又中又英｜To breathe life into something

Government officials are often criticized for coming up short with innovative ideas to diversify the type of tourists who visit Hong Kong. Mainlanders now make up the bulk of visitors to Hong Kong. They were also the largest group of visitors before the pandemic. Foreigners now make up only a small percentage of tourists. To come up short means to fail to meet expectations. Innovative ideas are new and original ideas. The bulk of something means the most of something. Free-spending mainlanders made up the bulk of visitors to Hong Kong before the pandemic.

A free-spending person is someone who spends a lot of money. Mostly frugal mainlanders now visit Hong Kong. A frugal person is someone who spends as little as possible. South Korea, like many other places, is trying to breathe life into its tourism industry now that the Covid pandemic is over. To breathe life into something means to bring new ideas and energy into something. The South Korean government has thought of an innovative idea to attract tourists by promoting its K-pop culture. It will soon start a new visa plan called the K-Culture Training Visa for foreigners who dream of training like a K-pop star.

Foreigners who want to learn K-pop dancing, choreography, and modelling can apply. Applicants don’t need to have a job offer. South Korean super-groups like BTS and Blackpink and Korean dramas like Squid Game have become globally popular. The government is hard selling this to attract tourists. Hong Kong’s Cantopop is old and no longer marketable. Victoria Harbour and the Peak will always be popular, but officials need new ideas to compete for tourists.

政府官員常被批評為不夠（coming up short）創新想法（innovative ideas）去令訪港的旅客類別更多元化。現在，訪港遊客大部分（the bulk of）是由內地人所組成。他們在新冠疫情前，亦是最大組別的遊客。現時外籍人士只佔遊客中很小的百分比。To come up short是指不符合人們的期望。Innovative ideas就是新穎和獨創的想法。The bulk of something是指某樣事物的大多數。疫情之前，出手闊綽（free-spending）的內地人士就組成了訪港旅客的大多數（the bulk of visitors）。

A free-spending person就是能豪爽花費的人。現在，則主要是慳儉的（frugal）內地人士來香港旅遊。A frugal person是可慳則慳、盡量花費很少的人。現在新冠疫情已過去，南韓，一如許多其他地方，也嘗試為其旅遊業注入生氣（breathe life into）。To breathe life into something是指為某事物帶來新的想法與活力。南韓政府想到一個創新想法（innovative idea），就是透過推廣其韓國流行音樂文化來吸引遊客。他們很快便會開始一個新的簽證計劃，名為「韓流文化研修簽證」，專門給那些夢想如韓流明星般接受培訓的外籍人士。

那些希望能學習韓流舞蹈、編舞和做模特兒的外籍人士就可申請該簽證。申請人士不需預先獲得聘用。南韓超級樂團像防彈少年團、Blackpink，以及韓劇《魷魚遊戲》都紅遍全球。政府正在硬銷這一切去吸引遊客。香港的粵語流行曲已經老舊和不再暢銷。維港和太平山山頂永遠都是受歡迎的，但官員們真的需要新想法去把遊客爭回來。
 
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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻