Not to sound contradictory, but there are many similarities and many differences between hotel breakfast buffets in the states and those in China. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, some are complimentary and some have an additional charge.
Let’s start with the similarities! People can easily find and enjoy coffee at virtually all breakfast buffets. Unfortunately, I am not a coffee drinker, so I can’t speak to how the coffee tastes at these hotels.
Another similarity is toast. At this one, the bread is thicker than normal loaf bread, but you can still put it in a toaster, if you prefer yours that way. You also have an assortment of muffins from which to choose. If you look closely at the picture below, you can even see the jelly.
Keeping the bread and pastry theme going, here are your options. The round pastries have a very flaky exterior and some have a sweet red bean or fig paste inside. The bread is fried and it tastes delicious, too!
There are additional breads common for breakfast in China. These breads are steamed, so they are very white. Some are just plain bread balls called “manto,” and some are called “jaozi”, which are steamed bread balls stuffed with a paste. The paste can have many options, such as: pork, shrimp, egg and vegetable. I think pork is the most common; they are my favorite. It is also common to see the jaozi in the wicker steam bowls stacked one on top of another.
What would breakfast be without eggs! Frequently there will be someone frying eggs at a designated area or maybe even making omelets. By the way, brown eggs are very common in China!
One final thing they have in common: I enjoy them very much!