Excellent tutorial for learning some common Chinese words encountered in a restaurant. I did study Chinese at UT-Austin, for 5 semesters, plus a few Chinese film and history classes, but it has been a long time since I've really tried to communicate in Beijing-hua.
Like Calvin Trillin (most famously) and many others, I have never quite been able to sit down to a meal in a Chinese restaurant without wondering. Wondering if the Chinese characters on the menu said the same thing as the alleged English translations. Wondering what goodies I was missing from the Chinese-only specials board on the wall.
Wondering if there could be a more efficient way to make sure I got exactly what I thought I was getting, to know a little more about what I was ordering, to enable myself to make better food decisions.
So I started to learn some Chinese. I never did learn much. I still can't read a newspaper in Chinese, nor a non-food-related sign, nor hold a conversation in it. But I can read a menu in Chinese. And here I'm going to attempt to show you how to do it too.
Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters
And this is the book that inspired the web site
Original link from a food blog I've been reading recently, Slashfood. Not sure about that name (though I'm one to talk), but good stuff there. Check it out.
Tags: Chinese, /Food & Drink
