Olympics: Chinese menus translated to English

There are only 49 days left until the 2008 Olympics begin in Beijing. If you’re traveling to watch the Olympics and stuffing your suitcase full of Cliff bars and beef jerky, rest assured you will be able to order food off Chinese menus without wondering too heavily about what you’re about to put in your mouth. Read: China makes “kung pao chicken” official for Olympics.

Here are some fun and funky translations. I hope they keep both on the menu for our own entertainment. If you find one of these menus, please e-mail us a photo or tell us you’ve submitted it to Your Scene.

Translation Web Buzz:

“Bean curd made by a pock-marked woman” > “Mapo tofu” [The Fiji Times]

“Chicken without sexual life” > “Steamed pullet” [CNN]

“Red burned lion head” or does “braised pork balls in soy sauce” sound better? [Beijing 2008]

In other translation news, Beijing is trying to correct badly translated signs. [NPR]

The Beijing 2008 website has food recommendations and places to get some traditional items such as the Mongolian hot pot (pictured above).

— Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel Deal Blogger

[Photo: China Foto Press]

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 19, 2008 at 11:57 am by Jen Leo and is filed under Asia, Gourmet, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.