英伦广角 Issue 119 "奥运菜单"和"中国味"（在线收听）

The culinary delights of China are tantalizing selection to tickle your taste buds, but what does it all mean? Beijing's restaurant menus have been given a linguistic makeover in a bid to tempt visitors to the Olympic host city to eat the local cuisine, but some of the descriptions seem to have left some frustrated, let alone famished. This restaurant's specialty is steamed hair-fish, but foreign customers might puzzle over the English description, "Six must occupy cooks in a covered vessel the hairtail". While steamed chicken is described as the intriguing chicken without sexual life.

China's capital has taken great pains to prepare the city for an influx of Olympic visitors especially in the Food Department.

Chinese cuisine has developed over a long period of time. Chinese food is rich and varied.

But this boomerang of a measure has some officials worry. An official booklet has now been issued to restaurants containing rather more bland English translations for local dishes. Some restaurants have gone against the grain, preferring their own quirky translations, offering delicacies, such as wonderful fragrant fat cow.

Foodies think bland translations will stop visitors from experiencing real Chinese food.

You should first let people try this type of food, so that they realize how good Chinese food is, then they should go to go-street and try the more genuine flavors or even better food cooked in a Chinese home. That's the most genuine Chinese food.

So, although "The clever and dexterous woman rips the cabbage" may not appeal to the less adventurous eaters, there's hope the good sports won't mind a little food lost in translation.