Mark, a foreigner apartment-hunting in Shanghai with his friend Xiaoli, is surprised to discover that Chinese kitchens rarely have ovens and decides to buy his own small oven instead.
马克找房子
我叫马克，是一个外国人，来中国工作已经一年了。因为我要搬家，所以这个星期我请我的中国朋友小丽带我去看几个房子。她的中文很好，也很了解上海，所以有她帮忙，我觉得放心多了。
我们先去了第一个房子。这个房子很大，也很干净，我很喜欢。可是我最关心的是厨房，因为我平时喜欢自己做饭，特别喜欢用烤箱做西式甜点。我问房东，厨房在哪里？我想看看厨房。房东说，在这里，然后带我们进了厨房。
我看了看厨房，发现没有烤箱，就问房东，没有烤箱吗？房东笑着告诉我，中国人很少用烤箱，做饭一般用炉子和锅，很少有人在家里烤东西。我听了以后有一点惊讶，因为在我的国家，几乎每个家庭都有烤箱。
小丽看出我有一点失望，就问房东，那微波炉呢？这个房子里应该有微波炉吧？房东说，有微波炉，可是那个微波炉已经坏了，用不了。我问房东，可以买一个新的微波炉吗？房东说可以，如果我们搬进来，他会买一个新的给我们用。
后来，我又去看了几个别的房子，可是都没有烤箱。小丽告诉我，在中国，很多家庭做饭的方式跟我们国家不太一样，烤箱不是每个厨房都需要的东西。我想了想，觉得虽然没有烤箱有点不方便，可是我可以自己去买一个小烤箱放在家里。这样，我不仅可以做中国菜，也可以做我最喜欢的甜点了。
Mǎkè Zhǎo Fángzi
Wǒ jiào Mǎkè, shì yí ge wàiguó rén, lái Zhōngguó gōngzuò yǐjīng yì nián le. Yīnwèi wǒ yào bānjiā, suǒyǐ zhège xīngqī wǒ qǐng wǒ de Zhōngguó péngyǒu Xiǎolì dài wǒ qù kàn jǐ ge fángzi. Tā de Zhōngwén hěn hǎo, yě hěn liǎojiě Shànghǎi, suǒyǐ yǒu tā bāngmáng, wǒ juéde fàngxīn duō le.
Wǒmen xiān qù le dì yī ge fángzi. Zhège fángzi hěn dà, yě hěn gānjìng, wǒ hěn xǐhuan. Kěshì wǒ zuì guānxīn de shì chúfáng, yīnwèi wǒ píngshí xǐhuan zìjǐ zuò fàn, tèbié xǐhuan yòng kǎoxiāng zuò xīshì tiándiǎn. Wǒ wèn fángdōng, chúfáng zài nǎlǐ? Wǒ xiǎng kànkan chúfáng. Fángdōng shuō, zài zhèlǐ, ránhòu dài wǒmen jìn le chúfáng.
Wǒ kàn le kàn chúfáng, fāxiàn méiyǒu kǎoxiāng, jiù wèn fángdōng, méiyǒu kǎoxiāng ma? Fángdōng xiào zhe gàosù wǒ, Zhōngguórén hěn shǎo yòng kǎoxiāng, zuò fàn yìbān yòng lúzi hé guō, hěn shǎo yǒurén zài jiā li kǎo dōngxi. Wǒ tīng le yǐhòu yǒu yìdiǎn jīngyà, yīnwèi zài wǒ de guójiā, jīhū měi ge jiātíng dōu yǒu kǎoxiāng.
Xiǎolì kàn chū wǒ yǒu yìdiǎn shīwàng, jiù wèn fángdōng, nà wēibōlú ne? Zhège fángzi li yīnggāi yǒu wēibōlú ba? Fángdōng shuō, yǒu wēibōlú, kěshì nàge wēibōlú yǐjīng huài le, yòng bù liǎo. Wǒ wèn fángdōng, kěyǐ mǎi yí ge xīn de wēibōlú ma? Fángdōng shuō kěyǐ, rúguǒ wǒmen bān jìnlái, tā huì mǎi yí ge xīn de gěi wǒmen yòng.
Hòulái, wǒ yòu qù kàn le jǐ ge biéde fángzi, kěshì dōu méiyǒu kǎoxiāng. Xiǎolì gàosù wǒ, zài Zhōngguó, hěn duō jiātíng zuò fàn de fāngshì gēn wǒmen guójiā bú tài yíyàng, kǎoxiāng bú shì měi ge chúfáng dōu xūyào de dōngxi. Wǒ xiǎng le xiǎng, juéde suīrán méiyǒu kǎoxiāng yǒudiǎn bù fāngbiàn, kěshì wǒ kěyǐ zìjǐ qù mǎi yí ge xiǎo kǎoxiāng fàng zài jiā li. Zhèyàng, wǒ bùjǐn kěyǐ zuò Zhōngguó cài, yě kěyǐ zuò wǒ zuì xǐhuan de tiándiǎn le.
Mark Looks for an Apartment
My name is Mark, I’m a foreigner, and I’ve already been working in China for a year. Because I need to move, this week I asked my Chinese friend Xiaoli to take me to look at a few apartments. Her Chinese is very good, and she also knows Shanghai well, so with her helping me, I felt much more at ease.
We first went to the first apartment. This apartment was very big and very clean, and I liked it a lot. But what I cared about most was the kitchen, because I usually like to cook for myself, and I especially like using an oven to make Western-style desserts. I asked the landlord, where’s the kitchen? I want to take a look at the kitchen. The landlord said, it’s here, and then took us into the kitchen.
I looked around the kitchen and found there was no oven, so I asked the landlord, there’s no oven? The landlord smiled and told me that Chinese people rarely use ovens — cooking is usually done with a stove and a pan, and very few people bake things at home. After hearing this, I was a little surprised, because in my country, almost every household has an oven.
Xiaoli noticed that I looked a little disappointed, so she asked the landlord, then what about a microwave? This apartment should have a microwave, right? The landlord said, there is a microwave, but that microwave is already broken and unusable. I asked the landlord, can we buy a new microwave? The landlord said yes, if we move in, he would buy a new one for us to use.
Later, I went to look at a few other apartments, but none of them had ovens either. Xiaoli told me that in China, many households cook differently than in our country, and an oven isn’t something every kitchen needs. I thought about it and felt that although not having an oven was a little inconvenient, I could go buy a small oven myself and put it at home. This way, I could not only cook Chinese food, but also make my favorite desserts.
音频
Audio recording for this story will be available here.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 带 | dài | to bring |
| 外国 | wàiguó | foreign |
| 朋友 | péngyǒu | friend |
| 看 | kàn | to look at |
| 房 | fáng | house |
| 请进 | qǐng jìn | please enter |
| 房子 | fángzi | apartment / house |
| 厨房 | chúfáng | kitchen |
| 烤箱 | kǎoxiāng | oven |
| 很少 | hěn shǎo | very seldom |
| 用 | yòng | to use |
| 那 | nà | then |
| 微波炉 | wēibōlú | microwave oven |
| 坏了 | huài le | to be broken |
| 可以 | kěyǐ | to be able / can |
| 新 | xīn | new |
很少 + Verb (hěn shǎo) — rarely do something
很少 placed before a verb expresses that an action happens infrequently.
中国人很少用烤箱。
Verb + 坏了 (huài le) — to be broken
坏了 attaches after a noun or in a follow-up clause to indicate something has stopped working.
微波炉坏了。
虽然…可是… (suīrán…kěshì…) — although…but…
This pattern introduces a contrast between an acknowledged fact and a following conclusion.
虽然没有烤箱有点不方便，可是我可以自己买一个。
No idiomatic expressions in this story.
Ovens in Chinese Kitchens
Unlike in many Western countries, ovens (烤箱, kǎoxiāng) are not standard kitchen appliances in most Chinese homes. Traditional Chinese cooking relies primarily on stir-frying, steaming, and boiling using a stove and wok, so many apartments are built without built-in ovens. Foreign residents who want to bake often purchase a compact countertop oven separately.
