Your Say – Rachel’s Trip to Shanghai

中文版

Rachel K shares with us her trip to Shanghai in 2010.

Being Vegan in China – Shanghai Vegetarian Article

Rachel eating at Jujube Tree

When we formulated our plans to travel to China for the World Fair in 2010 I thought I would have a tough time finding vegan food. I was not sure if there was vegan food in China, and if there was, I wasn’t sure if I could translate my dietary needs. There are very few English reviews of vegan food in China, but there were a couple promising options I was excited to try. Through Happycow.com I found Loving Hut, JuJuBe Tree, New Age Veggie, and Annamaya and we were able to try every restaurant before we left Shanghai.

First, we traveled to Loving Hut. I was very excited to see Loving Hut in China since we eat at Loving Hut in California and it made us feel at home. The food was completely different than the menu they serve at our local Loving Hut, but I absolutely loved the home-made dumplings. The prices were incredible for the quality of food and we discovered every worker was a volunteer which made the food cheaper. We spoke with the owner, Xu, who explained how the Chinese define vegan which they call “pure vegetarian”. He explained that many Buddhists who eat vegan, still consume milk because it is not a life like an animal or an egg. That meant that some “pure vegetarian” restaurants may still have milk options, so we had to clearly state that we did not want milk with our dishes.

At Annamaya, we met Kazu, the owner, and were able to eat the freshest food in Shanghai. Her recipes were fresh, unique, and more akin to our tastes. The mustard pumpkin salad was extremely good and it was refreshing to have fresh vegetables since all the other meals we had were cooked or fried.

JuJuBe Tree (Vegetarian Lifestyle) was our absolute favorite restaurants in China, and still one of the best vegan restaurants I’ve ever tried. This restaurant serves gourmet meals, is very clean, has a great atmosphere, fancy food presentation, and fresh food and juices. We had amazing dumplings, puffed “chicken” balls, “crab” soup with glass noodles, “short ribs”, and eggplant. We loved it so much we ate here three times in three days!
Lukas at Jujube Tree

Overall, my experience as a traveling vegan in Shanghai was a great one. With a few Chinese phrases we were able to find some amazing meals, meet great people, and explore Chinese cuisine without eating animals. Vegetarian dishes are more common in basic Chinese restaurants with the variety of mushrooms, tofu, and vegetable dishes. Vegan restaurants were not too hard to come by and we even found one in the World Expo (Godly). Having vegan Buddhists and more vegetable main dishes made it sometimes easier to eat vegan than in America.

 
瑞秋的上海之旅
译者：Dreamer
校对：孤胆闯天涯

瑞秋•K 跟我们分享她2010年的上海之旅

当我们规划去中国旅行参观2010年世博会的时候，我以为我将会在找寻素食这件事上，度过一段很艰难的日子。我不确定是否有素食食品在中国,如果有,我不确定能否翻译我的饮食需求。关于中国素食的英文报道非常少，但也有几个被看好的选项让我很兴奋地想试一试。通过Happycow.com我发现了爱家、枣子树、新素代, 尔苑咖啡厅，而且在我们离开上海之前能试遍每家餐厅。

首先,我们去了爱家。能在上海看到爱家我非常兴奋，因为在加利福尼亚我们也去爱家吃饭，它让我们觉得像在家一样。这里的食物跟我们那的爱家提供的菜单完全不一样，不过我超喜欢这里的自制饺子。这样品质的食物价格却平价的令人难以置信,我们发现每个工作人员都是志愿者，这让食物更为便宜。我们与餐厅老板许先生聊了聊。他向我们解释中国人是怎样定义他们称之为“纯素食者”的“Vegan”。他解释说：许多佛教徒吃素,仍食用牛奶,因为这不像动物或鸡蛋是一个生命。这意味着,一些“纯素食者”餐厅可能仍然有牛奶的选项,所以我们必须明确说明我们不希望我们的菜里含牛奶。

在尔苑咖啡厅，我们遇见了Kazu——这家的店主，还吃到上海最新鲜的食物。她的食谱都是新鲜的、独特的、更类似于我们的口味。芥末南瓜沙拉非常好,新鲜的蔬菜使得口感清爽,因为我们吃的其他几餐全是煮熟的或油炸的。

枣子树（素生活）是我们在中国最爱的餐厅，也是我试过最好的素食餐厅之一。这个餐厅供应的美食,很干净,气氛超好,独特的食物造型,还有新鲜食品和果汁。我们品尝了很棒的饺子、膨化“鸡”球、“蟹”汤粉丝、“小排”、和茄子。我们太爱这家餐厅了，以至于我们在三天内去吃了三顿!

总的来说，作为一个来上海旅行的纯素者，我的体验很棒。依靠一点点的中文短句，我们能找到让人惊奇的食物，遇见很好的人，不用吃肉也能一探中国美食。大部分中国餐馆的素食菜肴中更常见是各种各样的菌菇、豆腐和蔬菜。素食餐馆不会太难找,而且我们甚至在世博园里发现了一家(天哪)。在中国有素食佛教徒和更多的蔬菜。这使得，我们在中国，有时比我们在美国反而更容易吃素。