Vegetarian/ vegan China survival guide
As I mentioned in the China essential survival guide, eating vegetarian/vegan in China is not difficult. Just needs some planning. Like in most places.
The good news is, every major city has vegetarian/vegan restaurants, especially around Buddhist monasteries.
How do you say that you are a vegetarian in Chinese?
Well, you could try by saying: Wǒ shì sùshí zhǔyì zhě.
Or simply: Wǒ bù chī ròu
The problem is that, likely, they still will not understand what you mean.
I tried many different ways, I even tried “Wǒ shì fójiào tú” (I am a Buddhist) but, as nowadays even Buddhist are non-veg, they were still none the wiser what I wanted to say.
A giant helping hand comes from downloading the Happy Cow app to find the vegetarian/vegan restaurants where you want to go to. We use it a lot. Not just in China.
And download a translator app or use Google translate to tell them what you do not eat.
Chinese food has tons of delicious vegetable dishes, several tofu recipes and even seitan, but do check that it does not contain any meat or fish, as, for example the original Mapo tofu dish does contain fermented fish, and believe me, you would definitely smell it and know it is not vegetarian.
Chinese menus are often divided into a meat or fish section and a vegetable dishes section. And that helps.
The problem is: often, of course, it is in Chinese.
As I recommended in the China survival guide, download a good translator app (for written pages too) and that should help a little.
Some menus have pictures but do ask if the dish contains meat: “Zhège hányǒu ròu ma?” or use a translator app to ask.
Chinese culture is a communal culture, a culture of sharing, especially food.
In Chinese restaurants, you will find that what you order, it is meant to be shared with the rest of the people at your table.
So, if there are four of you, and two are vegetarians and order vegetable dishes and the other two order meat, expect the waiter to bring meat for four!
We did try to explain this many times: please only one person eats meat, meat only for one person, they still brought meat for three.
Quality can be hit and miss. We had some incredible food and some misses (yes, boiled tofu with boiled rice… I will never forget you).
The best meals are usually the ones you don’t expect: street stalls and little local restaurants.
There are always the options of Western restaurants where menu is usually in English as well and you can dine on pizza (some are vegan) or pasta. But remember to try the local food, which is amazing. You are in China after all!
Chinese youngsters have discovered the coffee culture and there are plenty of cafes to go around. Do ask if they have soya based milk.
I will follow our itinerary and let you know places that are worthwhile searching for.
We started in Chendgu (for Chendgu guide, see https://blog.worldswithout.net/chendgu-10-things-not-to-miss/), capital of Sichuan and culinary capital of China.
Yes, Sichuan food is good. And it is spicy..
Our hotel had a restaurant on site and had a few vegetarian options, like vegetarian Mapo tofu and veg stir fry.
The hot pot (Huoguo in Chinese) will take central stage in any Chengdu food experience and can be easily veganised, as you will choose your ingredients.
Order noodles and vegetables and dip them into the infernal chili boiling cauldron and eat.
The good thing is that the pot is divided in two sections: the spicy part and the non-spicy broth part.
It is a fun experience.
You will certainly come across Mapo tofu.
I love mapo tofu and I make my own at home.
However, be careful if ordering mapo tofu in a non veg restaurant, as I said, the original mapo tofu has fermented fish in it and yes it does stink (mapo tofu means stinky tofu).
I made the mistake of not asking in one restaurant and from the smell, it was easy to guess, it did contain fermented fish.
The area around Wenshu monastery has many veg restaurants.
Our favourite was “A Lotus on the water”, on Jimna lane, upstairs from the Opera house opposite the Wenshu temple.
Their Dandan noodles and chili oil dumplings were simply superb!
Su Shan Mian and Daci temple restaurant are very good as well and in the same area.
A local secret and perfectly vegan are Dongzi Kouzhang Lao’er Liangfen, a little humble restaurant/take away.
They serve cold mungbean noodles dressed in spicy, garlicky, vinegary sauce and they are delicious!
The address is 39 Wenshuyuan Street, opposite the temple and there is usually a fast moving queue.
If walking in Jinli street, beside WuHou shrine, there are also several stalls that offer non meat food, from potatoes to spring onion pancakes.
If vegan, ask if there is egg (Jīdàn).
Kunming
For Kunming guide, refer to https://blog.worldswithout.net/24-hours-in-kunming-yunnan/
The best meal we had in Kunming was in a little unassuming local restaurant at the back of our hotel around the Jinbi back lane, just off Jinbi road.
We explained that we do not eat meat (Wǒmen bù chī ròu) and wanted only vegetable dishes (shūcài) and rice (mǐfàn), Wǒmen xiǎng yào yīxiē shūcài hé mǐfàn.
She conjured up a fantastic meal with fresh ingredients and delicious flavours.
Prices are rock bottom. I think we paid £2 each.
In the evening, head on to Nanping pedestrian street and there are multiple restaurants and stalls.
Most will have meat but there will be stalls with roasted potatoes, pancakes or ask a restaurant if they can make food with no meat.
A place very popular with locals and ex-pats is Salvador’s on Wenlin Jie. It does Western food like burgers and pizza and has vegan options.
We had pizzas and they were very good!
Dali
Dali is pretty touristic, usually with both domestic tourism and international, although we did not see one single westerner.
There are plenty of options for vegetarian and vegan food. And Western restaurants too.
Do try the fried donut sticks in a little side street from the Yuer road going towards the Mountain gate. Heavy and unhealthy for sure, but so good!
And while you are on the Yuer road, look out for a little shop with a VEGAN sign, handwritten outside: they have the best mushroom baozi in town!
They don’t speak English and menu is in Chinese, so just ask for “Mógū bāozi”.
Again, prices are very cheap.
We also liked a lot Kaiyi’s kitchen, 83 Huguo Lu, a fusion between Chinese and western food and Blue Geck café’, 3 Hong Long Jin. They both have English menus and speak English.
For Dali guide, see https://blog.worldswithout.net/a-tour-of-dali-ancient-town-yunnan/
In Shuanglangzhen we sat down at this super cute little local restaurant on the main (and nearly only )road and they gave us a super scrumptious meal!
Just stir fried vegetables and rice but the flavours were incredible! And we paid something like £5 for the whole meal!
Full guide here: https://blog.worldswithout.net/on-the-erhai-lake-shuanglangzhen/
Hangzhou
In Hangzhou, we really wanted to try a lakeside vegetarian restaurant called The Lakeside veggie (duh…)on the Nanshan road, but it was temporarily closed. Look it up on Happy Cow.
So we went to Qing Chun, Happy Cow says on the Qingchun East road, but it is actually on 102 Shuanglin road and both the ambience and the food very exceptionally good!
The restaurant has a minimalist zen décor and the food is well presented and full of flavours.
For Hangzhou guide: https://blog.worldswithout.net/hangzhou-heaven-on-earth/
Shanghai
In Shanghai, there is ample choice.
We liked GongDe Lin on Huanghe road, great noodles and great mushrooms with tofu.
The area around Yu Garden has a lot of restaurants which offer veg options.
For Shanghai guide: https://blog.worldswithout.net/one-day-in-shanghai/
Wherever in China you may be, don’t forget to try the ubiquitous candied hawthorns sticks, the sesame dough balls stick, and desserts galore (not vegan)!
As you can see, being vegan or vegetarian in China is not too difficult; it just requires a little research.
We would have liked some vegan/veg street food tours to explore the incredible array of veg food.
Sadly these tours don’t seem to exist yet.
So, don’t be put off by the language barrier, download the apps and go.
China is an amazing country and deserves to be explored!
Happy travels.
For more China blog posts: https://blog.worldswithout.net/china/
