Spice and intolerances:

If you’ve a sensitive belly, avoid eating food that is too spicy – this often upsets the foreign digestive system. The people of Sichuan proudly boast that their cuisine is the only type in China that you can eat and loose wait at the same time!

During the summer, especially at outdoor eating areas, they cake everything in dark spice. Kebabs are delightful with some spice but again you may have to ensure they do not completely paint them in dark, stomach-churning spice …unless that’s your thing. The combination of heavy spice and several beers, the next morning, can be memorable for all the wrong reasons.

You can ensure a dish has only a ‘little spice’ with ‘ee dien-dien latza’ or ask for ‘no spice’ using ‘bu-yao latza’ (‘very spicy’ being ‘fay chang la’). In the West, there is a growing awareness of certain food intolerances (gluten and lactose problems, diabetes, etc).

Outside of large five-star hotels, don’t expect this to be given much thought at all. Food caked in spice, ‘MSG substitute’ to enhance the taste, salt used in excess, are all quite common in some provinces (as used in hotpot dishes). In other provinces, such as Southern and Eastern, they’ll use real chilli pepper veggies, thus avoiding MSG dangers.

Those with delicate constitutions should consult their doctor before doing the trip or at least find out which Chinese foods are a no-go (otherwise, check out the web).

(See Food for more).