化了，這意味著方便面在鐵路系統(tǒng)的銷(xiāo)量下降了。

And then there is the boom in aviation as middle class Chinese people spend billions flying on?holidays instead of using trains.
另外，中國(guó)的航空業(yè)也在迅速發(fā)展，因?yàn)橹袊?guó)的中產(chǎn)階級(jí)花費(fèi)了上億元乘飛機(jī)度假，而不是通過(guò)火車(chē)。

Smartphones and the internet: There's another form of 'quick food'
智能手機(jī)和互聯(lián)網(wǎng)：中國(guó)有了另外一種“快餐”

About 730 million people in China now have access to the internet. And about 95% of those are using smartphones to connect.
如今中國(guó)有約7.3億人可以上網(wǎng)，而且其中95%的人在使用智能手機(jī)上網(wǎng)。

And apps that offer food delivery to your home, office or wherever you happen to be are a real boom industry.
手機(jī)上的應(yīng)用軟件可以提供外賣(mài)服務(wù)，而且可以把食品配送到你的家里、辦公室或你所在的任何地方，而這也成為了一個(gè)真正繁榮的行業(yè)。

Their menus are undoubtedly more expensive than a pot of instant noodles. But these meals can still be inexpensive. And arguably more tasty.
外賣(mài)的飯菜無(wú)疑比一碗方便面要貴，但它們還是便宜的，而且可能更美味。

Optimism
樂(lè)觀主義

But put in the global context China is still the biggest market for instant noodles as this chart shows:
但是放眼全球，中國(guó)依然是方便面最大的市場(chǎng)，如圖所示：

Almost three times as many packets were sold in 2016 than in?Indonesia.
2016年方便面在中國(guó)的銷(xiāo)量幾乎是印度尼西亞的三倍。

In fact China's total was roughly the equivalent of Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, India, the US, South Korea and the Philippines combined.
事實(shí)上，中國(guó)的方便面銷(xiāo)售總量差不多相當(dāng)于印度尼西亞、日本、越南、印度、美國(guó)、韓國(guó)和菲律賓等國(guó)家的銷(xiāo)量總和。

And that means global noodle manufacturers are unlikely to turn away from the Chinese market.
這意味著全球的方便面生產(chǎn)商不可能放棄中國(guó)市場(chǎng)。

"Some consumers stopped consuming instant noodles, but most consumers want to increase the quality (of food they consume)," chief executive Kiyotaka Ando, Japan's instant noodle business Nissin Foods, said.
“一些消費(fèi)者不再購(gòu)買(mǎi)方便面了，但多數(shù)消費(fèi)者想要提高（自己所購(gòu)買(mǎi)的食品的）質(zhì)量，”日本方便面廠商日清食品總裁安藤清隆說(shuō)道。

"We can supply high-quality products so we have more possibility to develop our business."
“我們可以提供高質(zhì)量的產(chǎn)品，所以我們還有更多機(jī)會(huì)來(lái)拓展我們的業(yè)務(wù)?！?/div>

（翻譯：Dlacus）