Cuisine lexicon offers tasty food for thought_美文

Cuisine lexicon offers tasty food for thought

"In the book, we preserve as much historic information as possible, so that the stories implied by the names will be complete," Chen said.

The municipal government has tried to regulate English menus in restaurants since 2006. That year, the government published its first official translation and sent it to restaurants, though its use is not mandatory.

In 2008, to improve service for foreign visitors, the government promoted the translation in more than 1,300 restaurants near Olympic venues.

According to written material released to China Daily, the foreign affairs office amended the old version, and added 310 new dishes and more pictures in the new book, but its use is still not compulsory.

Zi Yunxiao, marketing communications manager of the Westin Hotel in Beijing, said a standard translation would be a good reference for them.

"However, we won't use the translation completely, because our chef sometimes develops new dishes, so we have to think of different names," Zi said.

"I think the book would be a great help for people who do not speak much Chinese, like me," said Olinkend K.R. Green, a 21-year-old from Canada. "When I go to a Chinese restaurant I sometimes find the names a little complicated, and not every restaurant has an English menu. So I have to look at the picture on the menu to guess what is in the dish, and point for the waiter, I want this, this and this."