BEIJING — Eating at a Beijing restaurant is usually an adventure for foreigners, and particularly when they get the chance to order “chicken without sex life” or “red burned lion head”.
Sometimes excited but mostly confused, embarrassed or even terrified, many foreigners have long complained about mistranslations of Chinese dishes. And their complaints are often valid, but such an experience at Beijing’s restaurants will apparently soon be history.
Foreign visitors will no longer, hopefully, be confused by oddly worded restaurant menus in the capital if the government’s plan to correctly translate 3,000 Chinese dishes is a success and the translations are generally adopted.
The government office of foreign affairs has published a book to introduce English translations of Chinese dishes, which aims to help restaurants avoid confusing translations. “It provides the names of main dishes of famous Chinese cuisines in plain English,” an official with the city’s Foreign Affairs office said. Restaurants are encouraged to use the proposed translations, but it will not be compulsory. It’s the city’s latest effort to bridge the culture gap for foreign travelers in China.
Coming up with precise translations is a
daunting task, as some Chinese culinary (烹饪的)
techniques are untranslatable and many Chinese dishes have no English-language equivalent (对应词). The translators, after conducting a study of Chinese restaurants in English-speaking countries, divided the dish names into four categories: ingredients, cooking method, taste and name of a person or a place. For some traditional dishes, pinyin, the Chinese phonetic system, is used, such as mapo tofu (previously often literally translated as “bean curd made by woman with freckles”), baozi (steamed stuffed bun) and jiaozi (dumplings) to “reflect the Chinese cuisine culture,” according to the book.
“The book is a benefit to tourist guides like me. Having it, I don’t have to rack my brains trying to explain Chinese dishes to foreign travelers,” said Zheng Xiaodong, a 31- year – old employee with a Beijing-based travel agency.
It is not clear if the book will be introduced to other parts of China. But on Tuesday, this was the most discussed topic on weibo.com, China’s most popular micro blogging site.
28. “chicken without sex life” or “red burned lion head” are mentioned in the beginning of the passage to show some Chinese dishes are
.
A.mistranslated. | B.hard to translate. |
C.not well received. | D.not acceptable. |
29. What measure has the government office taken?
A.Introducing a book on Chinese dishes |
B.Publishing a book on China’s dietary habits |
C.Providing the names of main Chinese dishes |
D.Suggesting using accurate translation for Chinese dishes |
30. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “daunting” in paragraph 5?
A.disappointing | B.discouraging |
C.inspiring | D.amazing |
31. What’s the attitude of most people to the book according to the passage?
A.unconcerned | B.negative |
C.divided | D.favorable |