The first thing you learn: nobody’s even heard of General Tsao’s chicken. Negative on the tangerine chicken as well, and the shrimp lo mein is nowhere to be found. The good news is, there’s mooshu pork a plenty, but if you’re going to survive for very long, you’d better have some idea of what to expect in your typical Chinese greasy spoon, especially if you’re a student, on a budget, or otherwise trying to fit into the average Chinese person’s daily routine.

Within hours of a Beijing arrival, or arrival anywhere in the north of China for that matter, a visit to a typical Chinese restaurant could be the first place outside of your accommodations on your sightseeing agenda, and a glance at the menu won’t bring back memories of the takeout place back home, places that, if I memory serves me correctly, are invariably called “Great Wall” or “Ming Garden” or some variation thereof, all promising a tasty bounty of inedible red food of which you will eat approximately half. No, the real deal is much less hygienic, and certainly not FDA certified. That said, real Chinese food bears very little resemblance to the scrumptious cuisine served in the U.S. and elsewhere in the Western world, and in this reviewer’s opinion, is much the better for it.

Your first stop as you eat your way through China will be, of course, the menu. Now, depending on where you go and the quality of the establishment, the menu will vary, as will the dishes offered. Upscale eateries will offer an English translation, while even middling restaurants in the new China have pictures of the various dishes offered to cater to the growing numbers of foreigners in the major urban areas. But oftentimes there will be little more than a laminated menu composed entirely of Chinese characters (hanzi), and to the uninitiated, ordering up some lunch can be a gamble. Here’s some terminology which will see to it that you don’t starve in your first week on the ground.

càidàn – the menu
mǎidān / jiézhàng – the check
dàozi – knife
chǎzi – fork
tiáogēng / tāngchí – spoon

běijīng kǎoyā – Peking Roast Duck
là zi jī dīng – Spicy green peppers and boneless chicken
bō cài chǎo jī dàn – fried spinach with egg
jī dàn chǎo mǐ fàn – egg fried rice
jīng jiàng ròu sī – shredded pork in a special sauce with tofu wrappers
gōngbào jīdīng – Sichuan style peanut chicken
huíguō ròu – hot sauce boiled pork
gālí jī – curried chicken
nuíròu miàn – beef noodles in soup
ròubāozǐ shuǐjiǎo – boiled meat dumplings
tiébǎnniúròu – beef on a hot iron plate
jīngjiàng ròusī – soy sauce pork