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At the reception for an Asian film festival at Lincoln Center six years ago, excitement rippled through the crowd: Was it her? Lady Kung Fu? Was that Lady Whirlwind?
六年前，林肯中心(Lincoln Center)举办了一个亚洲电影节。在电影节的招待会上，一阵兴奋感在人群中散布开来：那是她吗？是功夫女王吗？那是旋风女王吗？
Rumors long circulated that she had left movie stardom in Hong Kong for domestic life in New York City, but no one had heard much else about Angela Mao, possibly the most famous martial arts actress of her time, in more than 30 years.
长期有传言称她已离开香港电影界，去纽约享受家庭生活了。但除此以外，在30多年的时间里，几乎没有什么有关茅瑛的其他消息。她大概是她那个时代最著名的功夫女星。
Surprised fans were now greeted by a small 60-year-old woman wearing a floral silk dress. Her son helped her manage the crowd. One fan, Ric Meyers, approached her for a photo. Like others, he was curious to know what she had been up to. He got his answer.
但当时，出现在惊讶不已的影迷前的她已经60岁了。她身材娇小，穿着一件有花卉图案的丝质连衣裙，儿子帮她控制人群。一个名叫里克•迈尔斯(Ric Meyers)的粉丝走到她跟前，想要同她合影。和其他人一样，他好奇地想知道她一直以来在做什么。他得到了答案。
“She told me and my friends she was running restaurants in Queens,” Mr. Meyers said. “I told them, ‘We all have to go.’ But we all just got too busy and never went.”
“她告诉我和我的朋友她在皇后区开着几家餐厅，”迈尔斯说。“我对他们说，‘我们都要去。’但我们都太忙了，从来没去过。”
“She gave off the impression,” he added, “that she was a very private person.”
“她给人的感觉是，”他接着说，“她是一个非常在乎个人隐私的人。”
On a warm afternoon this September, Ms. Mao, now 66, sat in one of those restaurants, keeping an eye on lunch service as she rubbed her baby granddaughter’s belly.
今年9月一个温暖的下午，现已66岁的茅瑛坐在其中一家餐厅里，一边观察午餐服务情况，一边揉着小孙女的肚子。
The restaurant, Nan Bei Ho, sits on a quiet street in Bayside, a suburban Queens neighborhood beyond the reaches of the subway system and not far from the Long Island border. It is the oldest of three restaurants she runs with her husband and son, all of them in Queens. It serves Taiwanese food and is popular on weekends but is otherwise nondescript.
这家名为“南北和”(Nan Bei Ho)的餐厅坐落在市郊的皇后区住宅区贝赛德一条安静的街道上。这里超出了地铁系统的覆盖范围，距离与长岛的边界不远。如今，茅瑛与丈夫和儿子都生活在皇后区，共同经营着三家餐厅，其中“南北和”是最早开业的。餐厅供应台湾菜，周末生意很好，但其他方面乏善可陈。
Martial arts fans have sought the address of this restaurant for some time — they wanted to know what happened to Angela Mao, the Queen of Kung Fu, who fought and flew through dozens of films in the 1970s but vanished within a decade.
一段时间以来，武术爱好者们一直在寻找这家餐厅的地址。他们想知道，功夫女王茅瑛身上发生了什么。她在70年代的数十部电影中拳打脚踢，飞檐走壁，但不到十年便销声匿迹。
A woman with a hearty laugh, Ms. Mao sometimes expressed confusion that people still had any interest in her.
茅瑛喜欢开怀大笑。她有时会对人们依然对她感兴趣表示困惑。
