《繁花》“点燃”上海黄河路，昔日著名美食街“翻红”
Hit TV drama 'Blossoms' drives a new craze in Shanghai

Formerly known as a gastronomy paradise, Shanghai's Huanghe Road used to be home to over 100 restaurants, many of which served high-end fare that only the rich and famous could afford.

上海的黄河路曾被誉为美食天堂，这里坐落着100多家餐馆，其中许多餐馆供应富豪名流才消费得起的高端美食。

But everything started to change in the mid-1990s when a spate of changes sapped the lustre out of this bustling street.

但自上世纪90年代中期开始，一系列变化让这条繁华的街道失去了昔日光彩。

New safety regulations, for example, saw the iconic neon signs that gave the street much of its character torn from the buildings. Fried snakes, a delicacy that many intrepid gourmands sought after, were also banned. The Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s and the SARS pandemic in 2003 subsequently resulted in many restaurants closing down.

例如，由于新的安全规定，黄河路上别具特色的标志性霓虹灯被拆除。许多美食家都想品尝的炸蛇肉也被禁止。经历了上世纪90年代末的亚洲金融危机和2003年的非典疫情，许多餐馆已经倒闭。

But the area is now experiencing a revival of sorts, with throngs of people armed with cameras flocking to it in search of nostalgia and historical clues.

但现在，黄河路再次热闹起来，人们带着相机蜂拥而至，在这里感受怀旧气息，追寻历史痕迹。

Wang Yongfen, who has been living in a shikumen lane house on Huanghe Road for the last 35 years, said she has never seen such crowds before.

王永芬（音译）已经在黄河路石库门弄堂里住了35年，她说以前从未见过这么多人。

The reason behind this phenomenon is Blossoms Shanghai, a new television series by Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai that was released on December 27, 2023.

而让这里重新热闹起来的是王家卫（中国香港）导演的电视剧《繁花》，该剧于去年12月27日播出。

Adapted from Chinese writer Jin Yucheng's award-winning novel Fan Hua (Blossoms), the TV series takes audiences back to 1990s Shanghai when the city was experiencing unprecedented economic growth and prosperity.

《繁花》改编自中国作家金宇澄的同名获奖小说，将观众带回上世纪90年代的上海，展现了这座城市当时所经历的前所未有的经济增长和繁荣。

"The TV series did a great job in portraying Shanghai in the 1990s. Although the names of the restaurants and shops in the drama were made up, the scenes got me reminiscing about the many old-school restaurants and bars here," said the 60-year-old.

王永芬说：“电视剧《繁花》很好地刻画了上世纪90年代的上海。虽然剧中的餐馆和商店都是虚构的，但这些场景让我想起了这里许多老式餐馆和酒吧。”

"Restaurants here were the pioneers in introducing Hong Kong cuisine to the city. Many top chefs from Hong Kong used to work in the restaurants here," recalled Wang.

王永芬回忆道：“黄河路上的餐厅率先将香港美食引入上海。许多来自香港的顶级厨师都曾在这里的餐厅工作过。”

"Hong Kong dishes quickly became popular as pop songs and movies from Hong Kong were highly sought after here in the 1990s. It was common to see photos of restaurant owners posing with famous movie stars and singers from Hong Kong."

“随着香港流行歌曲和电影在上世纪90年代受到追捧，港式菜肴迅速走红。餐馆老板与香港著名影星和歌手合影的照片屡见不鲜。”

A security guard surnamed Zhang who works at an office building along the road told China Daily that the area has been overflowing with visitors since the launch of the new show.

黄河路上一栋写字楼的保安张某告诉《中国日报》，自从电视剧《繁花》播出以来，这里就吸引了大批游客。

"Just look at Park Hotel. People have been queuing up as early as 6 am to buy its famous palmiers even though the pastry shop only opens at 8 am. There are also many more young people visiting these days," said Zhang.

张某称：“看看上海国际饭店就知道了。西饼屋8点才开门，但是早上6点，购买蝴蝶酥的顾客就排起了队。现在来这里的年轻人也多了。”

One of the biggest beneficiaries of the latest craze is the restaurant called Tai Sheng Yuan, which was the inspiration for the fictitious Zhi Zhen Yuan restaurant that is depicted in the drama. According to its staff, online sales had burgeoned a whopping 170 percent compared with a week ago. Group purchase orders had also soared by 240 percent.

这股热潮的最大受益者之一是一家名为苔圣园的饭店，这家店正是剧中虚构的至真园餐馆的原型。店内员工称，与一周前相比，店内线上销售额激增170%，团购订单也飙升240%。

Visitor numbers to the Fairmont Peace Hotel on the Bund, another landmark depicted in the TV series, has also been rising, as evidenced by the deluge of photos posted by Chinese social media users.

《繁花》中出现的另一上海地标和平饭店的游客人数也变多了，社交媒体用户发布的大量照片就是明证。

To take advantage of the fanfare surrounding the road, the hotel recently unveiled a new set menu comprising several dishes featured in the TV series. Despite costing 1,460 yuan ($204), the two-person set meals were quickly snapped up within days.

为了迎合这波热度，酒店最近推出了新款“繁花”套餐，其中包括剧中出现的几道菜肴。尽管这款双人套餐价格高达1460元，但很快就被抢购一空。

Online food delivery services have also reported that takeaway orders for food featured in the TV drama have been soaring. For example, online takeaway orders of rice soup, a typical Shanghai homemade dish that involves soaking leftover rice in a seafood broth, spiked 1.5 times on Meituan.

外卖平台数据显示，《繁花》中出现的美食外卖订单持续飙升。例如，上海泡饭的美团外卖订单飙升了1.5倍。这是一道经典的上海家常菜，将剩米饭浸泡在海鲜汤中制作而成。

Other Shanghai classics like pork chops and rice cakes, have also been massively popular, with food delivery orders for them soaring 300 percent on Meituan.

排骨年糕等其他经典上海美食也大受欢迎，排骨年糕的美团订单飙升了300%。

But the show has stirred more than just appetites of the public. For Huang Jiani, the show reminded her of the days when people could still set off firecrackers in downtown during the Spring Festival holiday period.

《繁花》勾起的不仅仅是人们的胃口。对于黄佳妮（音译）来说，这部电视剧让她想起了春节假期仍然可以在市中心燃放鞭炮的日子。

"Business people believed that larger and louder firecrackers would bring greater fortunes in the new year. On the eve of the Spring Festival, restaurant managers would set off boxes of firecrackers larger than TV sets in the middle of the street. The deafening sounds of the firecrackers going off could be heard till sunrise," Huang recalled.

黄佳妮回忆说：“做生意的人认为，鞭炮声越大越响，新的一年财运越旺。春节前夕，餐馆经理会在街中央燃放比电视还大的一箱箱的鞭炮。震耳欲聋的鞭炮声可以一直持续到天亮。”