Eat in China with food allergies, coeliac disease or vegetarian needs
No Chinese, no pictures, cannot eat spicy food
Ask staff to point to one dish and its price, then show the card below. If the dish is already marinated or cooked with chilli, choose something made to order instead. 白米饭 (plain rice) with 清炒蔬菜 (plain stir-fried vegetables), or 蒸蛋 (steamed egg) if you eat eggs, are starting requests; confirm seasoning rather than assuming the dish name means non-spicy. These suggestions are for taste preferences, not allergy clearance.
中文：我不会说中文。我一点辣都不能吃，请不要放辣椒、辣椒油、辣酱或花椒，也不要做微辣。请推荐一道可以现做、完全不辣的菜，并指给我看菜名和价格。如果这道菜已经放了辣的调料，请告诉我，我换一道菜。
English: I do not speak Chinese and cannot eat spicy food. Please use no chilli, chilli oil, chilli sauce or Sichuan pepper—not even mildly spicy. Please point to a dish you can cook without them and show its price. If it is already seasoned, tell me so I can choose another dish.
If communication still fails tonight, ask the hotel to help place a simple order with the kitchen, or buy food whose ingredients you understand. A menu translation can identify a candidate dish; staff still need to confirm how this serving will be prepared.
Food allergy, no ingredient list
Step-by-step instructions
- Fill in your exact allergens before using the card. Show it to the chef or manager and ask them to check the recipe, stock, sauces, marinade, oil and packaged ingredients. Ask to see relevant ingredient labels if available.
- Ask how they will keep your food away from the allergen during preparation and serving, including clean equipment and surfaces and any shared fryer oil. A waiter’s guess or simply removing a garnish is not confirmation.
- If an ingredient or preparation answer remains uncertain, decline the meal. Use your pre-checked backup food and ask the hotel to help brief a different kitchen before the next meal.
中文过敏卡：我对［准确的食物名称］有食物过敏，这不是口味偏好。请让厨师或经理核对所有配料、汤底、酱汁、腌料和食用油，并确认制作和上菜时能避免接触［过敏原］。请使用清洁过的锅具、刀具、砧板和餐具，不要使用接触过这种食物的炸油。如果配料不清楚，或无法避免接触，请直接告诉我，我不会点这道菜。
English: I am allergic to [exact foods]; this is not a preference. Please have the chef or manager check all ingredients, stock, sauces, marinades and oil, and explain how contact with [allergen] will be avoided while preparing and serving my meal. Use cleaned equipment and utensils and no fryer oil exposed to it. If anything is uncertain, tell me and I will not order the dish.
FARE offers a Simplified Chinese chef-card template. Check the allergen translation carefully; unfamiliar regional names can still cause misunderstanding. Carry your prescribed emergency treatment and personal action plan. Its cross-contact guidance explains why the kitchen also needs to confirm equipment and handling.
Strict vegetarian: no meat, fish, broth or animal oil
Ask about the stock and cooking oil as well as visible pieces of meat. Decide your egg and dairy rules explicitly. A vegetable dish can still be unsuitable if the recipe uses animal stock, lard, oyster sauce, fish sauce or shrimp paste.
中文素食卡：我吃素，不吃肉、肉末、禽类、鱼或海鲜。请不要放肉汤、鱼汤、猪油、鸡油、蚝油、鱼露或虾酱。请使用植物油和清水。鸡蛋：［可以／不可以］。奶制品：［可以／不可以］。请告诉我这道菜用什么汤底和油；如果调料里有动物成分，请换一道菜。
English: I eat no meat, poultry, fish or seafood, including minced meat. Please use no meat or fish stock, lard, chicken fat, oyster sauce, fish sauce or shrimp paste. Use vegetable oil and water. Eggs: [yes/no]. Dairy: [yes/no]. Please tell me which stock and oil you use, and suggest another dish if the seasoning contains animal ingredients.
A practical request is plain rice and vegetables cooked to order with confirmed plant oil and water. If that cannot be arranged, ask the hotel for a vegetarian restaurant and have it confirm your listed exclusions before you travel there, or use groceries with readable ingredients. This ingredient request does not establish medical cross-contact control.
Coeliac disease is not understood and cross-contact is uncontrolled
After repeated misunderstanding on a group tour, stop testing the same explanation at each table. Use your checked packed meal for the current meal, and ask the tour operator to arrange the next meal with the kitchen in advance. Request either a meal with confirmed ingredients and preparation, or time and transport to buy suitable groceries and permission to eat your own food. Any refund for an unusable included meal depends on the booking terms and agreement.
For a restaurant meal, have the chef check wheat, barley and rye, including sauces, stock and marinades, then explain clean preparation surfaces and equipment and separate frying oil. ‘No flour added’ does not answer those questions. Ordinary soy sauce needs checking; use it only if its gluten-free suitability is established. Confirm the actual dish again when it arrives. Coeliac UK’s eating-out guidance says to check preparation and not eat when doubt remains. The NHS gluten-free diet guidance also covers ingredient labels and shared preparation.
中文给导游和餐厅：我患有乳糜泻，必须避免麸质，这不是饮食偏好。请厨师核对小麦、大麦、黑麦及汤底、酱油、酱汁和腌料；这些调料需要确认无麸质。请用清洁过的操作台、锅具和餐具单独制作，不用共用炸油，避免接触含麸质食物。如果无法确认，我会吃自备食物。请在下一餐前安排能明确做到的餐厅，或安排时间让我购买适合的食品。
English for the guide and kitchen: I have coeliac disease and must avoid gluten. Please check wheat, barley, rye, stock, soy sauce, sauces and marinades, including verified gluten-free seasoning. Prepare my meal separately using cleaned surfaces, equipment and utensils, without shared fryer oil or contact with gluten-containing food. If this cannot be confirmed, I will eat my own food. Before the next meal, arrange a kitchen that can meet these needs, or time for me to buy suitable groceries.
Make tonight’s backup meal usable
Keep a portion of familiar, suitable shelf-stable food with you rather than depending on finding dinner after a refusal. At a supermarket or convenience store, check the complete label and allergen/cross-contact information against your needs before buying. Sealed packaging alone proves nothing. Ask hotel staff to help read unclear text; if it remains unclear, choose a product you can verify. Use your own clean utensils and avoid buffet tongs, shared condiments and unknown kitchen reheating. If you have no suitable food left, ask the hotel or guide to help obtain a specifically checked meal before continuing the tour.
When food symptoms need emergency help
Sudden throat or tongue swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing, collapse, or marked confusion after eating can signal a severe allergic reaction. Call 120 in mainland China immediately. Use prescribed adrenaline if your personal emergency plan calls for it, and follow that plan and the dispatcher’s instructions. Do not walk to a clinic or wait for an antihistamine to fix a severe reaction. These are general emergency signs, not a claim that coeliac disease causes anaphylaxis. NHS emergency guidance and China’s 120 route.
中文急救卡：我可能发生了严重过敏反应。请立即拨打120。我的症状是［症状］。我现在在［餐厅或酒店中文名、地址、楼层］。请有人在门口接救护人员，并按急救调度员的指示帮助我。
English: I may be having a severe allergic reaction. Call 120 now. My symptoms are [symptoms]. I am at [Chinese venue name, address and floor]. Please meet the ambulance at the entrance and follow the dispatcher’s instructions.
Checked 13 September 2026. Personal allergens, egg/dairy choices and a particular kitchen’s ability to prepare this meal remain individual checks; no restaurant or packaged product is certified safe by this page.
Fact sources referenced in this answer
- Source 1Food Allergy Research & Education, chef cards.
- Source 2Coeliac UK, eating-out guidance.
- Source 3NHS: anaphylaxis emergency signs and response
- Source 4FARE: avoiding allergen cross-contact
- Source 5NHS: coeliac disease and a gluten-free diet
- Source 6Beijing government