Anyone ever been to China??

I'm going to China for three weeks this summer, and I hear that the food is really greasy and there's not many vegetarian options... Has anyone ever been to China? What is the food like there? Am I going to gain a bunch of weight?!?

I loved the food in China!  We took snacks like granola bars that we ended up giving to the hotel staff because we sure didn't eat it!  I never saw anyone spit food out, they hold the bowls up to their mouths because it works while trying to eat with chopsticks.  The fruit was outstanding at breakfast. 

I would advise you to stay away from the fast food imports and enjoy the local foods.  You will find the fried rice is a whole new food, nothing like what we generally find in the USA..........very very good! 

Go and enjoy it.  My month in China was my favorite overseas trip.  I would love to go again.

Depends which part of China you are going to. I went to Hong Kong last summer although food is yummy. Looking at the size of those girls and their perfect figure actually put me off all the food. I 'm not used to the heat aswell and I just lost my appetite. When I got back I realised I lost weight.. unfortunately I put it back on at Christmas time.. Boo!

I lived in Shanghai for a year and still get over there about once a year.  I agree with other posts that food in Shanghai is incredibly oily.  They use oil on everything.  We would see people walking by every day with large bottles of oil in both hands.  You can find plenty of healthy alternatives most anywhere.  I also walk a lot more when I am there so I come back a couple of pounds lighter each time.  I also have never seen people spit out food as a normal occurrence.  They do spit out bones.  The food in Beijing and Hong Kong seemed to be alot less oily.  Where are you going?

We're going to Beijing, Chengdu, Lhasa, and also Tibet.

Bringing a box of power bars is a good idea! Thank you for all of your help :) I am so excited to be going now! It sounds like it will be a good expirence, even with the crazy toliets!

Hehe - Lhasa is in Tibet. It's the capital. But make sure you see other parts of Tibet, because a lot of Lhasa just looks extraordinarily Chinese now. Although, you should DEFINITELY see the monasteries around Lhasa. They were some of the highlights of that trip. Have fun!

Authentic Chinese food is actually really healthy and delicious.  Its flavored with garlic and scallions, etc..  Also, real Chinese food revolves around veggies, which is great.  When I went to China, I ate authentic native food and came back lighter and healthier.  Now I want to go.  Haha.

Depends on who you eat with eg. noodles/ rice considered poor people food, so expensive restaurants will serve more meat and fish, and lots of veg. It'll be hard, if you can't read characters to see what your actually ordering, but if you stick to more western food outlets, or go with a chinese speaking friend. Mind you, the concept of vegetarianism hasn't really got across to many of the chinese people I know. And beware of black tofu- it's not tofu at all- it's pigs blood!

Good luck, Btw where are you going to visit in China