不，这不是白宫，这是中国的一个厕所
There's been a lot of ink spilled on the meaning of the ' Chine dream.' But if recent headlines are any guide, a lesr-sung dream also has a powerful pull on psyches here: the 'Toilet Dream.'联想记忆法
于什么是“中国梦”，阐述的文章已经不少，不过从近期的媒体报道来看，一个较少被人称道的梦也强烈地吸引着中国人，那就是“厕所梦”。
Take, for example, news that emerged this week that a city in eastern Anhui province had built a 418-square-meter toilet that looks like a mash-up of the White Hou and the U.S. Capitol Building. According to the official China Daily, the toilet cost a local liquor company $144, 000 to construct, and promptly sparked a flurry of commentary, with some condemning such an expenditure as, well, a waste.
比如，本周就有媒体报道说，安徽省某市建了一个占地418平方米的厕所（下图），外观就像是白宫和美国国会大厦的混合体。据官方媒体《中国日报》(China Daily)报道，为建这个
厕所，当地一家酒厂花了元宵歌14.4万美元，这个厕所引发了热议，一些人谴责说，这么花钱太浪费了。
Attempts to reach the company for comment weren't successful. The newspaper quoted the liquor company as saying the toilet was built to accommodate its staff of 4, 000 as well as the thousands of customers who visit the premis.
记者试图联系这家酒厂请求置评，但未获成功。该报引用酒厂的话说，这个厕所是供该厂4,000名员工和数千名来访客户使用的。
It's not the first time a so-called luxury toilet has made headlines here. Previous public toilets have been built in the style of a European clock tower, a villa or with soaring eaves. Last year, the city of Linfen in Shanxi province was reported in state media to have spent more than $8 million to build 160 public toilets, among them 40 'five-star toilets, ' some of which were designed to look like landmarks including the Olympic Bird's Nest.
豪华厕所登上报纸头条并不是第一次。此前，曾有依照欧洲钟楼和别墅样式而建的公共厕所，有的还有飞檐。去年，官方媒体报道称，山西临汾斥资800多万美元建了清理160个公共厕所，其中40个是“五星级”厕所，一些厕所是仿造鸟巢等地标性建筑而建。
For a country that has issued exacting standards to grade and dictate toilet quality–including the requirement that no more than three flies per square meter appear in public bathrooms–perhaps it's no surpri that residents em to feel a particular fascination wit
h toilets. (The feeling is mutual: for many years, some of the key tales Westerners liked to bring back home from visits to China were regarding the stench and sub-standard quality of the country's toilets, an image that's persisted, even as they've improved in many cities.)
对于中国这个发布了详尽的厕所质量分级标准（比如有一项要求是，每平方米的苍蝇数量不得多于三只）的国家来说，居民们格外在意厕所或许不足为奇。（西方人也对中国的厕所耿耿于怀：很多年来，西方人到中国旅行后回到本国所讲的故事中，有一些就是关于中国的厕所味道怎么不好，质量怎么不达标，这一印象已经根深蒂固，即使今天很多城市的厕所都已经改善了。）
Given the by turns outlandish and creative imaginations behind some of the country's toilets, it's no surpri, either, that some have become tourist attractions in their own right.
考虑到中国的一些厕所背后那稀奇古怪、创意十足的想象力，一些厕所本身成为旅游景点也不必大惊小怪。
茄盒
A 24-karat gold bathroom in Hong Kong ( including a chandelier, 6, 200 inlaid pearls and golden paneling, along with a 24-karat gold toilet with a functioning flush) ud to attract scores of mainland tourist groups per day before it was largely dismantled. The world's so-called 'longest connected bathroom' in Chongqing is also a tourist attraction, one that includes urinals in the shape of alligator heads and faucets shaped like elephants, albeit a slightly woebegone-looking one wor for the wear.
看动作猜词语曾几何时，香港的纯金厕所（内有一个枝形吊灯，镶嵌了肿字组词星空物语歌词6,200颗 石及珍珠，还用黄金珠宝做成浮雕壁画，以及一个可以冲水的24K足金马桶）每天都吸引不少内地游客，后来渐渐门庭冷落。重庆的“世界上最长联排式厕所”也成了旅游胜地，这个厕所里有鳄鱼头造型的便盆、大象造型的龙头，不过这个厕所看起来有点寒酸，用起来也不太好用。
After all, while China's fancy toilets may pack a lot of flash, in the end, it's just about the flush.
不管怎样，尽管中国让人称奇的厕所可能会吸引一些眼球，但最终的目的只是提供“方便”。
新年儿童画图片
'We wanted to make the building a little special in appearance, but more important, we emphasize its function as a toilet, so the interior decoration is not so luxurious as some people imagine, ' an executive with Anhui Golden Seed Winery Co., the company that commissioned the White Hou-style toilet, told China Daily.
建造了白宫式厕所的安徽金种子酒业股份有限公司(Anhui Golden Seed Winery Co.)的一名高管对《中国日报》说，他们希望这个建筑看起来特别一点，但更重要的是，他们强调的是厕所的功能性，因此内部装潢不像人们想的那么豪华。
