红熊猫　Jake,Fischer

傅婧瑛

Draped in a gold-and-maroon dress，Rong Niu exhales.Six white metal bowls rest atop her jet-black hair，a bun holding everything in place.Its 15 minutes separate the Sixers and Celtics from halftime，When she takes the court，there will be no defense awaiting-only a towering unicycle and a sea of fans cheering on Red Panda，the leagues most popular intermission entertainment.She will glide across the hardwood.Her arms will gracefully beckon the crowds roar.

穿着金/褐红色裙子的牛蓉长出一口气。她乌黑的头发上是六个白色金属碗，一个发髻让所有碗静止。那是76人和凯尔特人比赛的15分钟中场休息时间，当她走上场地时，不会有防守球员等待她——只会有一个高高的独轮车，和众多为红熊猫欢呼的球迷，后者已经是NBA最受欢迎中场娱乐项目的代名词。

With 90 seconds on the scoreboard，the procession marches down the carpeted path towards the court.“Dont drop any of those cups tonight！” a hefty security guard chimes.“Theyre bowls！” another quickly corrects.Niu only smiles，maintaining her silence，her breathe.“People think Im，maybe，weird，”she surmises.The arduous upbringing of an acrobat，overseen by a perfectionist father，can naturally have that effect.

计时表上还剩90秒时，一行人走到了与场地连接的地毯上。“今晚别摔杯子！”一名身材粗壮的保安大声说道。“那是碗！”另一个人迅速做出纠正。牛蓉只是笑了笑，继续保持沉默和呼吸节奏。“人们可能觉得我是个怪人。”她推测道。作为从小有着艰苦成长环境的杂技演员，再加上一个完美主义者的父亲，她自然会出现这种心理。

GuiZhang Niu is not in attendance，but he is certainly present.Later，when shes asked whether dad played more of a parent or instructor role，Red Panda pauses.“I would say…yea…”her voice trails off，“I dont know，”Her act has traveled around the globe，improbably morphing a Chinese toddler into a grown，world class performer starring in NBA arenas across the U.S.He must be proud，even if apprehension still cripples the moments before every performance.“He said，‘Always focus.He knew I get nervous，”Niusays.“He always told me that，just to think that all of those people come here to watch you.That means you are the king.You have to show that you are in power now.”

牛貴章不在观众席，但她显然有存在感。后来，被问到父亲更多的是父亲还是教导者时，红熊猫停顿了。“我得说，是……”她的声音越来越小，“我不知道。”她在全球表演，从一个中国婴儿不可思议地成为世界级表演者，在各个NBA球馆巡回表演。他一定会为她感到骄傲，即便每次表演前她都会感到恐惧。“他会说，‘永远保持专注。他知道我会紧张。”牛蓉说，“他总会对我这么说，想想这些人都是来看你表演的。这意味着你是国王，你得表现出自己拥有权力。”

Niu"s routine is derived from a traditional Chinese acrobat act.Although her father ramped the level of difficulty，staggering the bowls rim to rim-balancing each dish on merely their curving lines—rather than simply stacking them inside each spacious basin.“Literally everything he decided，”she says.As a 7-year-old，Niu began flicking the dishes skyward.Then after months of pedaling and balancing and maneuvering，she combined the two elements of the performance.

牛蓉的表演源于中国的传统杂技，但她父亲增加了难度，每个碗大小相同——这意味着每个碗只能靠弧线平衡——不能将小碗扣进大碗。“几乎所有事都是他决定的。”牛蓉说。7岁时，牛蓉开始站在地上将碗抛向空中。再经过几个月踩独轮车，掌握平衡和技巧的练习，她将两种表演元素结合在了一起。

For three years，GuiZhang would spend his mornings instructing at the nearby Taiyuan Art School，serving as the manager for its acrobatics program，and retum home to mold his protege.Nius sister，five years her junior，never took kindly to the sages methods.“We didnt know the line between when we practiced and eating at the dinner table，”Niu says.“Wealwaysthought，‘Hes so serious.”

三年时间里，牛贵章每天早上在附近的太原艺术学校做指导，他是学校杂技项目的负责人，随后回家训练门徒。比牛蓉大五岁的姐姐向来不认可父亲。“练习和在饭桌吃饭，我们从来不知道区别。”牛蓉说，“我们总是觉得，‘他太严肃了。”

She joined the fabled Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe at 14，completing Taiyuans seven-year program in just four years.The troupe traveled through Asia，Europe and Africa.When Niu was 16，they stopped in Denver for a three-month stint at Elitch Gardens amusement park.The Colorado crowd erupted with each bowl Niu landed atop her skull，unlike she had ever heard before.“America，the audience gave me the most reaction.Theyre very outgoing，very cheerful，even if I make a mistake，”Niu says.“I decided.its so special，that country.”

她在14岁那年加入了传说中的上海杂技团，只用四年时间就完成了太原的七年培训。这个杂技团在亚洲，欧洲和非洲进行巡演。16岁那年，他们来到丹佛，在伊利奇花园主题乐园进行为期三个月的表演。每次把碗抛到头顶上时，科罗拉多的观众都会爆发巨大的欢呼声，比她过去听到的任何声音都大。“在美国，观众对我的反应最大。他们非常外向，非常快乐，就算我犯错也是一样。”牛蓉说，“我觉得，这个国家太特别了。”

Niu made the citys Sunset District，which is nearly half Asian，her home.She performed free shows，primarily school assemblies.Locals soon invited her to perform in Chinatowns New Year parade.“To them.Im a young kid just starting，”Niu says.Her act needed a marketable name，they told her.She bounced ideas off fellow diners at Dim Sum restaurants.Red，a lucky color in China，would bring good fortune to her daring feat.The Panda is the countrys national animal.Combining the two，coincidentally，forms the English word for the endangered animal of that namesake.What better way to honor a rare species with such unique skill？

牛蓉將家安在了旧金山的日落社区，这里接近一半都是亚裔。她主要在学校活动上进行免费表演。很快，当地人开始邀请她参加中国城的新年游行活动。“对他们来说，我是刚刚起步的年轻人。”牛蓉说。他们告诉她，她的表演需要可供营销的名字。她在饭馆和其他人讨论了不少名字。红色，这个中国的幸运色能够为她具有风险的表演带来好运，而熊猫是中国的国宝。将两者结合，意外形成了在英语中具有濒危动物意思的单词。还有比用如此独特的技能向稀有物种致敬更好的方法呢？

Fmally，alter one year，a talent agent named Reynold Clark dialed Niu the day before Thanks giving 1993.One of his acts had sustained an injury，and the Clippers needed an immediate replacement for halftime the following evening.Within hours she jetted to Los Angeles.

年复一年，终于在1993年感恩节前一天，一个名叫雷纳德·克拉克的经纪人给她打了电话。他手下的一名表演人员受伤，快船需要在接下来的比赛中紧急寻找一个中场表演人员。几小时后，她就来到了洛杉矶。

The Chppers ushered her into Memorial Sports Arena early the next morning，affirming her bowls and unicycle wouldnt damage the hardwood.The court survived，although she nearly brought the house down that night.Niu delivered a perfect performance in her NBA debut，tossing her four bowls cleanly atop her dome.“I got afour-times standing ovation，”she says.“Pretty much every time I flip…I cant believe this！”By the 1994-95 season，Red Panda appeared at over 40 NBA outings.

第二天早上，快船將她送进了纪念体育中心，一再确认她的碗和独轮车不会损伤地板。地板没问题，只不过那一晚她差点引爆了全场。牛蓉的NBA首秀很完美，将四个碗完美地抛在头顶。“我四次得到全场起立鼓掌。”她说，“几乎每次抛碗都这样……我真不敢相信！”到1994-95赛季时，红熊猫在NBA的出场次数超过了40场。

The Sixers annually open their schedule to Niu，inviting her to choose any two games that best suit her availability，preferring her appearances accompany their bigger，nationally-televised contests.If Philly makes the playoffs，their first booking call pings San Francisco.Niu practically holds a Bay Area residency with the nearby Golden State Warriors，impressing those within the locker room.“Its ridiculous.Its unbelievable，”head coach Steve Kerr has said.“Its one of the best halftime shows.Shes fantastic.”

76人每个赛季开始时都会邀请牛蓉，让她在两场比赛中自选合适的一场，也更希望她能在球队全美直播的比赛中出场表演。如果76人打进季后赛，他们的第一个表演预订电话也会打给旧金山。牛蓉基本是同在湾区，金州勇士的常客，她给球队的人留下深刻印象。“这太夸张了，不可思议。”主教练斯蒂夫·科尔表示，“那是最好的中场表演之一，她太棒了。”

Red Panda typically reaches the arena 90 minutes before tipoff.It takes roughly 30 minutes to assemble the hefty unicycles three pieces into one cohesive machine.Next，shell follow the same 20-minute stretching routine she first learned in boarding school.She does her own hair and paints her own makeup.With the third quarter underway，she typically departs，preferring to heat the traffic back to her airport hotel.Teams provide her travel and lodging，and she commands between $2，500 and$3，000 per five-minute performance.

一般来说，红熊猫会在比赛开始前90分钟抵达球馆。将独轮车的三部分组装在一起大约需要30分钟。接着，她会按照小时候在寄宿学校学到的方式进行20分钟的拉伸训练。她自己编头发，自己化妆。比赛进行到第三节时，她一般会离开球馆，她希望躲开车流，尽快回到机场附近的酒店。她的差旅酒店由球队提供，每5分钟的表演，她的收费一般为2500到3000美元。

“IF YOU THINK AT THE BEGINNING YOU CANT DO IT， IF YOU PUT YOUR HARD WORK AND YOUR HEART IN THERE AND YOU LIKE IT AND YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT FROM MOST PEOPLE，THIS IS WHAT MY DAD TOLD ME.ALL IS POSSIBLE，I GUESS， IF YOU KEEP ON TRYING.”

“一开始你觉得自己做不到，但如果付出努力，用心，你会逐渐喜欢上做一些与大多数人不一样的事。这就是我父亲对我说的。我猜，如果一直尝试，一切皆有可能。”

In the summers，she used to book three-month spells on cruise ships.This offseason shes helping a building management company complete odds and ends like paperwork and overseeing maintenance.Niu will make her annual return to Shanxi later this month.

夏天，她通常會预订三个月的游轮旅行。今年夏天，她协助创立了一家管理公司，完成了诸如填写文件，监督维修这些小事。本月晚些时候，她会进行一年一度的山西之旅，拜访一些亲戚和寄宿学校的同学。

The 2019-20 season awaits.Red Panda has no intention of retiring any time soon.She still craves perfection.Shes obsessed with mastering the technique.Its carried her this far，honoring her late father around the league and the world.“If you think at the beginning you cant do it.if you put your hard work and your heart in there and you like it and you want to do something different from most people，keep working on it，”she say.“This is what my dad told me.All is possible，I guess，if you keep on trying.”

2019-20赛季正进行，红熊猫短期内没有退休打算，她仍然渴求完美，她执着于精通这个技术。这个技术让她走到了今天，在联盟和世界各地向她已经去世的父亲致敬。“一开始你觉得自己做不到，但如果努力，用心，你会逐渐喜欢上做一些与大多数人不一样的事。”她说，“这就是我父亲对我说的。我猜，如果一直尝试，一切皆有可能。”