I've commented elsewhere about the tendency of local restaurants serving Coryphaenidae hippurus or Dolphin, a favorite locally caught Atlantic fish, to use the amusingly inappropriate Hawaiian name of Mahi-Mahi so that the timid tourists from New Jersey won't think they're being served one of those cute mammals.
China, which already has a partially deserved reputation for restaurant menus suggestive of the local zoo's inventory list, is afraid of a bigger problem emerging during the 2008 Olympic games; a much bigger problem than the US has with Chinese tourists suspecting canine origins of the hot dogs they see everywhere. Xinhua, the State News agency of China says that the "confusing, even ridiculous translations" found on menus are on the way out and that The Beijing Tourism Bureau has released a list of 2,753 dishes and drinks that are to be revised. No more items that "either scare or embarrass foreign customers and may cause misunderstanding of China's diet habits" please.
Don't tell the foreigners their chicken was a virgin or that the meatball wrapped in cabbage leaves is a lion's head. That sweet pudding-like dòufǔ naǒ I enjoy for breakfast? For heaven's sake, don't call it bean curd brains; they tend to believe anything, you know.
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2 comments:
Well, if you enjoy the strange but literal translations on menus, you're gonna love these.
http://expatbrian.wordpress.com/2005/12/13/lost-in-translation/
I've personally never been to this restaurant but if I did go I would be sure to try the "The bureau swallows to take the fish idea powder" and I hear the "Fuck to fry the cow river" is to die for.
I wonder if I can find a local place that has "butter many privates"
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