Eating in China

AliHawkins

Hi ... Could anyone help me please? I am about to go to China for a two week holiday. Can you suggest things that will be good for me to choose to eat and things that would be best to avoid (of course, I realise deep fried and anything creamy is out) while I'm there? Thanks Alison

melaniecheeks

Oooh, have a great time! Where will you be going?

I think you'll find it just about impossible to keep your food diary going - I'd just enjoy the trip, and use portion control to keep in check.

melaniecheeks

When I was there we ate as a tour group - its usual for a selection of foods to be put in the centre of the table, and everyone helps themselves to what they want. There's always a soup dish, and rice, and usually a fish dish, cooked with its bones to give more flavour. dessert was usually fresh fruit - watermelon mostly!

AliHawkins

Hi Melanie

Thanks! That's great information and it sounds like I'll be fine to be able to choose healthy things to eat. I've never been to China before, and I will be part of a tour as you have described for your own visit there - I thought that was bese as I don't have any Chinese language capability at all!. We will be going to Shanghai, Guilin, Yangshou, Xian and Beijing. I am really looking forward to it - although I'm a bit anxious that I am not sure how much exercise I'll be able to do during the trip.

Alison

grabbit97

Hi Melanie

Thanks! That's great information and it sounds like I'll be fine to be able to choose healthy things to eat. I've never been to China before, and I will be part of a tour as you have described for your own visit there - I thought that was bese as I don't have any Chinese language capability at all!. We will be going to Shanghai, Guilin, Yangshou, Xian and Beijing. I am really looking forward to it - although I'm a bit anxious that I am not sure how much exercise I'll be able to do during the trip.

Alison

ONE WORD OF WARNING... if you can't BOIL it, or PEEL it, or COOK It, DON"T EAT IT....
in other words, fruits, if peelable, can be eaten, no apples, but cantaloupe, watermelon, bananas becuase they are peeled are fine... NO LETTUCE, it's washed with their water, nothing raw.... if it's COOKED, its fine...
USE BOTTLED WATER, even to brush your teeth....
Natalie

melaniecheeks

Organised tours are the way to go in somewhere so different, definitely.

We were there in 2009 for the total solar eclipse, and did a tour including Shanghai, Xian, Hangzhou and Beijing. It was truly amazing!

Drink plenty of bottled water, yes, it's always easy to get hold of. If you're climbing the Great Wall you'll get plenty of exercise!

londoneye

I continued logging on MFP when in Hong Kong, no problem. I discovered Congee - a rice soup which is super filling and low calorie. Noodle soups are also filling and healthy - I ate loads of them. Dark green veg like pak choi are great, nutritious options too.

It will depend a lot where you are in China as the cuisine varies widely. In Hong Kong they have loads of steamed food (steamed dim sum - yum!), but in other places they are bigger on frying.

Though I must admit that I did so much walking that I ate loads of fried street food too with no weight gain. Plus, you don't go to China every day - you have to try everything you can get your hands on!

ace175

I went in a tour group and we had set meals, but a pretty good variety. There was always some sort of meat, peking duck was AMAZING!!! Also there was always rice, but just watch how much of that you eat! Also, for some reason, we ALWAYS had watermelon! I'm not sure if that's a popular fruit there, or if it was in season, but I would always have several pieces of that!! Also, I'm sure you will be doing a lot of walking! When I want we climbed the Great Wall, and that was sure a workout! LOL!
Have fun, it's amazing there!!!!!

Edit: Also, because of all the walking, I didn't have any gain! So hopefully you'll be walking a lot!!