US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Causes A Stir With Beijing Restaurant Visit

Sometimes, in the world of diplomacy, a restaurant visit can speak louder than a thousand words.

A recent restaurant visit by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has caused a stir in Chinese social media. Shortly after arriving in Beijing for a high-level diplomatic meeting, Yellen and her companions were spotted at Yi Zuo Yi Wang, a chain restaurant that specializes in cuisine from Yunnan province. According to multiple accounts on the Chinese microblogging platform Weibo (via CNN), including confirmation by the restaurant's official account, Yellen and her party dined on several specialties from the province, some of which were captured by video. The dishes included roasted lemongrass perch, stir-fried potato slices with pickled Yunnan wild greens, and roasted Rubing goat cheese.

However, among the dishes she ordered, it was the stir-fried wild mushroom that got international attention. Visually similar to porcini mushrooms, the jian shou qing mushroom (scientific name: Lanmaoa asiatica) is distinguished by the fact that the mushroom turns blue (or cyan) when its interior surface is exposed when sliced. The mushroom is also known to have psychedelic properties, but cooking them thoroughly renders them safe to consume. Yellen apparently enjoyed it so much that she placed four orders of the mushrooms during her visit. The restaurant chain has since compiled the dishes she ordered into a special menu called "God of Money menu" to take advantage of the social media buzz.

Located on the southwestern edge of the People's Republic, the cuisine of Yunnan incorporates influences from both Han (the predominant Chinese ethnic group) and the many indigenous ethnic groups in the province. The consumption of dairy products, which is extremely rare in Chinese cuisine, is part of Yunnanese cuisine due to the influence of its geographical neighbor India. Alongside the jian shou qing mushrooms, one of over 900 species of edible fungi grown in the province, there are many other notable dishes in Yunnan cuisine. A few notable examples are Pu'er tea, which is made with fermented tea leaves, and Xuanwei ham, a dry-aged ham produced in the province since the 18th century during the Qing dynasty.

Since Yunnanese food is not as well known outside of China compared to Cantonese or Sichuan (home to its distinct peppercorns), Chinese social media is very impressed by Yellen's choice for her first meal after her arrival. They were also impressed with how Yellen handled chopsticks and the restaurant reported being fully booked in the coming days because of all the buzz around the visit.