Chinese For Dummies (46 page)

Wǒ chībǎo le.
我吃饱了
. (
我吃飽了
.) (waw chir-baow luh.) (
I'm full.
)

Zìjǐ lái.
自己来
. (
自己來
.) (dzuh-jee lye.) (
I'll help myself.
)

Whenever a dining partner begins to serve you food, as is the custom, you must always feign protest with a few mentions of
Zìjǐ lái.
so you don't appear to assume that someone
should
be serving you. In the end, you should permit the person to follow proper etiquette by serving you portions from each dish if you're the guest.

And whatever you do, don't use a
yáqiān
牙签
(
牙籤
) (yah-chyan)
(
toothpick
) without covering your mouth. One of the ultimate dining faux pas is to make your teeth visible during toothpick use.

Getting to Know Chinese Cuisines

You may have already discovered that different regions of China specialize in different types of cuisine. Each province has its own specialties, cooking style, and favorite ingredients. Some corner the market on spicy food, and others showcase rather bland food. But no matter where you go, you're sure to discover a new taste bud or two along the way.

Northern Chinese food, found in places such as Beijing, is famous for all sorts of meat dishes. You find plenty of beef, lamb, and duck (remember Peking Duck?). Garlic and scallions garnish the meat for good measure; otherwise, though, Northern cooking is bland because of the lack of excessive condiments. So don't expect anything overtly salty, sweet, or spicy.

Shanghai dining, as well as that of the neighboring Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, represents Eastern cuisine. Because these places are close to the sea and boast many lakes, you can find an infinite variety of seafood in this part of China. Fresh vegetables, different kinds of bamboo, and plenty of soy sauce and sugar are also hallmarks of this region's cuisine.

Food from Sichuan and Hunan provinces is considered Western Chinese cuisine. Western Chinese food is common in Chinese restaurants in the United States. Because this part of China is hot and humid, hot peppers and salt are commonly found here. (The food isn't the only thing considered fiery in these parts; some famous revolutionaries, such as Mao Zedong, have hailed from this region of China.)

Southern Chinese cuisine comes from Guangdong (formerly known as Canton) province, as well as from Fujian and Taiwan. Like Shanghai cuisine, it offers plentiful amounts of seafood, fresh fruits, and vegetables. One of the most famous types of food from Guangdong that you've no doubt heard of is
dim sum
(deem sum), which in standard Mandarin is pronounced
diǎn xīn
点心
(
點心
) (dyan sheen). You can read more about this fare in the later section “
Dipping into some dim sum
.”

Dining Out

Breaking bread with friends at home is great, but sometimes you want the Chinese dining experience out on the town. Taking on a menu in a foreign language can be daunting (and even that won't help you find the restroom), so the following sections take you through all sorts of restaurant basics, from sorting through the food options (including checking out
dim sum
) to ordering, paying the bill, and yes, locating the facilities.

You ask for something politely by saying
Qǐng nǐ gěi wǒ . . . ?
请你给我
. . . ? (
請你給我
. . . ?) (cheeng nee gay waw . . . ?) (
Would you mind please getting me a . . . ?
). You can also say
Máfan nǐ gěi wǒ . . .
麻烦你给我
. . . (
麻煩你給我
. . .) (mah-fahn nee gay waw . . .) (
May I trouble you to please get me a . . . ?
).

Flip to
Table 8-1
earlier in the chapter for a list of common utensils. Here are a couple of additional items you commonly encounter or need to ask for when dining out:

yíge rè máojīn
一个热毛巾
(
一個熱毛巾
) (ee-guh ruh maow-jeen) (
a hot towel
)

yíge shī máojīn
一个湿毛巾
(
一個濕毛巾
) (ee-guh shir maow-jeen) (
a wet towel
)

When in doubt, use the measure word
ge
个
(
個
) (guh)
in front of the noun you want to modify by a numeral or a specifier, such as
zhè
这
(
這
)
(jay) (
this
) or
nà
那
(nah) (
that
). The word for
a
always begins with
yī
一
(ee), meaning the number
1
in Chinese. In between
yī
and the noun is the measure word. For chopsticks, it's
shuāng
双
(
雙
)
(shwahng),
meaning
pair;
for napkin, it's
zhāng
å¼ 
(
å¼µ
)
(jahng), used for anything with a flat surface (such as paper, a map, or even a bed); and a toothpick's measuring word is
gēn
棵
(gun), referring to anything resembling a stick, such as rope, a thread, or a blade of grass. Chinese has many different measure words, but
ge
(guh) is by far the most common.