China has a deep vegetarian tradition through Buddhism and one of the world's great repertoires of vegetable cooking. It also has a default assumption that a little meat is seasoning rather than an ingredient.
The phrase that does the work#
Learn 我吃素 — wǒ chī sù — "I eat vegetarian". The key word is 素 (sù), which carries the Buddhist sense of a vegetarian diet and is understood far better than a literal translation of "no meat".
Saying "no meat" often produces a dish with the visible meat removed but the stock, lard and fish sauce intact. 素 communicates the actual requirement.
For vegans, add 不要蛋，不要奶 — no egg, no dairy — though dairy appears rarely in most regional cooking anyway.
The reliable option#
Look for 素菜馆 (sùcàiguǎn), Buddhist vegetarian restaurants. Most large cities have several, and major temples often have one attached. Everything is vegetarian by definition, the cooking is skilled, and the mock-meat dishes made from wheat gluten, tofu skin and mushroom are a genuine culinary tradition rather than a substitute.
These are the places to eat when you want to stop negotiating and simply order.
Regional odds#
Sichuan and Yunnan are comparatively easy — enormous vegetable variety, tofu everywhere, and mushroom cooking taken seriously. Buddhist mountain sites are easy for obvious reasons. The north-west, with its lamb-centred cooking, is harder. Coastal regions hide seafood in more places than you would guess.
Practical tactics#
Photograph your requirement written in Chinese and show it rather than pronouncing it. Order several vegetable dishes and rice rather than hunting for one vegetarian main. Hotpot works well if you get a separate non-meat broth. Breakfast — soy milk, steamed buns, congee, fried dough sticks — is easy almost everywhere.
For dish-by-dish guidance and the full phrase list, see the vegetarian and vegan guide to China.