Assumption one: you are not anal-retentive. Being vegetarian or vegan in China requires a certain flexibility – there will be mistakes and miscommunication. These are not concepts familiar to the average Chinese restaurant. Flecks of meat may – will – find their way onto your table in the most surreptitious, if uncalculated, ways. Despite this, eating locally doesn’t have to be an insurmountable challenge for plant-only eaters. Remember: persistence pays off.

Read the full guide with added pinyin and Chinese characters by clicking on the magazine embedded below: