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Around 2001, a song was released called 东北人都是活雷锋 (Northeasterners are All Lei Feng's), which can be heard here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya8CTv2dwS4

In it, someone named 老张 goes to the Northeast of China and has a vehicle accident. The driver responsible runs off and leaves him to his fate, but he's rescued by a local who tells him "That guy can't be a Northeasterner" because "We don't have people like that here".

It's quite humorous. But there is a spoken line at the end:

翠花,上酸菜

Which seems to have no connection to the rest of the song. Google tells me that 翠花 is a corny-sounding name for women and 酸菜 is pickled cabbage, which might be something they eat there.

I'm struggling to think what could its significance be. The song is a little corny, is it the singer's way of poking fun at himself?

The complete lyrics are as follows:

老张开车去东北,撞了
肇事司机耍流氓,跑了
多亏一个东北人,
送到医院缝五针,好了
老张请他吃顿饭,
喝的少了他不干,
他说:
俺们那嘎都是东北人,
俺们那嘎特产高丽参,
俺们那嘎猪肉炖粉条,
俺们那嘎都是活雷锋.
俺们那嘎没有这种人,
撞了车哪能不救人,
俺们那嘎山上有真蘑,
这个人他不是东北人.
(白)翠花,上酸菜
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  • This narration, made in standard North-Eastern dialect, is to make the music more vivid and interesting.
    – r13
    Commented Jul 26 at 2:52
  • "翠花,上酸菜"? In Chinese restaurants a couple of small dishes of pickled vegetables, fruits are already on the table. These dishes are meant to kick-start the customers' appetite. If no such dishes already on the table, the customer may order such dishes while deciding on the main course. Thus "翠花,上酸菜" is just the customer asking the waitress, "翠花", (which may not be her real name as people tend to just give a cute name to female waitresses as a form of gentle teasing), to bring some 酸菜, (a typical appetizer as it is supposed to get the gastric juices flowing), while deciding what to order.
    – Wayne Cheah
    Commented Jul 26 at 3:19
  • So it seems like the 东北人 is addressing the waitress in a familiar, teasing sort of way, translated into English it would be something like "Darling, bring out the cabbage!"
    – 河南宝宝
    Commented Aug 6 at 1:50

3 Answers 3

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Note that 老张请他吃顿饭 means 老张 invites him to a meal. Therefore, they’re in a restaurant and he, the 东北人, is asking the waitress Cuihua to bring the pickled cabbage.

Just like all those lines with 俺们, 翠花上酸菜 uses typical 东北 elements (翠花 is a typical nickname and 酸菜 is a typical food in 东北) to make this song very 东北.

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You got it right that "翠花，上酸菜" really has no connection with the context. It's used as an ambiance sound effect that invokes the scene of a house in a rural northeast village when the host calls his wife or daughter (翠花) to bring out the meal for the audience as the guest.

It's pretty much a native meme, no wonder others can't get it.

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It just mean what it said.

the purpose of this sentence is to show another stereotype of Northeastarn-Chinese that they name girls as “翠花”, often eat 酸菜 and use it to treat guest (Actually many of them really do so). Similar to "Anna, give me sauerkraut" in a German context.

Also, 酸菜 in northeastern-China is not "pickled cabbage" but rather "Sauerkraut" made from Chinese cabbage, since their sour taste are not from vinegar but from fermentation, and basically it's not served as appetizer but used as a ingredient in main dishes.

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