Chi fan le ma?

Would you like a "Buddha jump over the wall", or a "red burned lion head"? If a Beijing waiter/waitress recommends such exotic-sounding dishes, don't be alarmed. He is just suggesting a soup of abalone, shark's fin and fish maw, and a braised pork meatball in brown sauce. The soup, which originated from Fujian, was so delicious that people believed the monks in a next-door temple would jump over the wall to try it.

As part of Beijing's internationalization effort, the city has included English translations on restaurant menus. Unfortunately, many have not gone through proofreading and have become easy targets of ridicule. Apart from shocking the customers, some poor English translation can seriously undermines one's appetite. "Steamed chicken without sexual life" used to be some restaurant's version for steamed chicken. "Husband and wife's lung slice" is actually beef and ox tripe in chili sauce, while "Bean curd made by a pock-marked woman" is just a literal translation of Mapo tofu.

Fact is, apart from restaurants in five-star hotels and Western restaurants with English native speakers, most Chinese restaurants have usually had to get by with passable English and a limited knowledge of Western cuisine terminology to translate their menus.