Orange chicken, beef and broccoli, a cup of fried rice and you have Chinese food. At least, that’s how I categorized the nation’s entire food supply until I came here. In China, food isn’t simply a meal for a foreigner. It’s an experience. Failing to order the right food and grappling with my chopsticks are only parts of the adventure when I sit down in a restaurant.

Ordering food has been one of the most challenging aspects of this trip. Often times, not every dish has a photograph displayed, so essentially it all becomes a childish guessing game of my father and I guessing what type of vegetables or meat we’re eating. The experience can be just as grueling for the waiters as it can be for us. Waiters dread serving us since we take triple the time to order food in comparison to the locals. In one of our favorite Sichuan restaurants, it took 3 waiters and 15 minutes for us to order only our drinks. I simply wanted water, but my dad wanted to try one of the fresh juice options they had listed on the menu. There were two problems, however. There were neither pictures nor English on the menu. After several hand gestures and charades, he ended up ordering just a coca cola to simplify things.

自古以来，中国就有“国以民为本，民以食为天”的说法。泱泱中华，上下五千年古国文明，发展至今已形成了鲁菜、川菜、湘菜、粤菜、浙菜等诸多菜系，就是为了让人们能够吃好。近年来，随着中西方饮食文化的不断交流，中餐也越来越受到外国人的青睐。那么，这些国外友人们在尝试中餐的过程中会遇到哪些惊喜和挑战呢？让我们通过Amirah的经历，一起来感受一下吧。