Vegetarian and China

well, I'm not a veggie but as someone who eats an inordinate amount of vegetables I can tell you that fresh veg is both cheap and in abundance pretty much everywhere in China

But as you'll mostly be dining out, the thing you'll need to look out for is sauces made with animal stock, you could tell them you're Buddhist, but I have no idea if this makes a difference in restaurants.
Obviously bigger cities will have places that cater specifically to your needs.

Just wait for one of our resident vegetables to read your post.

yea vegie dishes are easy to find, it's the suaces, meat slivers, re-used oil from previous customers' meat dish cooking, re-used oil with raw seage in it, and all that pork butter stuff that could be a problem. you can try talking to the wait staff but what goes on behind the kitchen door will be whatever is fastest and easiest for them

It depends on how concerned you are about fish sauces and meat broths. The Chinese don't really understand being completely vegetarian. They will list things under the vegetarian section which are primarily vegetables but have meat or fish in them.

Look in the sticky message for a link about vegetarian eating in China by pratyeka and try searching this branch as the question gets asked about once every 2 weeks or so.

Ruth

Yes, everbrite is correct. Most people in China don't understand the concept of vegetarianism as it is understood in the west. To them it means a dish composed mainly of veg but with pork or chicken often part of it.

You will have to search out the Buddhist restaurants and canteens, which are numerous and serve pure vege food.

I have similar problem. I do not eat pork in any form. What is Chinese equivalent of " NO PORK, NO BACON, NO HAM IN ANY FORM"

Once in Greece, I flashed a card written in six languages, including Greek, "NO PORK ......."
The food vendor smiled and said, " No problem, I would serve you only Madrasi Pork".
That shocked me and said goodbye to him.

By the way what is a Madrasi Pork? ( So far I could understand, it is some pork available in Chennai ( a province in India previously known as Madras).

Hafeez

A word of caution. If one points out to a dish saying "this one", one would have to pay for it even if one realizes soon that it contains pork. It would be
better to make the food vendor understand that one does not like to touch pork.

Just returned from Xinjiang - extermely hard to get vege dishes or even an understanding of what it means - it is mutton everywhere!!! I found best bet was to stay away from Uighur places and look for the Chinese restaurants. Get a phrase book and come prepared with the no meat phrases - Chinese cabbage, scrambled egg and tomato soup, and "jidan Mifan Shucai" - followed by a "Chou fan" with a wok back and forth hand action (fried rice with egg and vege), were my most successful dishes.

In the smaller towns it is not so much of a problem as you can go into the kitchen easily and without offense to see what they have and indicate that you want this and this and that fried up in a pan.

when i was in beijing, it wasnt easy for me to find vegetarian food. what my mum did was to eat bread when she cant eat meat on certain days. like what the rest of the folks says, most vege dishes have meat sauce or stock in it.

do u need me to help you write the card stating that u are a vege?

Get your hotel clerk who speaks English to write down the phrases that you don't eat meat and don't put meat in the dish to flavor it or to use animal fat for frying. More than likely the smaller places only use animal fat for frying, but many do use peanut oil too.

Then also ask the desk clerk for directions to the local budhist temples and a card with the written Chinese asking where a nearby vegetarian - monks favorite place - would be located. There is often one restaurant right near the temple that serves only vegetarian food. Although I am not vegetarian I love several of the dishes they make. Ask for the clerk to write down for you the name of a dish that has egg and oysters. They make it in the vegetarian places with fake oysters, however the egg is real in case you don't eat eggs.

You will survive fine as many other tourists have also been vegetarians and have enjoyed their visits.

Hi there. If you are travelling to beijing, check this out:
1.Vegetarian buffet restaurant
Location:Confucius Temple on Guo Zi Jian St (west of Lama Temple in Beijing)
Beware that some of the dishes might include mock ingredients.

2.Baihe - Lily Vegetarian °ÙºÏËØʳ
Location:Jimen Hotel North-west of Jimen Qiao, North Third Ring Haidian District (at º£µíÇø±±Èý»·¼»ÃÅÇÅÎ÷±±¼» ÃÅ·¹µêÄÚÄϲà)