[jQuery] Passing variables to .click

Hello,
I was using this:
onClick="parsetable('<?php echo $Region ?>')"
but now I want to use the JQuery:
$("#parsetablebutton").click( function() {
How do I pass the parameter to the function?
Would I set an attribute and read it with[att=XXX] where the attribute
is the echo'd $Region or is there a better way?
Thanks