Every early spring, a foul odor fills the air of Dongyang, Zhejiang Province. Dongyang people call it "the smell of spring."

　　每到早春时节，浙江省东阳市的空气中总是弥漫着阵阵恶臭。东阳人称之为“春天的气息”。

　　It’s actually the smell of urine. Dongyang people boil eggs in boy’s urine and sell them at 1.50 yuan apiece. It sells like hot cakes.

　　其实这是尿液的气味。东阳人将鸡蛋煮在男孩的尿液中，以每个1.5元的价格出售，还很抢手。

　　The convention of eating such eggs, called tong zi dan in Chinese, literally Boy Egg, is so deeply entrenched that the city of Dongyong listed it as local intangible cultural heritage in 2008.

　　汉语中这种鸡蛋的俗称为童子蛋，字面意思就是男孩鸡蛋。这种习俗由来已久，在2008年东阳市已经将它列为非物质文化遗产。

　　Boy egg vendors go to local elementary schools to collect urine from prepubertal boys, prerrably under the age of 10, with buckets.

　　童子蛋的商贩会带着水桶去当地小学收集未发育的男孩的尿液，这些男孩的年龄最好是10岁以下。

　　When nature calls, they go out of the classroom and urinate into a plastic bucket placed on the aisle.

　　他们想小便时就会到教室外面，尿在一个塑料桶中，并放在过道上。

　　Teachers at most schools acquiesced to such behavior.

　　大多数学校的老师们默许了这种行为。

　　Ms. Li introduced her tip of boiling eggs in boys’urine: first, soak eggs in urine and heat them over the stove. After it boils, get all eggs out and crack their shells bore putting them back. After a while, pour in new urine. Repeat it and simmer eggs for an entire day.

　　李女士介绍了她用童子尿煮蛋的要点：首先，将鸡蛋浸泡在童子尿中并用炉子加热。烧开之后，将鸡蛋捞出，敲裂蛋壳后再放回去。过一会，倒入新的童子尿。一整天都重复这些步骤，一直小火煨煮鸡蛋。

　　In the eyes of many Dongyang people, eggs boiled in boys’urine is a must-have nourishment in spring. Vendors will always tell you, after eating it, you won’t feel sleepy during spring or get a heat stroke during summer.

　　在东阳市民眼里，童子蛋是春季必备营养佳品。商贩总是会告诉你，吃了之后，春天就不会犯困，夏天就不会中暑。

　　Of course, not all people in Dongyang find the idea fascinating. Mr. Li, a native-born Dongyang resident, has never tried it in the past 30 years. "The smell kills me. I feel like throwing up at the thought of it. It stinks."

　　当然，并不是所有东阳人都觉得这件事很好。李先生是一个土生土长的东阳人，但他在此前30多年从未尝试吃过。“这个味道我无法忍受，想到它我都想吐，真的好臭。”

　　Jia Suqing, a doctor at Chinese Medicine Hospital in the city of Jinhua, said that in ancient times, prepubertal boys’ urine was often used as an ingredient to enhance ficacy of medication. But from modern-day point of view, it is rather unsanitary. "However, it has become a local custom. I don’t encourage or object to it," he said.

　　金华市中医院医生贾素庆说到，以前的时候，童子尿经常作为一味药材来提高药效。但以现代的角度看，它又是相当不卫生的。他还说：“但是，它作为一种当地习俗。我既不鼓励也不反对。”

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