Expats find and create vegan dining options in China

Kendra Schaefer, an expat and vegetarian living in Beijing, was once served a "vegetarian" soup with ham in it. The waitress thought the soup adhered to Schaefer's requests for food without meat because it didn't have the character " 肉" in it.

Though it's easy to eat vegetarian food in Beijing, Schaefer says, it's extremely difficult for people who are new to China, largely because of language barriers.

"When you first arrive and don't have any familiarity with the cuisine, you're not sure what to order, you don't know which sauces and ingredients are made with meat and don't know how to ask, and even saying 'I'm vegetarian' won't necessarily get you a meat-free meal, so it feels difficult during that acclimation process," she says.