Today Traveling-alone-in-China, a Youtuber, invites viewers to a restaurant in Kunming City, Yunnan province on a rainy day. The video was made on the 12th June, 2018 (2018年06月12日）The title of the video is have you ever eaten such inexpensive fast food 吃过这么实惠的快餐吗？
This video provides an excellent opportunity for intermediate Mandarin students to pick up some new food-related vocabulary. Join us as we visit a special type of Chinese restaurant called 营养快餐 – Nutritious fast-food.
营养快餐 – Nutritious Fast-food
The narrator chooses a fast-food restaurant called 营养快餐(Yíngyang kuàicān)，here 快餐 (kuàicān) means fast food. However, this is not the typical unhealthy kind of fast food restaurant you would think of in the west. In fact the first two characters of the restaurant’s name are 营养Yíngyang， meaning nutrition. Therefore the name of the restaurant is actually Nutritional Fast-food.
The narrator starts by setting the scene. He is in a city called 昆明 kūnming, which is in Yunnan Province in the South of China. It is a rainy day, he is hungry and he has settled on a restaurant in which to eat his lunch.
00.00 Narrator – 我现在在云南（yúnnán）昆明. 现在下雨呢。
wǒ xiànzài zài Yúnnán Kūnmíng xiànzài xiàyǔ ne
I am in Kunming City, Yunnan Province and it is raining.
The narrator then moves on to mention that he is using his umbrella 雨伞 yǔsǎn
00.04 Narrator – 我打了雨伞现在不小。我准备吃个饭，这里有一个营养快餐.
wǒ dáyǔsǎn xiànzài bùxiǎo wǒ zhǔnbèi chī gè fàn zhèlǐ yǒu yīgè yíngyǎng kuàicān
I’ve put my umbrella up, but the rain is not light. I plan to eat, there is a nutritional fast-food restaurant here.
Price options
Continuing he reads out the prices which are advertised on the signage outside the restaurant. There are three options: 8 元 , 10 元 and 12 元 respectively.
The first options reads 一荤两素 （yī hūn liǎng sù） 8元 (about 90 pence) – which means one meat dish and two vegetable dishes for 8 Chinese Yuan
The second option reads 一荤三素 ( yī hūn sān sù) 10元 (about £1.10) – which means one meat and three vegetable dishes 10 yuan
The third section reads 两荤两素 (liǎng hūn liǎng sù) 12元 (about £1.30) – which means two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes £1.30
Before you visit China it is a good idea to familiarise yourself with some of the Chinese character for foods. This way when you get to China you can recognise the types of food on offer. Many Chinese eateries have quite information about the food on offer advertised on signage on the shopfront, therefore the more characters you recognise, the more likely you are to find a restaurant to suit your taste. Below he also points out that the soup is free of charge.
0.10 一荤两素八元，一荤三素十元，两荤两素十二元。米饭汤菜免费，这个还没便宜的吗？
yī hūn liǎng sù bā yuán yī hūn sān sù shí ， liǎng hūn liǎng sù shíèr ， mǐfàn tāngcài miǎnfèi zhège háiméi piányi de ma ？
One meat and two vegetable dishes 8 yuan, one meat and three vegetable dishes 10 yuan, two meat and two vegetables 12 yuan. Rice and soup free of charge. Isn’t that cheap?
Inside the Restaurant
The narrator the looks at the food from the outside, but is invited in to take a closer look. He then enquires how much it costs for four vegetables, and is informed that it is 10 yuan. We also hear the word 快 （kuài), which is an informal way of saying yuan (元。
0.44 Narrator: aah 进来看。。。 四个蔬菜多钱？
jìnlái kàn。。 sìge shūcài duō qián
Oh… come in and look.. How much is it for four vegetables?
0.50 Waiter： 四个蔬菜四块钱
sìge shūcài sì kuài qián
Four vegetables are ten yuan.
0.52 Narrator: 十块行来个是个蔬菜。
xìng lái gè shìgè shūcài
Ok，give me four vegetables.
The narrator chooses the following vegetables and some fish:
 |
 |
| 茄子 – qiézi – Aubergine | 豆角 – dòujiǎo – Green beans |
 |
 |
| 鱼 – yú – fish | 花生 – huāshēng – peanuts |
0.55 Narrator： 茄子，豆角，一素三味也是十块吗？。。那鱼。。。花生吧。
qiézi dòujiǎo 。 yī sù sān wèi yěshì shí kuàimǎma? nà yú huāshēng ba
Aubergine, Green beans. Is it one vegetable and three aromatic fishes for 10 yuan?.. give me some fish.. and peanuts.
The waiting staff has now dished his food and the narrator is ready to choose a place to sit down.
1.47 Narrator: 在这走吧
zài zhè zǒu bā
Let’s go here
Paying for the meal
Before he sits down to enjoy his food the narrator realises that he hasn’t handed over payment yet. He informs the viewer that he is going to address this with the following sentence:
1.49 Narrator: 我先给老板钱
The above sentence translates as follows:
| Chinese | English |
| 我 (wǒ) | I |
| 先 （xiān） | first |
| 给 （gěi） | give |
| 老板 （lǎobǎn） | the boss |
| 钱 （qián） | money |
Here the term 老板 means manager, referring to the owner of the establishment. This can be used to show respect to the owner of a small eating establishment such as the 营养快餐 of today’s video. It translates into English as the less formal ‘boss.’
1.53 Narrator: 老板给你钱，十块是吧
lǎobǎn gěi nǐ qián shí kuài shì bā
Boss, I’d like to pay. It’s 10 yuan right?
We then see the narrator hand over 20 yuan and is promptly handed over ten yuan in change.
Free Rice
Quite often 营养快餐 restaurants provide staple foods such as rice, noodles and soup for free as an accompaniment to the dishes that are paid for. You can help yourself to as much of it as you like. In the video the narrator next asks about this rice and where it is located, and if he should serve himself.
2.02 Narrator：米饭自己打
mǐfàn zìjǐ dǎ
Should I help myself to the rice?
Having picked up his rice and returned it to the table the narrator still wants to get his complimentary soup and salted vegetable dish. He mentions the words for salted vegetables and soup as follows:
咸菜 （xiáncài） – pickled vegetables
汤 （tāng） – Soup
2.43 Narrator: 还有小咸菜，我大概咸菜喝汤
háiyǒu xiǎo xiáncài wǒ dàgài xiáncài hētāng
I can also get a complimentary pickled vegetable dish, which I should eat together with the soup.
After collecting his pickled vegetables the narrator goes to get his soup, on the way he asks the manager (老板) where the soup is located. He uses the phrase 在哪 （zài nǎ）, which means。。。 where is? He is informed that the soup is outside 外边 （wàibian）。
3.35 Narrator: 老板汤在哪？。。外边？好的
lǎobǎn ？ tāngzài nǎ wàibian hǎode
Boss, where is the soup?.. Outside… Ok..
3.44 Narrator: Wow.. 这么多汤
zhèmeduō tāng
Wow… so much soup.
Summing up
The narrator finishes up in the last minute or so at his table describing the lunch in front of him. His first observation is that the food is 便宜 （piányi）which means inexpensive. He then shows the food up close observing the total price was only 10 yuan for the four dishes.
He then shows each food in turn… can you remember the Mandarin Chinese for Aubergine? Fish? Peanuts? Green beans?
4.38 Narrator: 便宜这么一共是货了十块钱
piányi zhème yīgòng shì huò le shí kuài qián
It’s very cheap, in total it cost just 10 yuan.
4.43 给大家看一下我要拍个照。菜十块钱
gěi dàjiā kànyīxià wǒyào pāi gè zhào cài shí kuài qián
Everyone have a look, I wan’t to take a picture; all this food for 10 yuan.
He then goes on to talk about each dish seperately.
4.48 这米饭免费的的， 然后就这个菜一荤三素。。。。辣椒 （pepper)。。我吃不了辣椒。。豆 (beans)。。茄子 (aubergine)。。还有一份花生 (peanuts)。。鱼 (fish) 这粘一起了
zhè mǐfàn miǎnfèi de/ 。 ránhòu jiù zhège cài yī hūn sān sù .. làjiāo。。wǒ chībùliǎolàjiāo。。dòu。。qiézi。。háiyǒu yīfèn huāshēng。。yú。。zhè nián yīqǐ le
The rice is free. Then the rest is part of the one meat and three vegetables deal… pepper… I can’t eat pepper… beans… aubergine… also peanuts… fish.. these are stuck together.
5.19 咸菜这是萝卜，他们这个地方..红色的。。米饭。。米饭自己盛. 他们这个地方
xiáncài zhè shì luóbo tāmen zhège dìfang
hóngsè de.. mǐfàn 。 mǐfàn zìjǐ chéngPickled vegetables.. this is radish it is red in this place… rice.. you serve your own rice.
After speaking about the soup briefly the video comes to a close.
5.55 十块钱真便宜。。行。。
shí kuài qián zhēn piányixíng
Ten yuan really is cheap… OK..
The video and this article is now over. Thank you for joining us on a trip to a genuine Chinese 营养快餐 in China. If you have any comments, then write to geoff@lanternlanguages.com
再见