China went from famine to fat in a few short decades, until it reached that true pinnacle of economic prosperity: it is on a diet.

　　在短短几十年里，中国人经历了从饥饿到肥胖的转变。现在，中国人开始减肥了。

　　Sales of slimming products, from weight-loss teas to mung beans, are rising sharply, gyms open (and close) at lightning speed, and traditional Chinese hospitals report a rise in patients seeking acupuncture and fire-cupping treatments to help shed weight.

　　从减肥茶到绿豆，各种减肥产品的销量都在急速上升；健身中心正在以闪电般的速度开业（和关门）；越来越多的人前往中医院，寻求用针灸和拔火罐的方法减轻体重。

　　Slimming product sales grew 10 percent in 2008 to 6 billion yuan, according to Euromonitor, which predicts 6 percent annual growth for the next five years.

　　根据欧睿信息咨询公司的数据，2008年，中国减肥产品销量增长了10%，达到60亿元人民币。该公司预计在未来5年内，减肥产品销售的年均增速为6%。

　　It is not that obesity is not a huge problem in China: according to a 2008 study, Chinese adults are getting fatter faster than those in any nation apart from Mexico. About a quarter of the Chinese population is overweight or obese.

　　根据2008年一份调查报告，除墨西哥外，中国成年人的变胖速度比任何国家都快。目前大约有四分之一的中国人处于超重或肥胖状态。

　　"In China, young girls think their weight is a big problem, even if they look tiny," says Jackie Mao, a Weight Watchers teacher. Sophia Sun, 29, is one such member. She is trim and petite but says: "I don't think to be slim is good enough. I don’t want to be skinny, just a little slimmer than before. Every caterpillar has a dream to be a butterfly."

　　美国减肥机构慧俪轻体的教师茅小姐说：“在中国，年轻女孩把体重看作一个大问题，即使她们看上去已经很瘦了。”29岁的孙小姐就是这样的顾客，她既苗条又娇小，不过她说：“每个毛毛虫都有变成蝴蝶的梦想。”

　　David Kirchhoff, Weight Watchers'chief executive, says the biggest hurdle in China is building a nutritional database to assign points to such a vast and complex cuisine, which contains such unfamiliar dishes as Kung Pao Chicken and "Husband-and-Wife Lung Slice". He says the "lazy Susan culture" of China makes things more difficult. Restaurant meals tend to be ordered communally, with over-ordering a sign of respect – which makes life hard for dieters.

　　慧俪轻体首席执行官戴维-基希奥夫说，在中国经营的最大障碍是建设一个营养数据库，给品种繁杂的中国菜评分，比如宫保鸡丁和夫妻肺片等外国人不熟悉的菜式。中国的“餐桌文化”使减肥变得更加困难。人们在餐厅就餐时习惯共餐，为了体现尊重会点很多吃不了的菜—这令减肥者更难减肥。