 Would you eat "husband and wife's lung slice" or does "beef and ox tripe in chili sauce" sound tastier? A new book, "Chinese Menu in English Version", recommends the latter for Beijing's top-rated hotels. Dan Dan is here to tell you more.
Reporter:
Jointly published by the Beijing Municipal Government's Foreign Affairs Office and the Beijing Tourism Administration, the book is regarded as the latest attempt to help bridge the culture gap for foreign tourists in China during the Beijing Olympic Games.
An estimated 500,000 foreigners are expected to visit China during this Olympics in August.
Chris Chaplin from Canada says the release of the book is really good news.
"There's a lot of fear and confusion when people are looking at menus here. So more accurate translation of what's actually in the dish is very important especially for people, who are not familiar with the Chinese food."
Restaurants in Beijing also welcome the new book. Wang Mei, senior manager with a local restaurant, praises the book as an etiquette campaign.
"We revised the English translations of our dishes for several times in the past. The only goal is to help our foreign clients better understand what's in a particular dish. Those standardized translations save us a lot of time. At the same time, I think the book can effectively help promote China's catering culture across the world."
The book offers more than 2,000 proposed names for dishes and drinks. But authorities say it's not compulsory and restaurants can choose to use the translations or not for bilingual menus.
Dan Dan, CRI news.
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