How to Order Food in China: Menu and Allergy Guide (2026)

The simplest way to order

1. Choose a restaurant where you can see a paper, wall, photo, counter, or QR menu and where staff can answer questions when you have dietary restrictions.

2. Open the QR menu in WeChat, Alipay, or your browser when offered. If it does not load, ask for a paper or photo menu instead.

3. Use photos and translated dish names to shortlist choices, then ask about ingredients, spice level, portion size, and allergens before submitting.

4. Check the cart or repeat the order with staff. Confirm the quantity of each dish and whether steamed white rice, drinks, or tableware are separate charges.

5. Pay through the menu or at the counter with Alipay, WeChat Pay, an accepted card, or cash. Keep a second payment method ready.

QR, photo, paper, and counter menus

• QR ordering varies by restaurant. The code may open a WeChat mini-program, Alipay mini-program, or ordinary web page; some require a table number or phone verification.

• A photo menu is often easier than translating a long dish name, but a picture does not reveal cooking oil, stock, sauce, garnish, or cross-contact risk.

• At counter-service restaurants, point to the item and show the quantity with your phone. Check whether you must collect the food when a number is called.

• Keep an offline translation tool available, because a menu or mini-program may not offer English and mobile data can fail.

• Save the restaurant name and address in Chinese so you can return, share it with companions, or explain your location if help is needed.

• Translate a Chinese menu with Amap: Photograph the menu, set allergies, then show a Chinese order card to staff.

Shared dishes, rice, spice, and portions

• Many sit-down meals are ordered for the table and shared. Ask the server how many people a dish serves instead of ordering one main dish per person automatically.

• Steamed white rice is often ordered separately. Ask for the exact number of bowls you need: 请给我一碗白米饭。

• Spice levels are not standardized. “Not spicy” may still include chili oil or pepper, so ask whether the dish itself, sauce, garnish, or hotpot base contains chili.

• Cold dishes, tea, tableware, tissues, or snacks placed on the table may be chargeable. Ask before opening or using them if the price matters.

• For leftovers, ask 可以打包吗？ (“Can I take this away?”), but refrigerate perishable food promptly and discard it if storage has been unsafe.

• What to eat in China: Fifteen regional dishes to look for on a first visit, and where each is strongest.

Vegetarian, vegan, and halal needs

• A dish described as vegetables or 素菜 may still contain meat stock, oyster sauce, lard, egg, or a garnish. Name everything you avoid rather than relying on one label.

• For vegetarian food, show: 我是素食者，不吃肉、鱼和海鲜。 Ask separately about broth, sauces, cooking fat, and shared cookware when those matter to you.

• For vegan food, also ask the restaurant to exclude egg, dairy, honey, fish sauce, oyster sauce, meat stock, and animal fat as applicable.

• For halal food, look for 清真, then confirm pork, lard, alcohol, meat sourcing, and shared utensils according to your requirements. A sign alone may not answer every question.

• When staff cannot confirm an ingredient or preparation method, choose a simpler dish or another restaurant instead of guessing.

Peanut and tree nut allergies: dishes to ask about and a card to show

Peanuts are common in Chinese cooking, and not always where you can see them: crushed over noodles, stirred into sauces, or as the cooking oil. I went through the dishes in our allergen list and added the ones I know from eating in China.

The list isn't complete, and recipes change from shop to shop, so ask about every dish.

Peanut oil (花生油) is widely used for cooking in China. An allergist told Allergic Living that highly refined peanut oil is tolerated by most people with a peanut allergy, but unrefined oil ("cold-pressed" or "aromatic") can cause a reaction like eating peanuts. You can't check which kind is in a restaurant's wok, or whether peanuts were fried in it, so ask for no peanut oil, and ask your own doctor what's safe for you.

Show this card to the staff. I wrote it the way a busy kitchen will read it:

我对花生严重过敏，吃了会有生命危险。请不要放花生、花生碎、花生酱、花生油，也不要用炸过花生的油。不确定的话请直接告诉我，谢谢！

In English: I have a severe peanut allergy, and eating peanuts can be life-threatening. Please don't use peanuts, crushed peanuts, peanut butter or peanut oil, or oil that peanuts were fried in. If you're not sure, please just tell me. Thank you!

Allergic to tree nuts too? Add: 我也对坚果过敏，请不要放核桃、腰果、杏仁、松子、开心果。 (I'm also allergic to tree nuts: please don't use walnuts, cashews, almonds, pine nuts or pistachios.)

Want it read aloud? The allergy cards in the ChinaEase Buddy app show your message full screen and can read it aloud in Chinese: open the Food tab.

A short note to paste into an order: 花生过敏，不放花生和花生油 (peanut allergy: no peanuts or peanut oil).

Carry enough adrenaline auto-injectors for the whole trip, with a prescription or doctor's letter, and read if an allergic reaction starts below.

Serious food allergies and cross-contact

• Prepare a clinician-reviewed bilingual allergy card that states the exact allergen, common derivatives, severity, and what must be avoided. Do not rely on automatic translation alone.

• Show the card before ordering and ask staff to confirm sauces, oils, marinades, stock, garnish, shared woks, utensils, chopping boards, and fryers.

• Use direct wording such as 我对花生严重过敏。 (“I have a severe peanut allergy.”) and ask whether the dish contains peanuts, peanut oil, or peanut sauce.

• Cross-contamination can occur even when the main ingredient is absent. If staff appear unsure or the kitchen cannot prevent cross-contact, do not eat the dish.

• China's updated GB 7718-2025 prepackaged-food label standard includes allergen provisions but takes effect in 2027. In 2026, do not assume allergen declarations are uniform; read the full ingredient list and ask.

Food and water safety

• Choose food that is cooked thoroughly and served steaming hot. Avoid raw or undercooked meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and food that has been sitting lukewarm.

• Prefer busy stalls and restaurants where food is prepared fresh. Street food is safer when cooked in front of you and served hot rather than held at room temperature.

• Use factory-sealed bottled water or water that has been properly treated when safety is uncertain, and check that the bottle seal is intact.

• Wash your hands with soap and water before eating, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer when washing is not available.

• People who are pregnant, older, very young, or immunocompromised should take particular care with high-risk foods and seek personalized medical advice before travel.

Payment and receipts

• Some QR menus combine ordering and payment; others only send the order and require payment at the counter. Check before leaving the table.

• Alipay and WeChat Pay are common, but availability and foreign-card transactions vary. Keep a physical card and some RMB as backups.

• Confirm the total, service or tableware charges, and any deposit before paying. Ask for a receipt when you need to review the order or claim reimbursement.

• If the mobile payment fails, try the second wallet, another linked card, a physical card accepted by the restaurant, or cash rather than repeatedly submitting the same charge.

If an allergic reaction starts

• Treat breathing difficulty, throat or tongue swelling, faintness, or a rapidly worsening reaction as an emergency. Anaphylaxis can be life-threatening and progress quickly.

• Follow your personal emergency plan and use your prescribed adrenaline auto-injector immediately if instructed to do so; do not wait for a translation app to settle the diagnosis.

• Call 120 for an ambulance in China, or ask staff: 请帮我叫救护车，我可能严重过敏。 (“Please call an ambulance; I may be having a severe allergic reaction.”)

• Carry prescribed emergency medicine with you, not in checked luggage or back at the hotel, and tell companions where it is and how to help.

• This guide is general travel information, not medical advice. Discuss severe allergies and an emergency plan with a qualified clinician before travel.

Useful Chinese restaurant phrases

• 可以看一下英文菜单吗？ — Can I see an English menu?

• 请给我看有图片的菜单。 — Please show me a menu with pictures.

• 这个辣吗？ / 请不要放辣。 — Is this spicy? / Please do not make it spicy.

• 请给我一碗白米饭。 / 可以打包吗？ — Please give me a bowl of steamed white rice. / Can I take this away?

• 我对花生严重过敏。 — I have a severe peanut allergy.

• 这道菜里有花生、花生油或花生酱吗？ — Does this contain peanuts, peanut oil, or peanut sauce?

• 请不要使用含花生的调料、油或厨具。 — Do not use sauces, oil, or utensils containing peanuts.

• 我不吃猪肉。 / 我是素食者，不吃肉、鱼和海鲜。 — I do not eat pork. / I am vegetarian; I do not eat meat, fish, or seafood.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Assuming every QR menu has English, accepts a foreign phone number, or completes payment automatically.

• Ordering from a photo without checking hidden ingredients, cooking oil, sauce, stock, garnish, or cross-contact.

• Treating “vegetable,” 素菜, 清真, or a translated label as a complete guarantee for a dietary or medical requirement.

• Using a generic translation card for a severe allergy without clinician review, exact allergen names, derivatives, and an emergency plan.

• Relying on one payment app, ordering too many shared dishes, or forgetting that rice may need to be ordered separately.