Chinese people are, quite rightly, proud of their food. However, when foreigners like Britons and Americans think of Chinese food, their impression of it is different to what you might think.

中餐理所当然一直是中国人的骄傲。然而，当诸如英、美等西方国家的人提起中餐时，他们的想法可能会出乎你的意料。

Growing up in the UK, the Chinese food I was used to eating was food I now recognize as being from Guangdong. For example, a typical dish I would order growing up would be pork in sweet and sour sauce, probably with some rice and spring rolls on the side. This is the type of food we generally eat because most Chinese immigrants¹ to the UK have come from Guangdong.

我从小在英国长大，现在才知道原来常吃的中餐其实是粤菜。比如我常点的经典菜糖醋排骨，可能还配有米饭和春卷。我们通常吃的就是这类中餐，因为大多移民英国的中国人都来自广东。

You can tell, because when most British people try to imitate the sound of Chinese, they actually imitate the sound of *Cantonese – hearing *Mandarin Chinese is sometimes a shock to British people who have grown up thinking it sounds completely different!

这个你可以听出来，因为大多数英国人所模仿的汉语发音实际上是粤语——有时，土生土长的英国人听到普通话会很吃惊，因为跟粤语相差太远。

British attitudes to Chinese food may be changing, though.

然而，英国人对中餐的态度也许正在发生改变。

Chinese-American chef Ken² Hom has been on British TV for 30 years, and he told BBC Food: “Chinese food at the beginning of the 80s (in the UK) was sweet and sour pork, mainly. Most Brits had a very *stereotypical view of Chinese food… Now you are seeing more regional Chinese food from Sichuan, Hunan and other areas of China. It is no longer just Cantonese food.”

美籍华人厨师谭荣辉已在英国电视荧屏活跃了30年，他对英国广播公司美食频道说：“80年代初英国的中餐清一色的糖醋排骨。当时，大多数英国人对中餐的看法就是刻版化的粤菜……但现在英国已经可以看到类似川菜、湘菜等更多中国地方菜系了。已经不再只是粤菜的天下了。”

Similarly³, to most Americans, Chinese food doesn't go too far past orange chicken and fortune cookies, but more regional cuisines⁴ are becoming successful, especially in big cities like New York.

同样，对大多美国人来说，中餐依旧摆脱不了陈皮鸡和幸运饼的印象，但更多的地方菜系已经在纽约这样的大城市扎稳脚跟。

Attitudes have not quite changed completely, though. Many foreigners who live in China will be familiar with this question from a relative back at home: “Have they given you dog yet?” Yes, perhaps because people still know too little about Chinese culture, many people believe that Chinese people love to eat dog meat. And of course, some people do eat dogs, which to Americans is like “eating a member of one's family” according to Vision⁶ Times.

然而，人们对中餐的看法并没有彻底改观。许多生活在中国的老外经常会听到家里的亲戚这样问：“你吃过狗肉了吗？”是的，也许因为人们对中国文化还是了解太少，许多人依旧认为中国人喜欢吃狗肉。当然，有些人确实吃。视觉时代称，吃狗肉对美国人来说就像“吃掉一个家庭成员”。

Also, Chinese people eat many other things people in the West do not –chicken claws, duck heads and some animals' organs.

当然，中国人也吃许多西方人不吃的东西——鸡爪，鸭头和某些动物器官。

But what do foreigners think when they come to China and taste real Chinese food? You'll be glad to know that in my experience, the impressions have been very good.

但是，当外国人来到中国，品尝真正的中餐时，他们作何感想？告诉你一个好消息，我个人对中餐的印象非常好。

My personal favorite cuisine⁵ is Yunnan food, and every foreigner I've eaten it with has been amazed⁷ by the different spices and flavors⁸ when they've tried it.

我个人最喜欢的是云南菜，和我一起吃过云南菜的每个外国人都对云南菜独特的配料和味道赞不绝口。

Everyone, that is, except my friend who lived in Yunnan for a year, who says she still hasn't had “proper Yunnan food” since. That's the problem when you finally eat real Chinese food –you become picky!

真的是每个人，除了我那个已经在云南待了一年的朋友。她坚称自己还没有吃到“正宗的云南菜”。这就是当你吃过真正的中餐后才会有的问题——你的嘴变得太挑了！