The First-Ever Vegan Discovery Dinner in Beijing
Modern life treats us lucky humans to an infinite number of options, especially in a city like Beijing. Such a cornucopia can feel overwhelming, though, and can lead straight-up to inaction. The best way to overcome the inertia is to experience things hands-on–with your tastebuds!
Let the fun begin.
Eating vegan is one of many things that sounds good, but can seem challenging–especially in a culture where tofu is practically its own food group, seen as one of many creative ingredients, and as easily mixed in with meat as vegetables. Groups like Vegans of Beijing1 help, but telling people what to do and where to go can only go so far. Thankfully, a passionate expat, Alex Ogden, has taken it upon herself to educate the world in the best way.
Many thanks to Katherine and to Malgorzata Tanska for sharing their photos.
Last Saturday night, ten curious individuals followed careful directions to arrive at the Dongsi branch of Xian Lao Man in Dongcheng. Alex, known as “VeganinChina” on social media platforms, was the host, and the event was a unique mashup of her consulting company Modern Vegan and her role as a leader in Vegans of Beijing. The lucky 10 of us were the first to experience her new “Vegan Discovery Dinners,” in which she leads her interested party to explore the vegan side of Chinese food.
We started the night with Zha Guanchang’er and hand-shredded cabbage.
Since 2021, Alex Ogden has been creating content that celebrates Chinese food while honoring her culinary convictions. She fills a unique role in both vegan and foodie culture; while the former has a reputation for asceticism and activism, the latter tends to glory in excess and the bizarre. In sharp contrast, Ogden says that as a “foodie first and foremost,” she delves into cuisine that tastes good, is free of animal products, and seeks to inspire others without shaming people who are “vegan curious” or flexitarian. In her own words, “It took me 10 years [to go fully vegan], and I’m stubborn, so how can I expect others to instantly change their minds?”
After years of hard work, she also speaks Chinese fluently, which enables her to honor the local community as a real participant instead of as a Western voyeur. The pure joy in her social media presence belies the “angry vegan” stereotype;2 while strong ethical concerns undergird her choices, she believes in the value of focusing on what one gains by going vegan, fighting the perception that it’s about what you have to give up. Hosting this night’s event encapsulated those values and used her company’s careful research to great benefit for the people who came.
Zha Guanchang’er is called “starch sausage” but made of mung bean starch, not sausage ;).
In her words, “The purpose of the discovery dinners is to introduce Chinese food from a plant-based perspective.” She noticed that “none of the food tours in Beijing offer vegan options,” so she decided to craft her own. Since vegans offer lack options at mealtime, she aimed to “create a space to empower them to be able to order in traditional restaurants”; after all, “everyone should have a seat at the table!”
That said, she continues, “these dinners are for foodies, not just vegans. People who want to explore another perspective of food, or who recognize the benefits of a plant-based lifestyle but don’t know where to start when out to eat,” will benefit, too. Several of us at the meal were not vegan, and we all left sated, a promising sign.
First that night, Alex shared that it is possible to eat tasty vegan food in China…if a.) you know where to look and b.) you can communicate your needs in Chinese. To that end, she provided a guide specific to the restaurant and virtual “cards” for people whose Mandarin is poor to show to servers. The ingenuity involved exceeded expectations; what could have been a friendly, relaxed dinner in which the host pointed out a few things and explained a couple of words to say instead became an indeed relaxed, yet structured experience with concrete results.
To come away with such carefully-prepared materials, a truly wide array of dishes, and to be told repeatedly how to say certain terms–complete with follow-up online immediately after the event–blew a lot of professional “events” that are held in Beijing out of the water. (And it was still fun, too!)
Participants received a guide specific to vegan dishes at this restaurant, including their Chinese, English and Pinyin names, and a description of each dish when extra details were needed.
Now, on to the food!
The focus of the night was the jiaozi, or dumplings, particularly a boiled and fried assortment for which Xian Lao Man is known. We consumed pure fennel dumplings, Chinese olive and green bean, and one with mushroom, shredded vegetables and vermicelli noodles. In fact, that specific kind of olive is unique to the country. To enjoy them best, her guests learned how to prepare their own dipping sauces with the infusion of garlic characteristic to Beijing. Fun fact: here, jiaozi (饺子) is served with a black vinegar, not soy sauce, and with generous servings of garlic.
Guotie jiaozi (锅贴), AKA fried dumplings or potstickers.
Due to Children’s Day, the menu was a bit limited, but the dinner guests still left stuffed. In addition to both fried and boiled dumplings, we also devoured a laodofu (tofu) dish infused with sesame oil that tasted incredibly creamy, like cream cheese without the stomach pain; “beef liver mushrooms” and a potato and eggplant dish; dry-fried green beans with Sichuan peppers; and a sweet, jellied dessert sometimes eaten before the main dishes, since dessert is less common in China. You read that right: a jellied dessert that is also vegan! The jelly is made from seeds of the “nicandra physalodes plant,” according to the guide provided. Those who tried it loved it, and Alex mentioned that it’s particularly good at taming the spice in dishes.
Ice jelly, the aforementioned dessert made from a plant.
Alex mentioned that the Chinese restaurant we were at is familiar with one kind of vegan diet: that of Buddhists who choose to be a kind of vegan that even avoids the “five pungents,” wuxi, including garlic and onion–especially at Xian Lao Man, because it’s near the Yonghegong Lama Temple. For this reason, when restaurants here find out that you’re a vegan, they often assume it means that you do not eat these spices either, adding a somewhat humorous angle to the adventure of foregoing animal products. Thus, one of Alex’s cards also tells the user how to say “I do eat garlic and onion.” So thoughtful!
Perhaps best of all, we paid a flat fee, and then Alex and her dutiful assistant ordered as much of any dish as guests wanted. I’ve rarely been so bowled over by an experience that cost under 30 USD; for 200 RMB, the experience and the meticulously-crafted education that accompanied the meal was, quite simply, fantastic.
One of the virtual cards that Alex distributed at the event for use by guests at restaurants.
I don’t often leave an event thinking that I got more than I paid for, but I did that night. If this is any indication of the level of focus and detail that Alex’s consulting clients receive, she will be providing such services for years to come. As with every article on the Price of Tea in China, this write-up was unsolicited; that said, I am happy to share the contact information for Modern Vegan (Alex’s consulting company) at the end for those whose interest is piqued.
At the end, beef liver mushrooms were an unexpected treat–and, despite their appearance, they contain no meat! They’re a seasonal dish, not always available, which made the night even more unique.
It is amazing to know some alternatives to meat-laden products at a local Beijing chain, and since the meal included several people new to the city, it served an immediate purpose. They now have a wider array of flavors to embrace here in this complicated, captivating place. Meanwhile, companies like the ones Alex is building prove that, while veganism is certainly not common yet here, it is very much a lifestyle that can, in fact, be embraced–hopefully with joy, as Alex ably reveals.
Alex helps individuals through her social media accounts, on Instagram at veganinchina, via her YouTube channel, and on Chinese social media at 爱吃草的阿莲 (小红书，Bilibili).
Modern Vegan works B2B as a hospitality consultancy that helps hotels and restaurants develop plant-based menus. It trains staff how to successfully cater to guests with special dietary preferences–see below for more information!
- To join it as a resident of or visitor to Beijing, add Alex (a group administrator) on WeChat with the username “alex-veganinchina.” ↩︎
- Please note that I have great respect for the vegan community and am largely vegetarian myself; however, I seek to expose this unique event to a wider range of readers who may be less familiar with this particular subculture. It is to them that I reference this stereotype as a contrast to the event held this night, and to its host. ↩︎