Foreigners will find it easier to order a meal in Beijing during
the Olympics as most dishes and drinks will have proper English
translations.
Beijing Tourism Bureau has released a list of translations for
2,753 dishes and drinks to solicit public opinions.
The list, once finally fixed, will be used in restaurants across
the country, to replace confusing, even ridiculous translations,
according to the bureau.
In preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games, the city has also moved
to standardize English translations of public facilities, including
road signs, and the hotel service.
Bad translations of Chinese dishes are headaches for foreign
epicures. There used to be translations like "Virgin Chicken" and
"Burnt Lion's Head", which are actually dishes based on young
chicken and pork ball resembling lion's head. These translations
either scare or embarrass foreign customers and may cause
misunderstanding on China's diet habits.
A team set up by the Beijing Municipal Foreign Affairs Office
and Beijing Tourism Bureau has been working on the problem since
March last year, backed by a committee of 20 language experts and
catering service managers.
"The names of Chinese dishes have long been part of our culture.
We should translate them in a way that people of other cultures can
understand them," said Feng Dongming, the head of this translation
program and Vice Dean of Tourism School of Beijing Union
University.
The names of Chinese dishes have combined cultural and artistic
elements in them, some with historical, geographical and political
background, some with origins from Chinese fairy tales and folk
tales. Often the dishes are named with stories understood only by
people who know their culture well.
Translators have divided the dish names into four catalogues:
named by materials, by cooking method, by tastes, by name of a
person or a place.
Translation of the first type is done simply by linking the name
of each material with a hyphen. For instance, "Mushroom-Duck's
Foot" and "AmentJuice-BalsamPear", which helps foreign guests to
recognize the materials and content of the dish.
The second type is translated according to cooking methods. Some
Chinese cooking methods are unique and do not exist in other
countries, like stew, quick-fry or saute, braise, and
chilioil-boil. The translators now put the method in the beginning,
followed by the material, forming a verb-noun phrase. For instance,
"Stewed Diced Porkand Sweet Potatoes" and "Fish Filets in Hot
Chilioil".
The third type begins with the taste or texture of the food. For
example, "Crispy Chicken".
The last type is named after either its creator or the place it
originates from. Such examples include "MapoTofu", which is a kind
of Tofu invented by Mapo, name of a Chinese woman.
The committee also plans to launch a training program to equip
waiters and waitresses with knowledge of the dish names in case
customers demand explanations.
(Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2007)