The original title of the article is "Canned Yellow Peaches" by Verena Menzel, who lives in Beijing.
She is the founder of Chinese Learning Website (New Chinese).
www.new-chinese.org
"Canned Yellow Peach" was first published in German:
https://table.media/china
German Fan is fortunate to have the original creator and China.Table authorized to publish the following translation for the benefit of readers.
To combat the flu or coronavirus, Germans drink hot lemonade, onion syrup, ginger tea or chicken soup, take a hot bath or apply a damp towel to cool down their calves. But now there is another homemade method: canned yellow peaches.
At the peak of the new crown infection, in some hot cities, not only ibuprofen, cough syrup and antigen kits were sold out, but even canned yellow peaches could not be bought. In the eyes of Northeasterners, the pickled fruits in these glass bottles or cans are "artifacts" for treating colds and fevers, causing netizens to jokingly call it "Northeast Penicillin". As a result, canned yellow peaches became a popular commodity when it was mired in the epidemic. A jar of yellow pickled fruit offers a little solace in the dark burnt days—if you can get it.
People who love canned yellow peaches say that it stimulates appetite and helps yangkang. But in fact, it is more of a psychological comfort. It is a typical "comfort food" that evokes childhood memories. In the past, grandmothers and mothers in Northeast China would always feed their children sweet canned yellow peaches when they had a cold and fever to take care of their children's early recovery. In the seventies and eighties and even nineties, canned food was a rarity in northern China. Especially in the bare winter, there are few fresh fruits and vegetables, and canned food is expensive. A can of yellow peaches can hold a pound of pork. Therefore, only when relatives come to the house, celebrate the New Year or celebrate their birthday, will they turn over the canned yellow peaches. Either when the child in the family is lying in bed coughing and high fever, such treatment is given.
But even in the south, where there is no shortage of fresh fruits throughout the year, many people will return to their childhood when they eat canned yellow peaches again. It turns out that there is a hint of "taboo" in this pungent sweetness: due to the high sugar content and "all preservatives", many parents paid close attention to the problem of their children eating canned food, and canned fruit was not commonplace. But children still love to eat. No wonder Chinese netizens call it an "anti-epidemic artifact", which is nostalgic.
In addition, canned yellow peaches evoke associations of the older generation. In ancient times, it was believed that peach tree branches could ward off evil spirits. To this day, peaches still symbolize health and longevity. In China, things with meanings are often associated with homophones: the pronunciation of the character "peach" is exactly the same as "escape". Legend has it that those who wear peach talismans with them can escape disease, death, and other bad luck. The custom of giving birthday peaches on birthday has continued to this day – either fresh peaches or peach-shaped pastries that symbolize longevity.
Chinese supermarkets also borrowed homonymous memes during the epidemic (outbreak). Photos of canned yellow peaches shelves circulating on the Internet, with the slogan next to them being "Peach through the epidemic!" ”。 The original "escape" was replaced with the word "peach".
Readers and friends in Germany, if your lover is from China, forget about onions and hot lemonade and make a can of canned yellow peaches.