So there are many times when I see things that are written in English when I just have to have a laugh at the translation. At times the translation is so bad that I can’t even tell what the translation is supposed to mean! These translations can be anywhere: on signs, on clothing, and on maps but the worst translations I have seen are on menus or on signage at restaurants (even at American chains like KFC). It just so happened that we had a team building dinner at a restaurant nearby and there were so many bad examples of Chinglish that I decided to write a blog post about it with pictures.
With descriptions for dishes like Paragraph Big Meat Slide, Iced-black mooden ear, Bottom of the potboil for a short time, Grandpa’s pa Big Face Soto, who wouldn’t want to dig in? Of course these translations are poor but some of the foods are equally strange for a westerner so I think the photos will be particularly enlightening so you can see just how different the eating habits are for people from China compared with the US. I really had no idea before I came here what to expect and boy was I surprised because there is nothing like Panda Express here.
With descriptions for dishes like Paragraph Big Meat Slide, Iced-black mooden ear, Bottom of the potboil for a short time, Grandpa’s pa Big Face Soto, who wouldn’t want to dig in? Of course these translations are poor but some of the foods are equally strange for a westerner so I think the photos will be particularly enlightening so you can see just how different the eating habits are for people from China compared with the US. I really had no idea before I came here what to expect and boy was I surprised because there is nothing like Panda Express here.
Some other favorites I saw on the menu were sauerkraut monolithic (I think this is just supposed to be aged sauerkraut), nausea sauce pork (I have no idea what they are trying to get at here), sesame large lap (this is a salad so again?), mix vinegar fungus (hmmm yummy fungus!), complete the entire substeaming (????), and then and of course the deep fried silk warm (I am so glad it is not cold!).
Also here every part of the animal is eaten and in a way this makes a lot of sense and is not wasteful but I have a hard time eating certain things even if it makes sense to do so. Here are some things I don’t like to eat but have eaten here: fish mouth, beef spine, chicken joints, stomach, and bones and more bones from chicken to beef to fish. Here are some things I will not eat: spiders, silk worms, cat (civet cat was on the menu at the restaurant), dog, creepy crawlies of any kind, and things I can’t recognize. Luckily there are plenty of safe things for me too like dumplings, ramen, pizza, hamburgers, and many other western foods that have been imported.
Also here every part of the animal is eaten and in a way this makes a lot of sense and is not wasteful but I have a hard time eating certain things even if it makes sense to do so. Here are some things I don’t like to eat but have eaten here: fish mouth, beef spine, chicken joints, stomach, and bones and more bones from chicken to beef to fish. Here are some things I will not eat: spiders, silk worms, cat (civet cat was on the menu at the restaurant), dog, creepy crawlies of any kind, and things I can’t recognize. Luckily there are plenty of safe things for me too like dumplings, ramen, pizza, hamburgers, and many other western foods that have been imported.
I do have to tell a story about this last photo. There is a big difference between what the local (Chinese) and foreign (expat) staff like to eat as could be expected. Many of the local staff decided they wanted to order deep fried silk worms. While even the photo of the silk worms was enough to turn off the westerners when they came, some felt that they smelled unappetizing as well. Simon, a teacher from Australia was particularly vocal about this and described them as, “smelling like dirty socks”. I didn’t think they smelled that badly but didn’t want to eat one. Upon hearing his reaction, our school’s Center Director offered 100 Yuan if he would eat one and then another teacher put in another 100. That was enough to entice Simon and he did eat it. He made quite a scene chewing very quickly and drinking beer to rid the taste as quickly as he could but when asked if it was worth it he said, “I’d do it again.”
All in all it was an interesting, memorable and funny dinner. Cheers!