Living in China as a Vegan or Vegetarian

Being vegetarian or vegan in China appears to be a real challenge. Eating meat, in Chinese culture, in fact, is considered a sign of prosperity. Furthermore, in a lot of vegetable dishes minuscule pieces of meat are frequently used as garnish and people don’t really consider them as meat, but just as a mere decoration.

That’s the reason why, when you specifically ask the waiters for a dish without any animal products, in most cases, they will first reassure you they will follow your wishes. However, after your food arrives, there’s a really good chance it is just a vegetable dish with some small pieces of meat, eggs etc

If this is giving you the feeling you will be a hopeless vegan condemned to hunger in China, you might be pleased to know that a lot of vegetables are used in Chinese cuisine. Even though the majority of the population is not vegetarian, there are some popular Chinese dishes you can easily find and eat because they are 100% made of food which is of plant origin.

Before listing them, let’s learn how to say you’re vegan or vegetarian in Chinese.

The Chinese word for the vegan is 純素食者 / 纯素食者 (chún sù shí zhě) literally “a pure vegetable-ist” or “a pure vegetarian”. The word for vegetarian is 素食者 (sù shí zhě) literally “a vegetable-ist”. The 純 / 纯 “chún”(pure) defines the difference between vegan and vegetarian.

When in China, you might also need to explain that you’re a vegetarian or a vegan as well as needing to specify what you eat and what you don’t. All you have to do is learn the following expressions to make your life in China much easier:

• I am vegetarian – 我是素食者 (wǒ shì sùshí zhě)

• I eat vegetables – 我吃素 (wǒ chī sù)

• I don’t eat meat – 我不吃肉 (wǒ bù chī ròu)

• I don’t eat fish – 我不吃魚 / 我不吃鱼 (wǒ bù chī yú)

• I am vegan – 我是純素食者 / 我是纯素食者 (wǒ shì chún sù shí zhě)

• I eat only products of plant origin – 我只吃植物性食品 (wǒ zhǐ chī zhí wù xìng shí pǐn)

• I do not eat dairy products – 我不吃乳制品 (wǒ bù chī rǔ zhì pǐn)