Around 50,000 tourists are expected to take flights to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics.

For those who have been before, they may be relieved to hear that many of their city restaurants are changing their menus to remove the strange and sometimes off-putting meal names.

For example, one delicacy was called ‘husband and wife’s lung slice’!  This meal will now be renamed to the slightly more aptly named ‘beef and ox tripe in chilli sauce’.  Similarly, ‘bean curd made by a pock-marked woman’ will be changed to ‘mapo tofu’ and ‘chicken without sexual life’ to ’steam pullet’.

Although these names, which amount to around 2,000 different meals, are being renamed, some fear the changes are removing some of the individuality of the city.  The names have been published in a book that is being passed around between the Beijing hotel chains and restaurants.

One hotel manager said:

“Thanks to the pamphlet, we do not have to struggle to come up with the English translations of dishes any more, which is usually time consuming.”

The Chinese meal names were often based on the appearance of food and were intended to have an element of fun.  In comparison, our western names are based purely on ingredients and the way in which they have been cooked.

The 2008 Olympics will commence in Beijing on the 8th August.