Vegetarian and Vegan in China: Hidden Ingredients, Safe Dishes and Buddhist Restaurants

Eating vegetarian in China is manageable almost everywhere. Eating vegan is harder, because many dishes that look like plain vegetables are cooked with meat stock, lard, oyster sauce or dried shrimp, and eggs turn up in fried rice, noodles and pastries. The fix is to ask for specific things to be left out, not just to say "vegetarian". When you want a meal you don't have to check, go to a Buddhist vegetarian restaurant (素菜馆, sùcài guǎn) or a temple dining hall (斋堂, zhāitáng). If you fly with Air China, China Southern or China Eastern, order a vegetarian or vegan meal (VGML is the vegan code) at least 24 hours before departure; for China Southern flights leaving from outside mainland China, phone bookings need 48 hours. Other airlines set their own deadlines, so check with yours.

This guide covers what "vegetarian" means to a Chinese cook, the hidden animal ingredients, dishes you can order at any ordinary restaurant, Buddhist vegetarian food, and how hotpot, street food, convenience stores, trains and flights work for plant-based eaters.

How Hard Is It to Eat Vegetarian or Vegan in China?

For a lacto-ovo vegetarian, China is easier than most visitors expect. Chinese cooking uses a lot of tofu, mushrooms, eggplant, potatoes, beans and leafy greens, and every ordinary restaurant has several vegetable dishes on the menu. You will rarely go hungry.

The main difficulty is what the word "vegetarian" means to the person cooking. In everyday Chinese cooking, meat is often a seasoning rather than the main ingredient: a spoon of minced pork in the tofu, a ladle of chicken stock in the greens, a scoop of lard in the wok. A cook who hears "no meat" may leave out the pieces of meat and keep the stock and the fat. Nobody is trying to trick you. It is a different idea of what counts as meat, and being specific solves most of it.

For vegans there is an extra layer. Dairy is not a big part of Chinese cooking, so milk and cheese are rarely the problem. The problems are eggs (in fried rice, noodles, dumpling fillings and buns), animal fat (lard in pastries and stir-fries) and seafood-based sauces (oyster sauce, fish sauce, shrimp paste and dried shrimp). In big cities you can eat vegan every day without much effort. In small towns and in the meat-heavy northwest, expect to rely on plain noodles, rice, simple vegetable dishes and snacks you carry.

素 and 斋: two words worth knowing

• 素 (sù) means "plain" or "vegetable". 吃素 (chī sù) is the everyday way to say "I eat vegetarian", and 素菜 (sùcài) means vegetable dishes. In ordinary use it means no meat and no fish. Eggs are usually treated as fine, and garlic and onion are always fine.
• 斋 (zhāi) is the Buddhist word for a meatless meal. A 素斋 (sùzhāi) meal or a 斋堂 (zhāitáng) temple dining hall follows the Buddhist standard: no meat, no fish, and in most Buddhist kitchens no eggs and no strong-smelling vegetables such as garlic and onion. If a restaurant uses 斋 in its name or menu, it is usually the strictest kind of vegetarian you will find.
• 全素 (quánsù) or 纯素 (chúnsù) means "completely vegetarian" and is the clearest way to say vegan. Add 不吃蛋、不吃奶 (no eggs, no milk) so there is no doubt.

Hidden Animal Ingredients to Watch For

Each ingredient below can sit inside a dish that looks fully plant-based. Naming the ones you want left out works much better than a general "I'm vegetarian".

A few notes that help in practice:

• MSG (味精, wèijīng) is plant-based. It is not the problem. Chicken bouillon powder (鸡精) is the one to ask about, because it looks the same in the kitchen.
• Dim sum is mostly off-limits for vegans. Many items contain shrimp or pork, flaky pastries are often made with lard, and custard buns and egg tarts use egg and milk. Steamed vegetable buns and rice-flour rolls can work, but ask.
• "Fish-fragrant" does not mean fish. 鱼香 (yúxiāng) dishes, such as fish-fragrant eggplant, contain no fish, but they usually contain minced pork.
• Noodle soups are the most common trap. The noodles are usually just flour and water, but the soup is almost always meat or bone stock. Dry noodles (拌面, bànmiàn, noodles tossed in sauce) are easier to get vegetarian.

If you have an allergy rather than a diet, the stakes are different. Our food safety and dietary restrictions guide covers how to explain an allergy in Chinese and which ingredients hide in sauces.

Vegetarian Dishes You Can Order at Ordinary Restaurants

These dishes are on the menu at most everyday Chinese restaurants. Some are vegetarian as standard. Others are easy to make vegetarian if you say what to leave out. Show the Chinese name and the request together.

Fried rice (炒饭, chǎofàn) is a fallback for vegetarians who eat eggs, but it is almost always made with egg and sometimes with lard or ham, so vegans should ask for 素炒饭，不要蛋 (vegetable fried rice, no egg). Cold dishes (凉菜, liángcài) at the front of a menu are often the easiest vegan choices, because they are dressed with vinegar, chili oil and garlic rather than cooked in stock.

Order two or three vegetable dishes with rice and share them, the way Chinese diners do. For the general mechanics of ordering, such as QR-code menus and pointing at photos, see how to order food with zero Chinese.

If you would like to cook a few of these dishes yourself, a cooking class is a good way to learn which sauces and fats go into them. You can browse cooking classes in Chengdu, Shanghai and Beijing on GetYourGuide, and tell the organiser in advance that you are vegetarian or vegan.

Buddhist Vegetarian Food: The Safest Choice

China's Buddhist vegetarian tradition is the most reliable source of meat-free food in the country. A Buddhist vegetarian restaurant (素菜馆 or 素食馆) cooks with no meat, no fish and no animal stock as a matter of principle, so you don't need to check every dish for hidden pork. Many are close to large temples, and many large temples also run their own dining hall that sells simple vegetarian meals to visitors. Opening times and prices differ from temple to temple, so check at the gate on the day.

What the food is like

Buddhist kitchens are known for mock meat: "sweet and sour pork", "roast duck" and even whole "fish" made from tofu skin, wheat gluten, konjac and mushrooms. The textures can be very convincing. Next to the mock meat you will find simple tofu dishes, braised mushrooms, vegetable noodles and steamed buns.

Most Buddhist kitchens also leave out the "five pungent vegetables" (五辛, wǔxīn): garlic, scallions, onions, leeks or chives, and a fifth ingredient that is usually explained as asafoetida. The custom comes from Buddhist teaching that these strong flavours stir up the senses. That is why temple food can taste milder than the garlicky dishes at an ordinary restaurant.

Buddhist vegetarian restaurants are usually vegan-friendly, because eggs are traditionally avoided too. Modern vegetarian restaurants in big cities are a different style: some use eggs, milk or cheese, so vegans should still ask 有没有蛋和奶？(yǒu méiyǒu dàn hé nǎi? — is there egg or milk?).

Where to go

• Gongdelin (功德林), Shanghai. A Buddhist vegetarian restaurant founded in 1922, at 445 Nanjing West Road (南京西路445号) since 1997, and recognised by the Ministry of Commerce as a China Time-honoured Brand (中华老字号) in 2006. Its vegetarian cooking technique was added to China's national list of intangible cultural heritage in 2008. Gongdelin passed the Ministry of Commerce's 2023 review of time-honoured brands, a review in which 55 brands were removed from the list. It is known for its mock-meat dishes.
• Other Shanghai picks. The Shanghai government's English portal, in a February 2024 vegetarian guide, names Fu He Hui (福和慧) at 1037 Yuyuan Road (愚园路1037号) as a landmark Michelin-starred vegetarian restaurant, and also recommends Zao Zi Shu (枣子树), Gongdelin, Wu Guan Tang (无观堂) and Green Vege Cafe. Fu He Hui's Michelin status is as stated in that 2024 guide; check the current Michelin Guide for its status today. The Shanghai government's vegetarian guide has more names, and our Shanghai food guide covers the rest of the city's food.
• Po Lin Monastery, Hong Kong. The monastery near the Big Buddha on Lantau Island runs a vegetarian kitchen open 11:30–16:30, according to the monastery's visitor page.
• Nanputuo Temple, Xiamen. The Xiamen city government's English portal lists the vegetarian dishes of Nanputuo Temple (南普陀寺) among the city's signature foods.
• Temple dining halls elsewhere. Many large Buddhist temples run a dining hall that serves visitors. Whether there is one, and its hours and prices, differ from temple to temple, so ask at the gate. For temple visiting etiquette, see our guide to religious sites in China. Some famous temples need booking in advance: Lingyin Temple (灵隐寺) in Hangzhou takes real-name reservations at least one day ahead, and our Hangzhou guide explains how.

Regions, Hotpot, Street Food, Convenience Stores and Travel Days

How it varies by region

• Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou (Jiangnan): the easiest part of China. There is a long Buddhist vegetarian tradition and plenty of vegetarian restaurants. Shanghai home-style cooking is slightly sweet and sometimes uses lard, so ask in ordinary restaurants.
• Beijing and the north: wheat food is a big help: vegetable dumplings, steamed buns, scallion pancakes and noodles. Noodle soups are usually made with meat stock, and lamb and beef are everywhere, so order dry noodles and vegetable side dishes.
• Sichuan and Chongqing: lots of tofu, eggplant, potato and cold vegetable dishes, but minced pork is a common seasoning, and hotpot needs care (see below). Chengdu has a good number of vegetarian restaurants. Our Chengdu food guide covers how spicy the food is and where to eat.
• Guangdong and Hong Kong: plenty of greens and tofu, but oyster sauce, shrimp and lard are standard. Buddhist vegetarian restaurants are the easy option here.
• Yunnan: mushrooms, fresh vegetables and even edible flowers make it one of the better provinces for vegetarians. Watch for cured ham in some dishes.
• Xinjiang, Gansu, Tibet and Inner Mongolia: the hardest. Food centres on lamb, beef or yak, and vegetarian restaurants are rare outside the big cities. You will live on flatbread, noodles without the meat topping, vegetable dishes and fruit. Halal restaurants serve no pork but plenty of mutton, so "halal" does not mean "vegetarian". Our halal food guide explains how those restaurants work.

For what each regional cuisine is built on, see our guide to Chinese cuisine by region.

If you want someone to read the menus with you for your first few meals, a guided food tour helps. Many food tours in Chengdu and Shanghai can be adapted for vegetarians; you can find them on Klook, and it is worth mentioning your diet when you book.

Hotpot

Hotpot (火锅, huǒguō) can be one of the best meals for a vegetarian, because you choose every ingredient yourself. The broth is the part to get right.

• Red Sichuan and Chongqing broth is traditionally made with beef tallow (牛油, niúyóu). Some restaurants offer a red broth made with vegetable oil (清油, qīngyóu); ask for it by name.
• "Clear" broth (清汤, qīngtāng) in a split pot (鸳鸯锅, yuānyāng guō) sounds safe but is often made with pork or chicken bones. Ask for a mushroom broth (菌汤, jūntāng) and confirm 不是骨头汤吧？(it isn't bone broth, is it?). Tomato broth can also be made with bone stock.
• Don't share a pot with meat eaters if that matters to you. A split pot only helps if the meat goes into the other side.
• Dipping sauce bar: sesame paste, sesame oil, garlic, cilantro, vinegar and chili are fine. Skip shacha sauce (沙茶酱), which is made with shrimp paste among other things, and anything labelled 海鲜 (seafood) or 牛肉 (beef).
• Good things to order: tofu, tofu skin, mushrooms, potato, lotus root, winter melon, greens, konjac and noodles.

Street food

Easy wins on the street are roasted sweet potatoes (烤红薯, kǎo hóngshǔ), grilled corn (烤玉米), candied hawthorn skewers (糖葫芦, tánghúlu), Xi'an cold noodles (凉皮, liángpí) and fresh fruit. Scallion pancakes (葱油饼) are often vegan, but some stalls brush them with lard. A jianbing (煎饼, a savoury crepe) contains egg, so it is vegetarian but not vegan; say 不要火腿肠 (no sausage). Stinky tofu (臭豆腐) is tofu, but its sauce and frying oil vary by stall. Tofu pudding (豆腐脑) in the north is often topped with a meat-based gravy, while the sweet southern version (豆花) is usually vegan. Our guide to the best street food cities covers where to go.

Convenience stores and supermarkets

Chain convenience stores such as 7-Eleven, FamilyMart and Lawson, and local chains, stock plain steamed buns, vegetable buns (菜包), rice balls, soy milk, fruit, nuts and tea eggs (茶叶蛋, vegetarian but not vegan). Instant noodle flavour packets are usually beef, pork or seafood based, so read the label or use a photo translator. Supermarkets in cities sell tofu in many forms, soy milk and a growing range of mock-meat snacks. Ingredient labels are in Chinese, and "vegan" is not a standard label, so a camera translation app is the easiest way to check. Baidu Translate (百度翻译), for example, has an AR photo-translation mode you can point at the label; our translation app comparison covers the alternatives.

Finding vegetarian restaurants with apps

• Dianping (大众点评), China's main restaurant review app: search 素食 (sùshí, vegetarian food) to see nearby vegetarian restaurants with photos and menus.
• Amap (高德地图) or Baidu Maps: search 素食 or 素菜馆 to put them on the map.
• HappyCow is in English and covers the big cities well; coverage gets thin in smaller towns.
• Delivery apps: on Meituan (美团), search 素食 to filter for vegetarian kitchens. The Shanghai government's English delivery guide explains that you register with a phone number and a six-digit text code, pay with Alipay, WeChat Pay or a digital yuan wallet, and, on Taobao Shangou, type requests into the order notes box. Write 不要肉，不要蛋 (no meat, no egg) there.

Trains and stations

Hot food on high-speed trains is limited, and you cannot count on a vegetarian hot meal being available on board. Large stations have noodle shops, fast-food chains and convenience stores, but on a long journey the simplest plan is to bring your own: buns, fruit, nuts, crackers and a pot noodle you have checked. Hot water for tea and noodles is available on board.

Flights with Air China, China Southern and China Eastern

Air China, China Southern and China Eastern all offer vegetarian special meals, but only if you order in advance. These are the vegetarian meal codes Air China uses:

• VGML: vegan, with no animal products of any kind.
• VLML: Western lacto-ovo vegetarian, with butter, cheese, milk and eggs.
• AVML: Asian vegetarian, with no meat or seafood.
• VOML: Chinese-style (oriental) vegetarian. Air China's version has no meat, fish or dairy, and no ginger, garlic, onion or scallion.

China Southern uses the same four codes; its AVML is Indian-style with no eggs but may contain a little dairy, and its VGML and VOML both exclude meat, seafood, eggs and dairy. Deadlines and channels differ by airline:

• Air China: order at least 24 hours before departure through hotline 95583; changes are not possible within 24 hours of departure.
• China Southern: by phone on 95539, at least 24 hours before flights leaving mainland China and 48 hours before flights leaving Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan or other countries; or self-book in its app, on its website or through its WeChat account more than 24 hours before departure.
• China Eastern: at least 24 hours before departure through hotline 95530; online booking only works for tickets bought on its website for its Shanghai departures to Europe, the Americas and Australia.

The Air China special meals page has the full list of codes. See also our halal food guide for Muslim meals on the same airlines.

The Short Version

Vegetarians eat well in China; vegans can too, with a bit more checking. Say 我吃素 or 我吃全素, then name what to leave out: meat stock, lard, oyster sauce, dried shrimp, chicken bouillon and, for vegans, egg. Lean on dishes that are vegetarian by default, such as stir-fried greens, 地三鲜, smashed cucumber and shredded potato. When you want a meal you don't have to question, find a Buddhist vegetarian restaurant or a temple dining hall; search 素食 on Dianping or a map app to find one. Order airline vegetarian meals at least 24 hours ahead, and carry snacks for long train days. Before you go, screenshot the phrase card above and install a camera translation app.

Last updated: October 2026