电视剧《小别离》（A Love for Separation） 自播出以来，几乎红遍大江南北（become a smash hit across the nation），也引发了关于中学生留学的热议。从父母到十几岁的孩子（teenagers）几乎都能在里头看到自己的影子，甚至在海外华人圈也引起了巨大反响（cause a stir）。
《中国日报》遍访各路人士，今天就来讲讲，这部“现象级神剧”究竟是怎么炼成的？
现在网上流传的一个版本是：从未写过小说的资深（veteran）媒体人鲁引弓，在2013年中秋加国庆的档期，因为闲得发慌，就用17天的时间，创作了一部叫《小别离》的小说，没想到立刻被“IP荒”的影视公司（studios） 一顿哄抢。
可事实上，也没那么戏剧化（dramatic）。
小编打通作家鲁引弓本人的电话时，儒雅（suave）的鲁老师还蛮不好意思，说写一部小说哪有那么容易，也是憋了好多年“内功”（thanks to years-long accumulation），对这个现象（phenomenon）有长期的观察和体悟，才能有感而发，创作出了那部长篇小说。
鲁引弓是鲁强的笔名（pseudonym）。
整个创作和“意外”走红（become a hit）的来龙去脉是这样的：
2006年时，当时还是杭州媒体人的鲁引弓去了美国，他拜访了当地的一些知名大学，因为要做一个世界名校的专题。
他没想到，会在那里看到很多中国学生，而且其中有不少人是从中学开始就在美国读书 （study in the United States at a middle-school age）。
当他意识到，这很有可能成为一个史无前例（unprecedented）的新趋势后，开始尽可能多地关注这一现象。果然，此后数年，低龄留学潮已经频频成为国内媒体的报道重点（lead to headlines）。此后几年，他又去俄罗斯和日本采访，获得了更多的第一手资料。
Realizing what he was witnessing was unprecedented－in later years, it led to headlines about Chinese students abroad "getting younger"－Lu decided to document what he saw. The then deputy editor-in-chief of the Hangzhou-based Qianjiang Evening News started his research by interviewing Chinese students in Russia in 2007 and Japan a few years later.
而当根据电视剧《小别离》今年8月中旬到9月播出后，因为让太多观众引发共鸣（strike a chord），火得一塌糊涂。短短两周内，《小别离》35城收视率夺冠，在微博热门话题榜上高踞榜首，在各大视频网站（video-streaming sites）上点击率将近47亿。
The series, which ran from mid-August to early September this year, was a hit. It topped TV ratings in a 35-city survey, dominated the hot-topic list on China's version of Twitter, Sina Weibo, and has been watched nearly 4.7 billion times on video-streaming sites.
《小别离》的走红，在玄幻偶像剧一统天下、小鲜肉小鲜花无演技只看脸的今天，对现实主义题材的拍摄，绝对是个喜大普奔的消息。它背后，折射出的是一个时代的焦虑，也是长期以来中国高考唯分数论所“逼迫”出的焦虑和无奈。
For many viewers, the series is a reflection of the anxiety and frustration students face because of the Chinese college-entrance exam, or gao kao, which uses scores as the only criterion for admission.
据2016年最新数据统计，2015年中国出国留学总人数已突破50万。在美国、英国、澳大利亚及加拿大等几个留学大国，中国留学生已成为当地数目最庞大的国际留学生群体。同时，据留学中介机构的调查，将近50%的留学意向产生在中学期间。
Government statistics show the number of Chinese students studying abroad surpassed 500,000 last year, making China the top source of international students in major host countries such as the US, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, domestic media reported. Also, reports from several agencies handling Chinese students going abroad show that nearly 50 percent of inquiries now are about middle schools.
在鲁引弓眼里，中国的留学潮早已有之，比如在清政府末年派留学生出国，到50年代留苏热，再到80年代的留洋潮，但这一次在2005年前后出现的新留学潮，却和以往几次都大不相同。
For Lu, the wave of sending young Chinese abroad to study, which began around 2005, is different from earlier trends. He says the Chinese have had a long history of pursuing advanced studies overseas, with peaked at the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in the 1950s and in the 1980s.
这次的留学潮有几个形成原因，鲁引弓分析说，如果在北美读中学，当地的教育背景更容易帮助中国学生申请到美国的好大学。现在许多家长都受过良好的高等教育、欣赏西方的教育理念。而近年来国内大学各项费用的高涨，也让去国外读书的费用，相比较而言，不是那么昂贵了。
Lu says going to a US middle school makes it easier for Chinese students to be admitted to prestigious US universities, which is another reason the number of adolescent Chinese students going abroad is rising.In addition, now most parents are well-educated and favor Western education for their children. Domestic college fees have surged in recent years, making going abroad look less expensive than in the past.
樱知叶教育副总经理李鹏告诉记者，在美国读中学的费用大概是每年25到50万元人民币左右。
The annual cost for a teenager to study in the US is between 250,000 ($37,500) and 500,000 yuan, says Li Peng, vice-general manager of the Beijing-based agency, Kentrexs Enterprise.
可一旦飘洋过海，也要面对文化隔阂（cultural shock）、语言障碍（language barrier）带来的种种不便，也因此带来一些摩擦。
李鹏举了个常见的例子。他说有些中学生过去读美国的走读高中，会寄宿在当地人家里（homestay）。有些学生洗澡时，习惯把浴帘放在浴缸外面，导致水都流到地面上，弄得湿漉漉的，会让寄宿家庭很不愉快。
For instance, he says, some Chinese who opt for home-stays are used to having the shower curtain outside the bathtub when they bathe, but this causes the bathroom floor to get wet, which often annoys the host family.
尽管在留学初期，会有些困难和磨练。隔着一个大洋，家长和孩子也饱受思念之苦。
于杰是一位53岁的北京母亲，她在2015年送14岁的儿子去美国读书。她说几乎90%的家长都会在最初的六个月里，感到焦虑和极其思念孩子。但一旦把这个坎儿熬过去，她觉得海外留学的经历还是让孩子受益匪浅。
Yu Jie, a 53-year-old mother who sent her 14-year-old son to the US in 2015, says around 90 percent of the parents she reached out to feel anxious and miss their children for the first six months. But the overseas education benefits the youth.
世界图书出版公司北京公司总编辑郭力是《送孩子去常春藤：20位常春藤妈妈的教育手记》的作者之一。早2005年时，她就送女儿去美国读高中，本科时入读耶鲁。对于郭妈妈而言，在美国读书可以让孩子有更多的选择，扩宽视野，让他们更国际化。
Guo Li, one of the authors of the best-selling book Song Haizi Qu Changqingteng (Send Children to the Ivy League Schools and Colleges) says: "It gives them (the children) more options and opens their eyes, making them more international." Guo's daughter went to the US in 2005 and was admitted into Yale.
但与此同时，有些父母为了避免太早忍受“小别离”之苦，也找到平衡的对策。琥珀教育集团华南区总经理何楚刚说，他这几年观察到的新趋势是，有不少家长选择国际学校，而不是急于送孩子出国。
Separately, one is also seeing parents take up a domestic option, which has appeared in recent years.He Chugang, general manager of Amber Education (South China), says many Chinese families opt for international schools in China instead of sending their children abroad.
“青春期是每个人最重要的光阴，青春期带来的影响将伴随一生。越来越多的父母已经认识到，孩子们应该有一个快乐的青春期。”鲁引弓如是说。
"Adolescence is the most significant time of life for a human being. It affects your entire life. And an increasing number of Chinese parents are realizing that children should have a happy adolescence," Lu says.
从各方面来看，中国家长对于其他教育体制的心态都越来越开放了。
But any way you look at it, the trends show Chinese parents are becoming more open to other education systems.
而这，或许“小别离热”现象背后，值得庆幸的改变吧。
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