Vegan food in China: delivery (Wechat and Meituan)

You may have heard that China is hell for vegans, or you might have heard that its culinary scene is a paradise for vegan travelers, thanks to its rich history of Buddhist-inspired plant-based eateries and a modern vegan movement that is growing in the bigger cities.

Both statements can be true, if you want to land in heaven and not in hell, you just need to be prepared. Finding vegan food in China can be easy, also for delivery!

Even though navigating local food platforms like Meituan (美团) can seem daunting at first, this guide will help you unlock its secrets with ease and master its delivery options for a seamless vegan experience.

The first thing you need to know is how to get to the Meituan platform: simply tap on "me" on WeChat, and then on "food delivery".

Now you just have to select your vegan food: for this you need to use Chinese terms like 素食 (sùshí – vegetarian/vegan) or  纯素 (chúnsù – strictly vegan).

If you don’t speak Chinese, and that’s my case, I suggest you keep your research simple.

Once you have tapped out magic words you will see a list of restaurants: some will be strictly vegan, and some will not.

As the character 素 does not only mean “vegan” but also “natural”, you may be offered food from omnivore shops.

Vegan restaurants in China are used at giving regular names to their dishes, like “minced pork” instead of “minced vegan pork” and, moreover, the food is surprisingly similar to non-vegan options; knowing this, how can we distinguish between a vegan and a regular restaurant on Meituan when the dishes are not clearly labelled?

What I usually do is trying to check for the ingredients, when available (remember the translation option, click on the three dots on the top right corner), or read users review. Another detail that can suggest that a particular restaurant serves vegan food is the logo: oftentimes they use a lotus flower, something related to Buddhism, or a green background.

Once you have chose your dishes you will need to select your address, like in the picture below. As when I travel I cannot do that on my own I simply ask the receptionist to fill it in for me.

After a short time your vegan food will be delivered to your place: you can either pick it up from a shelf downstairs, or someone (the raider, the hotel staff or a robot) will take it to your room.

Look at this video to see how a robot brought me my dinner in Shanghai, it was really fun.

I generally use this service only when I am traveling and I am too tired at night to go out again.

Even if I try to book my hotel in the proximities of vegan restaurants, Chinese cities are so huge that this is not always possible.

I think that anybody reading this blog is concerned with the protection of the environment as much as I am, and you won’t like the idea of abusing of a delivery service.

When you do, you can be responsible and reuse the food boxes, most of the times they are totally fit for being used again: I clean them, put them in my backpack and use them again at home to store food in the fridge or bring my meals at work.

Have tried ordering vegan food in China yet? Please share your experience 🙂