Menu for Olympic athletes will feature choices galore

Hungry athletes from diverse cultural backgrounds will have a large menu from which to choose during the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games-678 dishes, including Beijing specialties-so something is bound to hit the spot.

Organizers will offer well-known local dishes-Beijing roast duck, stir-fried sliced lamb with scallions and moo shu pork. In addition, two snacks join the lineup-lyudagun, a kind of bean flour roll, and pea cake.

"We have set up 12 pickup counters, which will have 200 dishes every day," said Yan Han, who is in charge of dining services at the Olympic Village.

The menu, which was approved by the International Olympic Committee, was designed to meet the different dietary needs of athletes while also taking religious diversity into account. The food selections were broadcast by China Central Television.

Vegetarian, halal and kosher meals will be available.

"The Chinese dishes will take up around 30 percent of the total, and the rest will be Western food," Yan said.

Choices will include local dishes from Sichuan and Hunan provinces for their spicy zing, as well as Cantonese food. So athletes from around the globe will be able to sample the richness of Chinese food.

Western foods will include various types of pizza and spaghetti.

The total 678 dishes will be offered in a rotation, with around 200 choices made available daily in the three competition zones of Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.

Yang Chen, executive chef of the NUO Hotel Beijing who is a designated chef for Yanqing Village, said during the CCTV program that a total of 48 commonly used ingredients, such as pepper and bay leaves, will be left out of the meals to avoid false positives on doping tests.

Dong Xiaohua, 58, a resident who watched the program, said the dishes all looked delicious, and the chefs must have worked hard to design the hefty menu.

"It's a great opportunity to let people from around the world experience authentic Chinese food," she said. "In the past, it seems they only recognized some US-style Chinese dishes served in Chinatowns, like kung pao chicken and mapo tofu. We have so many more tasty dishes than that."

Catering services during the Games will strictly follow the Beijing 2022 playbook.

Masks, gloves and sanitizers will be provided in dining areas. Intelligent disinfection devices, temperature tests and robot guides will also be used to help prevent COVID-19.