veggievoyager

This page is intended to be useful when printed out and carried around in your pocket. For a general overview of the veggie situation in China, see the main country guide.

Language

Chinese is very difficult for most non-Chinese to pronounce. Even after months of practise it is not uncommon to find people still don't understand you. It's easier to be understood if you talk in proper sentences, rather than single words. The following phrases are transliterated in pinyin. Buy a phrasebook, and refer to it for pronunciation, as pinyin doesn't follow European language patterns.

These phrases are in Mandarin, the official language of China. It is the most widely understood language, but there are many other languages and dialects that make understanding others very difficult.

Characters to learn

If you only learn three characters, make them these:

Vegetarian (useful when searching for that elusive restaurant)

素食

Meat (essential when browsing menus or reading ingredients)

肉

Useful phrases

I don't eat meat

我不吃肉 wǒ  bú  chī  ròu 

I don´t eat egg

我不吃鸡蛋 wǒ  bú  chī  jīdàn 

I don´t drink milk

我不吃牛奶 wǒ  bú  chī  niǔ nǎi 

I´d like it without cheese

不要方奶酪 bú yào fáng  nǎi lào

I´m vegetarian

我是素食者 wǒ  shì  shí zhě

I´m vegan (lit. pure vegetarian)

我是純素食者 wǒ  shì  chún  sù  shí zhě

I like/want tofu

我要豆腐 wǒ  yào  dòufǔ

I am Buddhist

我信佛教 wǒ  xìn  fójiào 

Does this have egg?

这个有鸡蛋马？ zhège yǒu  jīdàn  ma?

Does this have chicken?

这个有鸡肉马？zhège yǒu  jīròu  ma?

Does this have meat?

这个有肉马? zhège yǒu  ròu  ma?

Does this have butter?

这个有黄油马？zhège yǒu  huángyuó  ma?

Is this made with meat stock?

是用肉汤做的？ Shì  yòng  ròutāng  zuò de ma?

Is there a vegetarian restaurant near here?

这儿附近有没有素食饭馆？ Zhèr  fùjin yǒuméiyǒu  sùshí  fàn guǎn ?

Do you have fruit/nuts/tofu snacks?

有没有 水果／果仁／豆腐干？yǒuméiyǒu  shuǐ gǒu /guǒrén /dòufǔ  gān ?

Not too spicy (i.e. a little spicy)

不太辣 bú  tài  là

Do you have aubergine

有没有茄子? yǒuméyǒu  qiézi?

Do you have a green vegetable dish?

有没有青菜？ yǒuméiyǒu  qīng cài?

Avoid

Soupy things. All broth is China is chicken, pork, or beef based. You can be pretty sure that any noodles in soup, or pretty much anything watery, has had some form of animal broth added. Unfortunately this usually includes the popular tofu dish, mapo tofu.

Occasionally, you may open a large chunk of tofu to find it is stuffed with meat. You shouldn't have this problem if you say you don't eat meat before ordering.

For vegans, bread is a huge challenge. Bread is seen a bit like a cake in China, and almost always uses butter, milk, or eggs (or all three).

Seek out

Tofu dishes (豆腐 dòufǔ). The Chinese claim they have 2000 ways of preparing tofu. There are certainly way more varieties than you can find in most countries, ranging from smoked tofu, tofu skin, compressed fried tofu, tofu rolls, and fermented tofu (furu) which has a strong cheesey taste.

Green vegetable dishes (蔬菜 shūcài ). Chinese cuisine includes a huge range of green vegetables: things which taste a bit like broccoli, like cabbage, like spinach... many truly delicious. Cucumber is used in unexpected places.

Eggplant dishes (茄子 qiézi). Often a trusty standby, and easy to find in restaurants and on street stands. They melt in your mouth deliciously, although be warned that this is usually because they have been more or less deep fried.

Fried noodles (炒面 chǎo miàn). You will often find street vendors selling noodles fried in front of you with greens and meat. Fried noodles beat boiled noodles as you avoid the meat broth issue. They have all the ingredients laid out in front of you, so the routine is to explain you don't eat meat, say you want fried noodles, and then point to the things you do want.

Mock meats (in vegetarian restaurants). A bit wierd at first, but they don´t usually taste like meat, and offer a welcome change from eggplant, tofu and green vegetables (see above).

Drink

Tea is served in all restaurants without milk. Green tea, jasmine tea, oolong tea and white tea are all delicious, as are numerous flower teas such as chrysanthemum and rose teas.

Cheap lager is available everywhere. Qingdao (sometimes spelled Tsingtao -- but the former is the correct pinyin transliteration) is pretty much a national drink and, as a formerly German brewery, is reputed to be vegetarian.

Useful pictures

You may find these pictures useful for pointing at in restaurants.