Eating in China with Dietary Needs: Ordering, Ingredients and Allergies

Prepare a food plan before your trip

Write down exactly what you avoid, including ingredients that may appear in stock, sauces or garnishes. Separate food preferences and religious requirements from medically important restrictions. Give hotels or tour organizers advance notice, but reconfirm directly with the people preparing each meal.

For serious allergies, arrange a pre-travel appointment with your clinician. Review your personal emergency plan, prescribed medication, storage requirements and access to care. Obtain a professionally translated and verified Simplified Chinese chef card covering your exact allergens and cross-contact needs. Keep printed copies; an automatic translation or a generic medical phrase is insufficient.

• CDC: pre-travel planning and chef cards for severely allergic travelers →

Order without speaking Mandarin

If the restaurant uses a QR menu, ask staff which app opens it. Translation tools can help you browse, but photographs and translated dish names do not establish ingredients. Keep dietary questions separate from the ordering screen.

If scanning fails or the page requires an account, phone verification or payment method you cannot use, request another ordering route. These are practical requests, not a promise that every restaurant provides paper menus or English service.

1. Show staff a saved message asking for a paper, picture or English menu, or help ordering at the counter.
2. Point to a dish and show your requirements before adding it to the order.
3. Ask staff to check with the kitchen rather than infer ingredients from the dish name.
4. Confirm the dish, quantity, requested changes, total and payment method before submitting.

Make vegetarian, vegan and halal requests specific

A broad dietary label can leave important details unstated. Use the following English wording as a checklist for a translated preference note. These are routine preference prompts, not medical allergy cards.

For halal needs, ask how the restaurant establishes halal suitability, including meat sourcing, cooking ingredients and preparation. Avoid treating a neighborhood, cuisine or absence of pork as proof.

Ask about the whole recipe

Ask what goes into the dish, not just whether the visible main ingredient fits your diet. Questions worth checking include stock, cooking fat, marinade, seasoning paste, dipping sauce and garnish. Possible ingredients to ask about include oyster sauce, fish sauce, shrimp paste, soy sauce, sesame, peanuts, eggs and milk; recipes and product formulations vary.

Ask whether sauces are premixed and whether staff can check their packaging. If an ingredient cannot be identified, do not assume that removing the sauce at the table solves the problem. For packaged food, have the full label checked against your requirements; a front-of-pack picture or translated product name is inadequate.

For allergies, check preparation as well as ingredients

Cross-contact means an allergen is transferred into another food, potentially in amounts you cannot see. FARE explains that cooking does not eliminate this risk. A recipe without your allergen may still involve shared equipment or handling.

Show your verified chef card to a manager or cook. Ask concrete questions and allow time for an answer. If staff cannot confirm ingredients or preparation, choose another eating arrangement consistent with your clinician's plan.

• Are the wok, grill, fryer oil, utensils or cutting boards shared with foods containing my allergen?
• Can the kitchen use appropriate cleaned equipment and a separate preparation area?
• Could stock, sauce, garnish or serving utensils introduce the allergen?
• Can you prepare a new meal rather than remove an ingredient from an existing plate?

• FARE: cross-contact and questions for restaurant staff →

Keep a backup and an emergency plan

Carry suitable backup food whose ingredients you have checked, subject to transport and customs restrictions. Self-catering may give you more control, but still requires ingredient and equipment checks. Reconfirm requirements at every meal, including repeat visits.

Keep prescribed emergency medication and your written care plan immediately accessible. Make sure a companion knows where they are and understands your clinician's instructions. If a reaction occurs, follow that plan and obtain urgent help; in mainland China, call 120 for an ambulance. Do not wait for a restaurant or translation app to resolve a medical emergency.

• FARE: medication, care plans and food-allergy travel preparation →
• FCDO: China's emergency medical number →