Beijing beer made with American hops, to highlight the trade relationship between the two countries. Tibetan food, to send a human rights message. Mushrooms with possible hallucinogenic properties, just because they taste good.

用美国啤酒花酿造的北京啤酒，凸显两国的贸易关系。藏族美食，传递人权讯息。可能具有致幻性的蘑菇，则单纯是因为味道好。

Where, what and how American dignitaries eat when they visit China is a serious matter. Choices of restaurants and dishes are rife with opportunities for geopolitical symbolism, as well as controversy and mockery. Chopstick skills — or a lack thereof — can be a sign of cultural competence or illiteracy.

美国政要访问中国时在哪吃、吃什么、怎么吃，都事关重大。餐厅和菜肴的选择充满了地缘政治象征意义，也会带来争议和嘲笑。拥有或缺乏使用筷子的技能，可能是具备或欠缺文化素养的标志。

An exorbitantly expensive meal can make an official look out of touch. Too cheap or informal, and you risk appearing undignified. Authenticity, history, cooking technique and taste can all affect the perception of a meal choice.

一顿昂贵的饭菜会让一个官员看起来高高在上。太廉价或不正式，就有可能显得有失体面。是否地道、历史背景、烹饪技术和口味，都会影响外界对用餐选择的看法。

When Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken started a trip through China on Wednesday, part of the Biden administration’s efforts to stabilize the relationship between the two countries, some on Chinese social media wondered whether he would have time on his visit to stop and try some of the city’s famous xiaolongbao (soup dumplings).

作为拜登政府稳定两国关系努力的一部分，美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯周三开始访问中国，中国社交媒体上的一些人想知道他是否有时间在访问期间停下来尝试一些东西：这座城市著名的灌汤小笼包。

One recommendation that he do so came with something of a political warning: “Eating xiaolongbao is just like handling international relations,” a commentator wrote on Weibo. “If your attention slips even a little, you’ll burn your mouth.”

有人在提出这个建议时附带了某种政治警告：“要知道品尝小笼包就好似处理国际关系一样，”一名网友在微博上评论道。“稍不留意，会烫嘴。”

Mr. Blinken did in fact visit a renowned soup dumpling restaurant that night. It’s unclear how much he considered the symbolism of his dumplings, but by indulging in a traditional popular snack, and by attending a basketball game, the optics suggested there was a more cordial spirit than on the trip he made last year, soon after a Chinese spy balloon drifting across the United States had heightened tensions.

事实上，布林肯当晚确实去了一家著名的小笼包馆。目前尚不清楚他在多大程度上考虑了小笼包的象征意义，但无论尽情享用一种传统的大众小吃，还是观看一场篮球比赛，都表明与去年的中国行相比，这一次的气氛相对亲切。就在他去年中国行之前，飘过美国的中国间谍气球加剧了紧张局势。

But Mr. Blinken’s eating habits have drawn far less interest than that of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. Over two trips, this month and last year, her meals in China attracted so much attention that the state-run Global Times deemed it a form of “food diplomacy.”

但布林肯的饮食习惯引起的关注远不如财政部长珍妮特·耶伦。在本月和去年的两次访问中，她在中国的餐食引起了如此多的关注，以至于官方媒体《环球时报》将其视为一种“美食外交”。

本月，美国财政部长耶伦（右）和美国驻华大使尼古拉斯·伯恩斯在北京的京A餐厅品尝啤酒。

Last year, Ms. Yellen made headlines when, at a restaurant in Beijing serving cuisine from Yunnan Province, she ate mushrooms that were revealed to be mildly toxic and could cause hallucinations if not cooked properly.

去年，耶伦在北京一家云南菜餐厅享用了蘑菇，结果被广为报道。这些蘑菇被具有轻微毒性，如果烹调不当可能会导致幻觉。

Ms. Yellen later said that she was not aware of the mushrooms’ potential hallucinogenic properties when she ate them and felt no abnormal effects. Still, the story sparked a brief craze for the mushrooms in China.

耶伦后来说，她在食用蘑菇时并没有意识到这些蘑菇具有潜在的致幻作用，也没有感到任何异样。尽管如此，这个故事还是在中国引发了短暂的蘑菇热潮。

This month, during a four-day trip to China, Ms. Yellen visited a famed Cantonese restaurant in Guangzhou, and a Sichuan restaurant in Beijing. The dishes she ordered were quickly posted online, drawing broad approval from commenters for the variety and affordability of the dishes ordered, her chopstick skills and the fact that she and her team sat among other diners instead of in a private room.

本月，在为期四天的中国之行中，耶伦光临了广州一家著名粤菜馆和北京的一家川菜馆。她点的菜很快就被发到网上。菜品种类丰富，价格实惠，她的筷子技术以及她和团队坐在其他食客中间而不是坐在包间，这些都得到了网友的普遍赞誉。

The dishes Ms. Yellen and her team ordered were classic meals from their respective regions and were not modified to foreign tastes, according to Fuchsia Dunlop, a London-based cook and food writer who specializes in Chinese cuisine.

据驻伦敦的厨师、中国美食作家扶霞介绍，耶伦和她的团队点的都是当地经典菜肴，没有根据外国口味进行调整。

“They haven’t chosen really expensive, show-off dishes and ingredients,” Ms. Dunlop said, speaking about the Sichuan meal. “This is very much what everyday people in Sichuan like to eat. This menu was chosen for flavor, not prestige.”

“他们没有选择非常昂贵、炫耀的菜肴和食材，”扶霞在谈到川菜时说道。“这是四川老百姓非常喜欢吃的东西。选择这个菜单是为了口味，而不是这道菜有名。”

According to a Treasury Department spokeswoman, the department generally solicits suggestions from staff at the local embassy for restaurant recommendations when Ms. Yellen travels. Then, Ms. Yellen will research the restaurants herself and make the final decision.

据财政部发言人称，耶伦出访时，该部门通常会征求当地大使馆工作人员的建议来推荐餐厅。然后，耶伦会亲自去了解这些餐厅，并做出最终决定。

On occasion, specific establishments will be chosen to convey a diplomatic message, the spokeswoman added. She cited Ms. Yellen’s visit this month to a brewery in Beijing that uses American hops, aimed to highlight the significance of American agricultural exports to China.

这位发言人还说，有时会选择特定的场所来传达外交信息。她提到耶伦本月参观了北京一家使用美国啤酒花的啤酒厂，旨在强调美国农产品对华出口的重要性。

Some restaurants where Ms. Yellen has dined at have capitalized on her fame, like the Yunnan restaurant where she ate the mushrooms, which released a set menu based on what she ordered, called the “God of Money” menu, a nod to her position as Treasury Secretary.

耶伦曾用餐过的一些餐厅利用了她的名气，比如她曾享用蘑菇的云南餐厅根据她点的菜推出了套餐，称之为“财神”套餐，意指她的财政部长身份。

Ms. Yellen isn’t the first American dignitary to turn Chinese restaurants into overnight sensations. In 2011, a visit by then-Vice President Joe Biden to a Beijing noodle restaurant sent its business skyrocketing, according to Chinese state media, and led the restaurant to create a “Biden set” noodle menu.

耶伦并不是第一个让中餐馆一夜爆红的美国政要。据中国官方媒体报道，2011年，时任副总统拜登造访北京一家面馆后，该面馆的生意爆火，并促使该餐厅推出了名为“拜登套餐”的面条套餐。

2014年，中国成都，第一夫人米歇尔·奥巴马与高中生一起学习太极拳。

In 2014, after Michelle Obama visited a hot pot restaurant in the city of Chengdu, the restaurant said it would create an “American First Lady” set menu. Articles in Chinese media noted approvingly that Mrs. Obama was able to handle the spicy soup, which was not toned down for a foreign palate.

2014年，米歇尔·奥巴马前往成都一家火锅店后，该餐厅表示将打造“美国第一夫人”套餐。中国媒体的文章赞赏地指出，奥巴马夫人能吃得了辣锅底，而且是没有为了迎合外国人的口味而减辣的那种。

Her visit to a Tibetan restaurant in the same city, however, attracted controversy, and her staff at the time readily acknowledged that the venue had been chosen deliberately to show support for the rights and religious liberties of Tibetans in China.

然而，她对同城一家西藏餐馆的造访引起了争议，她当时的工作人员承认，选择这个地点是为了表达对中国藏人权利和宗教自由的支持。

But for Mrs. Obama’s husband and other U.S. presidents, Chinese cuisine served at official state banquets is often Americanized or customized to better suit a foreign palette.

但对于奥巴马夫人的丈夫和其他美国总统来说，官方国宴上提供的中餐往往是美国化的或定制的，以更好地适应外国人的口味。

In 2009, President Barack Obama was served a Chinese-style beef steak and baked fish, according to Chinese state media, and in 2017, President Trump ate dishes including kung pao chicken and stewed boneless beef in tomato sauce. Both meals finished with fruit ice cream, which is highly atypical of traditional Chinese meals.

据中国官方媒体报道，2009年，时任美国总统奥巴马享用了中式牛排和烤鱼；2017年，特朗普总统享用了宫保鸡丁和番茄牛肉等菜肴。两顿饭都以水果冰淇淋结束，这与传统的中餐非常不一样。

But even those meals may hint at an international trend, Ms. Dunlop said. Mr. Obama’s menu contained “very safe, conservative choices that would be appealing to foreigners,” she said, while Mr. Trump’s menu was slightly more contemporary and showed off more Chinese cooking techniques.

但扶霞说，即使是这些餐食也可能暗示着一种国际趋势。她说，奥巴马的菜单包含“非常保险、保守的选择，对外国人有吸引力”，而特朗普的菜单则稍微更现代一些，展示了更多的中国烹饪技术。

That shift, Ms. Dunlop said, “may reflect China feeling a bit more confident with Westerners’ familiarity with real Chinese food” in 2017 versus 2009.

扶霞表示，与2009年相比，2017年的这种转变“可能反映出中国对西方人士对地道中国食物的熟悉程度更有信心”。