ChinaPulse.com

Note: The spoken Chinese Mandarin language has 4 spoken tones. We have attempted to re-create those below where after each syllable we tell you (1), (2), (3), or (4) as they correspond to each of the 4 tones. We encourage you to complement your Xianzai.com Emergency Chinese newsletter with a good offline study program.

Ordering Food in a Chinese Restaurant: zai(4) zhong(1) can(1) guan(3) dian(3) cai(4)

NEW WORDS:
Chicken: ji(1)
Beef: niu(2) rou(4)
Lamb: yang(2) rou(4)
Pork: zhu(1) rou(4)
Vegetables: shu(1) cai(4)

LESSON:

• I would like the chicken please.
  wo(3) yao(4) zhe(4) ji(1).
  
• What beef dishes do you have?
  ni(3) men(2) you(3) shen(3) me niu(2) rou(4) cai(4)?
  
• Is the lamb good?
  yang(2) rou(4) hao(3) ma?
  
• Can you recommend a good vegetable dish?
  nin(2) neng(2) tui(1) jian(4) yi(1) ge(4) hao(3) shu(1) cai(4) ma?

* Tip: Food, food, glorious food. One of the real advantages of traveling or living in China is the huge array of food available at very reasonable prices. If you have only ever eaten Chinese food in the west, you will be in for a real surprise as you travel around China.

But ordering food in most Chinese restaurants can be problematic for those of us with poor (or non-existent) Chinese language skills. Wait staff rarely speak English beyond 'Hello' and menus are usually written solely in Chinese.

Two solutions. The first, and the method that I employ, is to wander around the restaurant with your waiter and just point at whatever you see that looks good on other tables. The other, employed by some friends of mine, is just to choose randomly from the menu. My friends say that as most Chinese food is good, it is hard to go wrong with their method and you end up trying some very interesting foods.

Whatever method you use, be brave and your stomach will be amply rewarded.