Living In Beijing, China

[Mitsy]

Hi all! I'm moving to Ningbo next month. Wondering if there is anyone else in that area (its a few hours south of Shanghai, Zhejiang Provence).

I'm mostly concerned about eating out and "hidden" ingredients at the grocery store. I do not read any Chinese, so I'm concerned about reading labels. I guess we'll just stick to whole foods, meats and veggies. Any suggestions or brands anyone recommends?

Thanks!

~Mitsy

[susy]

hi everybody!

my name is susan and i just moved to beijing from guagzhou.

I don't have celiac disease but my best friend does and she's coming to visit me next month. Even if she's going to bring plenty of gluten free food from our country, i think i need some help

I'd like to know where is that organic shop that mftnchn mentioned (i know this thread is quite old... so maybe you guys are not in China anymore or the shop already closed), or where can i bring her to eat (she'd love to try chinese food in China) or how to say celiac disease in chinese and make them understand about the importance of keep the food gluten free. i mean. .any information about how can i deal with that

i've asked some chinese freind of mine but none of them know about celiac disease.

thanks a lot!

[UNCRoberts]

Tell your friend to bring plenty of gluten-free food from home. My 19 yo D, Celiac since age 11, has been in Beijing now for one week, in a 6 month study abroad program. Even with native Chinese speakers helping her, she has gotten gluten poisoning, almost every time she's eaten in a restaurant and/or the university cafeteria. (the program promised her kitchen facilities, but it is not ready yet.) The Chinese don't seem to understand Celiac Disease, the concept of allergies, and/or autoimmune disorders. D has found even if they try to do what you ask, they don't wash pots, pans, woks, after they use them to cook other food. There is a build-up of baked soy sauce on the pots, which she thinks is the main problem. Also, MSG, they claim they don't use it, but they do, and it seems that most MSG in China is made with wheat. D is still hopeful, but right now is in pain and too afraid to eat anything but white rice, oatmeal, and bananas. I'm researching frantically on the web for helpful gluten-free info., and the study abroad program director is trying desperately to find some help and also get the kitchen working for her, so D can cook her own meals. There are restaurants in western owned hotels, western chain restaurants (especially gluten-free friendly Outback Steakhouse) that people say can provide a safe gluten-free meal, so that may be an option, although if she's like my D she'd really like to try authentic Chinese food.

If you learn anything helpful about living gluten-free in Beijing, please post back. I'll do the same.

Best Wishes!

[UNCRoberts]

BTW, the store that is supposed to have gluten-free foods in Beijing is called Jenny Lou's. Here's the info. I got from TripAdvisor.com : # Address: 6 Sanlitun Beixiaojie | Ch

[susy]

BTW, the store that is supposed to have gluten-free foods in Beijing is called Jenny Lou's. Here's the info. I got from TripAdvisor.com : # Address: 6 Sanlitun Beixiaojie | Ch

[lioralourie]

Does anyone here have the fabled pdf file explaining celiac's disease In Mandarin??? The email listed there is not working. Neither of the links posted point to that information...Does anyone have anything to share here? My Beijing Food Allergies and Special Diets yahoo group is clamoring for info!! thank you! And feel free to join as well! p.s. City Shop has some very valuable gluten-free items (brown rice pasta, gluten-free cookies and mixes, etc.) look 'em up on Cityweekend , there's a listing. Near the new U.S. Embassy and the Kempinski. Liora

[duncan'smom]

Hi all,

I live in china for 6 years and counting, my son is Autistic and on Gluten-free Casein-free Diet. the beginning of his diet, we made a trip to Hong Kong to buy gluten free product, the pasta is okay but most of the cookies are tasteless so I decide to make them by myself, (and it's also cheaper and better to make it by ourselves because fresh from the oven )

Anyway, if your city has a Jusco, Vanguard or Carrefour, then you can find gluten free flour pretty easy.

I bought my organic corn flour in Jusco, and In Vanguard they have 3 different brand of Rice flour, Glutinous Rice Flour and Sweet Potato Flour.

In Carrefour they have a lot of options for Gluten free flour, you can find them in flour area and also in the self serve dry good area. The only problem is most of the gluten free product in Carrefour are written in chinese. I bought sample of each of them, brought them home and tried to translate them using dictionary and asked my ayi, some are still unrecognizable. But, some we identified as: mung bean powder, red bean starch, potato starch, sweet potato starch, tapioca, rice flour, glutinous flour & Lotus seed flour.

[Eline]

Hello everyone!!

Okay, I can see that most of the messages here are not that up-to-date anymore, but I want to try it anyway.. I've arrived in China just one month ago and will be living here for at least a year. I'm a celiac and a bit disappointed in my options here in China (compared to South-east Asian countries especially).

I live close enough to Beijing and Shanghai and would be thrilled to meet others with the same issue. Are there people in these areas who would like to meet up with me to share some experiences?

I hope so!

Eline

[Emilushka]

I'm hoping to live in either Beijing or Shanghai for a month as part of my medical education, and I'm a brand-new Celiac. I'm glad you revived this thread!