Eating Vegetarian in China: A Traveler's Guide

Easier Than You Expect

Vegetarian travel in China has a reputation for being difficult, largely because of a single word: meat, and often meat broth, appears where you least expect it. In practice the country is full of vegetable-forward cooking — Buddhist kitchens, tofu in a dozen forms, seasonal greens, mushrooms and noodles — and a few phrases make ordering reliable.

The Safest Kitchens

Buddhist restaurants are the simplest solution: they are fully vegetarian by doctrine, they are common near temples and in larger cities, and their menus run from dumplings and noodles to multi-course banquets. Elsewhere, look for tofu houses, noodle shops and hot-pot restaurants, where you control what goes into the pot.

What Hides in the Food

The usual traps are broth (often pork- or chicken-based), lard in stir-fries in some regions, and sauces built on oyster or fish. Asking for dishes without meat is not always enough: the useful requests are that the dish contain no meat, no meat broth and no lard. Writing these down in Chinese, or having them on your phone, removes most of the risk.

Regional Advantages

Some regions are simply easier: Yunnan, with its mushrooms, herbs and flowers; the Buddhist mountain areas; and the major cities, where international and health-conscious restaurants add choices. Sichuan and Hunan cooking is vegetable-rich too, though the same kitchen will cook meat in the same wok — a practical concern for strict vegetarians rather than a reason to avoid the region.

Frequently Asked Questions