Ever since she ate mushrooms that can have psychedelic effects in Beijing last July, Janet Yellen has united Americans and Chinese in wanting to know what she will eat next.
And with the US Treasury secretary back in China this week, having stopped in Guangzhou and Beijing, many people are less interested in her travels to rebuild relations between the world’s two biggest economies and more fascinated with what she will eat next and where.
She prefers to dine among other patrons and does not like partitions keeping her from other diners – making her silver hair highly recognisable when she is out and about.
The use of her chopsticks at a restaurant in Guangzhou has also been a particular observation.
A social media account run by Chinese state media posted a catchy video of Yellen on her first night in China, eating with the US ambassador and other officials at Tao Tao Ju, a Guangzhou restaurant that dates to 1880.
And during a meeting with the dean of Peking University, Huang Yiping, he joked that China has been watching the news of her arrival as well as her dining, to which Yellen interjected: “My chopstick skills!”.
In the US, Yellen also often stops for fast food and at local diners during domestic trips ahead of events to promote Biden administration policies, and becomes the news.
A stop last November at In-N-Out burger in San Francisco before heading to the airport to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting also became a viral moment.
Mushroom-gate went viral across the internet and the restaurant has since dedicated a part of its menu to Yellen’s visit, where diners can order what she ate.
She told CNN at the time: “There was a delicious mushroom dish. I was not aware that these mushrooms had hallucinogenic properties. I learned that later.”
This time around in Beijing, Yellen ate at Lao Chuan Ban, a popular Sichuan restaurant. She also had lunch with Beijing mayor Yin Yong at the Beijing International Hotel.
On Monday evening, her last night in China, Yellen visited Jing-A Brewing Co in Beijing – co-founded by an American – where she ordered a Flying Fist IPA, a beer made with American hops.
She took a sip and called it “excellent”.
