Every graduate from a Chinese college probably has a story to tell about the shitang, or canteen they used to frequent in between boring lectures and endless hours of studying - the place where students would gather with their peers to put down a bowl of soup, generally filled with bits of whatever ubiquitous cheap Chinese vegetable the cook managed to get their hands on that morning.
关于食堂，每个中国大学的毕业生都能说点什么。在枯燥的课程和无尽的学习时间间隙，他们曾经常常光顾食堂。在那里，学生和同伴们一起抱怨一碗汤，一碗厨师用早晨能拿到的任何普通的便宜的中国蔬菜做成的汤。

For those of us who graduated several years ago, memories of our college shitang tend to be fond. We loved making trips to the canteen, not because of the lifeless food we ate there, but for the laughter we shared with our roommates or the shy stares that a girl could receive from a boy at a nearby table - an innocent act that could sustain an entire dormitory's gossip material for days.
对我们之中早几年的毕业生来说，关于大学食堂的记忆是非常美好的。我们喜欢到食堂去，不是因为那些没味的食物，而是因为我们与室友在一起分享的欢声笑语或者邻桌的男孩给某个女生传来的羞涩的凝视——那种纯洁的行为能让一个宿舍的人八卦好几天。

We always knew that the happy times at the shitang came with an order of incredibly unpalatable food - but it never really bothered us that much.
我们一直知道，在食堂的快乐时光总是伴随着那些难吃得令人难以置信的食物，但是这从没那我们这么困扰过。

I was reminded of my school canteen days recently, after learning that some 3,000 students skipped class at a vocational school in Langfang, Hebei Province to protest their detestable shitang situation. Hundreds of tables and chairs at the canteen were smashed in the bitter episode.
最近在听说了“河北省廊坊市的一个职业学校约3000名学生逃课抗议学校食堂的可怕状况”的消息之后，我想起了自己的学校食堂生活。

The cause of their anger was simple: The food they were literally forced to eat - after school authorities locked them in to stop them from getting take-out outside - was intolerably unsavory and costly.
那些学生愤怒的原因很简单。学校为了阻止他们从外面买外卖将他们锁在学校里，之后，他们几乎是被迫去吃那些又难吃又贵的食物。

While it was an extreme case of discontentment, the underlying theme remains strong enough to sour a perfectly good carton of milk.
虽然这是不满情绪的一个极端案例，潜在的问题仍然强大到足以变味一个非常好的一盒牛奶。

The open secret is that the relationship between canteen contractors and school authorities nationwide often results in the absence of a food quality supervisor at the shitang - and this is ruining students' appetites.
这里有一个公开的秘密，那就是，食堂承包者和学校当局的关系是因为食堂缺少食品质量监管人，而这又导致了学生们的坏胃口。

In my college days, posts on our school's BBS complaining about the horrid food was always a popular topic, with students sarcastically commenting on their latest mystery meal.
在我的大学生活中，在我们的学校BBS上，抱怨可怕食物的帖子一直是热门的话题，学生们总是讽刺地评价最近的神秘餐。

"What a surprise!" I recall one student writing, "I bought a bowl of stones from the canteen today, but it came with some rice!"
“真是一个惊喜！”我记起一个学生曾写道，“今天我从食堂买了一碗石头，但是里面夹着一些米！”

He had attached a photo of the bowl of rice he was served, inside of which were a handful of strewn pebbles.
他附上了一张那碗米饭的照片，里面零散分布着一些鹅卵石。

Nowadays on Sina Weibo, students hold contests, posting pictures of their canteen food, competing for the title of "Most Tragic Meal." Previous winners have included those who ate porridge, after it was stewed without so much as a single grain of rice; and steamed duck, or more accurately, a pile of meatless bones.
现在在新浪微博上，学生们在举行比赛，他们贴上学校食堂食物的照片，竞争“最悲催食物”的名头。之前的优胜者们有吃到过没有一粒米的粥和更准确来说是一堆没肉的骨头的蒸鸭。

Of course, most colleges don't go to such extremes to stop students from going off campus for food like the vocational school did in Langfang.
当然，大多数学校没有极端到像廊坊的职业学校一样阻止学生去校外吃饭。

In fact, many small diners near college campuses offer tasty and inexpensive food, surviving off the unsatisfied stomachs of college students.
事实上，许多学校附近的小餐馆提供美味又便宜的食物，拯救了大学学生们的不满的肚子。

But somehow, college canteens, with their geographical vantage point and robust support from school authorities, never have trouble making ends meet despite the fierce competition outside.
但是不知怎么的，占据着地理优势和学校当局的强力支持，尽管外面竞争激烈，学校食堂却永远不会入不敷出。

The shitang problem is deep-rooted in China's education system, and unfortunately, there is no quick solution.
食堂问题扎根于中国的教育系统之中，而且遗憾的是，没有快速的解决办法。

Back in college, volunteer students wore red armbands to patrol the canteen, demanding students to put away their trays and place uneaten food in recycling bins before leaving.
回到大学，学生志愿者带上红袖章在食堂巡逻，要求学生们在离开之前把托盘放好，把没吃完的食物放进回收箱里。

Perhaps, we need to bring back these red-armed bandits today, but have them stare at canteen cooks instead - while requesting them to make more palatable meals.
也许，我们需要召回这些红袖者，但是需要他们转而盯着食堂厨师，要求他们做出更美味的食物。