Vegetarian Chinese

Vegetarian Chinese

Since Buddhism is deeply rooted in Taiwanese culture, vegetarianism isn't a new concept in Taiwan.

Today we're going to touch on some useful vocabulary about vegetarianism in Chinese.

(Traditional Chinese)

1. "I'm a vegetarian” is

    我吃素。 wǒ chīsù
   This means, " I eat vegetarian food" 
   The word "素 sù “ is a short form for "素食 sùshí”.

2. " vegetarian restaurant” is    

素食餐廳 sùshí canting

3. "I'm a vegan” is
   我吃全素。  wǒ chī quán sù
   The word 全quán means "whole; entire" 

4. Some Buddist vegetarians do not eat garlic, onions, or green onions.

So if you happen to be one of them, you might need to say
    我的素食請不要加蔥蒜，謝謝。
    wǒ de sùshí qǐng bùyào jiā cōng suàn, xièxiè

    This literally means, " Please don't add garlic and onions to my vegetarian food,

thank you."

5. If you are the kind of vegetarian who doesn’t eat eggs and drink milk, then you can say:
    蛋奶素 dàn nǎi sù  （literary meaning egg, milk vegetarian food）
    You can tell people:    我吃蛋奶素 wǒ chī dàn nǎi sù
   which means, I'm a vegetarian who can have eggs and milk.

6. 鍋邊素  guō biān sù
  Literally means " pot side vegetarian". 
 It's a more casual vegetarian, who can share a pot of meat broth with people, but he/she only picks the vegetables out of it.

So what type of vegetarian are you?  ;)

We hope you find this interesting and helpful! 
Thanks for reading all the way through.

(Picture from Google)

SMART Mandarin
Katrina Lee