Ask Mang | Is it hard to be vegan in China?

** “Ask Mang” is the China Vegan Society's Q&A series. "Mang" is the Romanization of 茻, the Chinese character which the China Vegan Society uses to represent veganism. Email Mang with your questions about veganism in China and she'll do her best to answer you!

Dear Mang: Is it hard to be vegan in China?

If you ask a group of vegans in China whether it’s easy or hard to be vegan here, you may be surprised by the answers you get. Some people will complain that being vegan is very difficult here—much harder than in other countries. Others will tell you China is a vegan paradise. What’s going on?

This is a very broad question, and the answer is just as broad: it depends! As the birthplace of tofu and one of the world's richest countries in terms of plant biodiversity, with vegetarian traditions spanning literally thousands of years, China has a massive abundance of vegan food and ingredients. Clearly, a lack of vegan options is not a problem! The ease or difficulty of being vegan in China depends mainly on three factors: one, how much control you have over your food choices; two, how easily you can access information about foods and ingredients; and three, how well you can communicate your needs.

Let’s take a closer look at the reasons why people say it’s hard or easy to be vegan in China, as well as some resources to make it easier!

Q: Why do some people say it’s harder to be vegan in China than in many other countries?

• The language barrier. This one really only applies to expats and travelers who don’t speak or read the local language. If you can’t read a menu or ingredient list and you can’t ask questions about foods and products, yes, that will definitely make it harder to be vegan in China! But this applies to any country where you don’t speak or read the language—it is not exclusive to China. If the language barrier is making it hard for you to be vegan in China, here’s a resource to help you out.

• Social and family pressure. For Chinese, social and family pressure are a frequently-cited challenge in pursuing a vegan lifestyle. Group meals in China tend to be served family-style, with everyone sharing several plates of food. That makes it hard to quietly order a vegan dish for yourself! Vegans may also be questioned or urged to eat meat by friends/colleagues/family members who believe vegan food is less nutritious and tasty than animal products.

• Confusion between “vegan”, “vegetarian”, and “meatless”. As we explored in this article, the most frequently-used terms for “vegan” (素 and 素食) in China often do not distinguish between vegetarian and vegan. In some cases, they are even interpreted as simply meaning “meatless” or “plain”. To many people, 素 noodles just means noodles without meat—even if they are cooked in beef broth or tossed with pork fat. Clarifying the definition of “vegan” when you buy from non-vegan shops takes time, energy, and good Chinese language abilities.

• Lack of vegan restaurants. This really depends on what Chinese city you’re in and what you’re comparing it to! If you’re comparing a third-tier Chinese city to top-ranking vegan-friendly international cities like New York, Warsaw, or Tel Aviv, sure, you may feel like there “aren’t any vegan restaurants”. Most of China’s vegan restaurants are concentrated in first-tier cities like Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou. Smaller cities will have fewer vegan restaurants, but they still exist. You can find vegan and vegetarian restaurants all over China with the VegRadar restaurant locator app.

• Lack of vegan labelling on vegan-friendly restaurant menus. Although most restaurants in China have several vegan or veganizable items on the menu, it is not a common practice to label vegan or vegan-friendly dishes the way it is in European and North American restaurants. This means it’s up to the diner to confirm which menu items are vegan, often ingredient by ingredient (“Are these noodles vegan? How about the soup base? How about the garnish?”).

• Lack of vegan labelling on product packages. As of now, China still does not have its own domestic vegan certification (although the China Vegan Society is working on this and hopes to launch the certification in 2022). This means a product that looks vegan (like a soymilk beverage, for instance) could be vegan…or it could contain casein or milk powder or other animal ingredients you’ll need to hunt for in the ingredients list. Or animal products could have been used in the processing (such as in filtration processes), in which case they won’t even be listed in the ingredients. Although some Chinese vegan brands obtain international vegan certifications from foreign institutions, they are the minority. This means it’s up to consumers to ask producers directly if their products are vegan—and trust that the answers they receive are accurate.

Now, let’s look at the other side:

Q: Why do some people say it’s easier to be vegan in China than in many other countries?

• Large Chinese cities have plenty of vegan restaurants. According to VegRadar, China’s vegetarian and vegan restaurant locator app, Beijing and Shanghai have over 50 vegan and vegetarian restaurants within 10 kilometers of the city center. Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou also have dozens of vegan and vegetarian restaurants offering different price ranges and cuisines.

The VegRadar app currently lists over 2000 vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants across China.

• The typical Chinese meal is plant-forward and easy to veganize. Statistics show that the average Chinese consumes half as much meat per year as the average American, but three times more vegetables! Daily fare in most regions consists of stir-fries and rice and noodle dishes, which are usually assembled and cooked to order. Not only do you have plenty of veggies to choose from, you’ll also be able to customize your meal to make it vegan.

• One word: TOFU! The king of vegan proteins is thought to have originated in China during the Western Han dynasty, over 2000 years ago. Since then, tofu has been improved and modified into more forms and flavors than you can count, from meaty dry-cured tofu to pudding-like silken tofu desserts. You can literally eat a different kind of tofu every day, making it easy to keep your diet both varied and protein-rich!

• Incredibly cheap and diverse fruits and veggies. As mentioned above, China is among the world’s most biodiverse nations, with a wide variety of climates and growing conditions that allow the cultivation of everything from tropical fruits to hardy grains. Almost every fruit or vegetable you can think of can be grown and purchased within China, and at a much lower cost than what you’d pay for imported produce in a European or North American grocery store. For people who love cooking vegan food, being a vegan in China is not only cheap and easy, it’s a lot of fun.

• Less dairy. Although dairy has gained popularity in China over the past three decades, traditional Chinese cuisine tends to use little to no dairy, which is one less hidden animal ingredient for you to worry about when ordering food in Chinese restaurants. Even traditional desserts are often grain-based and not dairy-based.

• Growing plant-based industry. Although plant-based dairy and meat alternatives don’t occupy as much shelf space in Chinese grocery stores as they do in European and North American grocery stores, the market has grown rapidly in the past five years and new brands and products are emerging daily.

Do you have any questions about veganism in China? Ask Mang!