When US treasury secretary Janet Yellen visited Beijing in July for two days of meetings with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and other officials, Chinese social media users seemed more interested in the Yunnan specialty restaurant where she had dinner than in the content of the US-China talks.
The restaurant, somewhat comically called ‘In and Out’ in English (Chinese name: Yī zuò Yī wàng 一坐一忘), is a local favorite in Beijing’s Sanlitun, near the embassy area. Among other things, Yellen was served spicy potatoes with mint and stir-fried mushrooms, leading to online jokes about how the food would affect her.
Now, weeks after the meal, the US Treasury Secretary reflected on her mushroom experience in China during an interview with CNN‘s Erin Burnett. “I went with this large group of people and the person who’d arranged our dinner did the ordering. There was a delicious mushroom dish I was not aware that these mushrooms had hallucinogenic properties. I learned that later,” Yellen told CNN, although she also said that she did not feel any ill effects from having eaten them.
Yellen’s recent CNN interview also attracted some attention on Chinese social media, where the hashtag “Yellen Reflects on Eating Delicious Mushrooms During China Visit” (#耶伦回味访华期间吃到的美味蘑菇#) was used by various state media outlets.
The mushroom dish that is discussed here is called jiànshǒuqīng (见手青), which literally means “see hand blue”, in reference to turning blue when handled.
It is the lanmaoa asiatica mushroom species that grows in China’s Yunnan region and is considered hallucinogenic, causing visions that locals call “xiǎorénrén” (小人人), literally: “little people,” similar to the term “Lilliputian hallucinations” that refers to visual hallucinations where a person perceives the world around them to be smaller than it is in reality, which could also include seeing tiny humans. The term comes from the little people who lived on the Lilliput island of in Gulliver’s Travels.1
Back in July, Yellen’s mushroom dinner at ‘In & Out’ attracted much attention online, where some Chinese netizens joked that “First the mushroom, then the tiny people” (xiān jùnzi hòu xiǎorén 先菌子后小人).
The expression is a word joke on the Chinese saying “Xiān xiǎorén hòu jūnzǐ” (先小人后君子) which means “to set clear expectations before being generous,” or “allow impoliteness to precede courtesy” [when making a deal], although in this case the order is switched to “Xiān jūnzǐ hòu xiǎorén” (literally: first the mushroom/courtesy, then the tiny people/impoliteness).
Netizens thought it was amusing that Yellen would have the mushrooms ahead of important talks at a time of worsening US-China relations, ordering no less than four portions of the lanmaoa asiatica.
Amplifying the amusement was the fact that the US Treasury Secretary chose to dine at such an affordable local restaurant in a city abundant with upscale choices.
After Yellen had dinner at the Sanlitun restaurant, ‘In & Out’ used it as part of their marketing strategy and the restaurant released a special ‘Treasury Menu’ (or ‘God of Wealth’ Menu 财神菜单), promoting themselves as the first place where Yellen had dinner during her Beijing visit.
After US Secretary of the Treasury Yellen had dinner at Beijing's Yunnan 'In & Out' Restaurant, they released a special Treasury Menu (or rather God of Wealth Menu 财神菜单), promoting themselves as the first place where Yellen had dinner during her BJ visit (via Weibo/寰亚SYHP). pic.twitter.com/U6Z98DgQqC
— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) July 9, 2023
At the same time, the mushrooms also became more popular online.
So are the mushrooms really magical? The lanmaoa asiatica can indeed be poisonous, which could result in the hallucinating effect.
In fact, mushroom poisoning is one of the most serious food safety issues in China and of the 500 mushroom poisoning cases in China in 2022 – including 28 deaths – the lanmaoa asiatica was among the mushrooms ranking the highest for causing psycho-neurological disorders.
To prevent the mushrooms from causing poisoning, they must be handled with care and cooked thoroughly. Yellen’s team had valid reasons to place their trust in ‘In & Out,’ given that the kitchen staff is well-versed in proper mushroom handling techniques.
Thanks to Yellen’s initial visit to the Yunnan restaurant and her recent CNN interview, some netizens now call her a “walking billboard for In & Out.” The dinner not only made the restaurant – which also has other locations in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Xi’an, and Tianjin – famous overnight, it also contributed to the popularity of the jiànshǒuqīng mushroom.
Although Yellen claims the jiànshǒuqīng did not affect her, her conduct in the days after her mushroom dinner did raise some questions online, such as Yellen repeatedly bowing when meeting with China’s He Lifeng. Some people online joked that it could all perhaps be blamed on the mushrooms.
By Manya Koetse
With contributions by Miranda Barnes
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1 173. Yu, Fu-Qiang, Alexis Guerin-Laguette, Yun Wang. 2020. “Edible Mushrooms and Their Cultural Importance in Yunnan, China.” In: Pérez-Moreno, Jesus, Alexis Guerin-Laguette, Roberto Flores Arzú, Fu-Qiang Yu (eds), Mushrooms, Humans and Nature in a Changing World. Springer, Cham: 163-204, 173.
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