Please tell me where I can go to find descriptions of things in chinese menus. Like what ingredients or style characterizes things such as: Lo Mein,Chow Mein, Gai Pan, Mai Fun, Moo Goo, Moo Shu. Surprises are nice but I would like to have some idea of what I am ordering. Somewhere there must be descriptive information. I already have a fix on Egg Foo Young,Chop Suey, and Sweet and Sour.

[coolJ]

I know that most european and north american dishes are named for their garnish or what they contain, eg. consomme dubarry = consomme garnished with cauliflower. or chicken princess = contains asparagus. So it makes sense to me that chinese dishes would follow suite. I would suggest trying to find a reference book on chinese cooking or you can always check out google.com. hope this helps.
Jeff.

Here's part of an answer.

CHINESE
A good breakfast is no substitute for a large dinner.
Chinese Proverb

Bao Ji: stuffed steamed or baked buns (manapua)
Char Sui: sweet red tinted barbequed pork
Chop Sui: literally means odds and ends - served with rice or soy sauce
Chow Fun: wide, stir-fried noodle
Chung Choy: preserved turnip
Crack Seed: dried fruits mixed with salt, sugar and seasonings
Dim Sum: dumplings that are steamed, baked, or fried (many varieties)
Fu Young: scrambled dishes
Gau: New Year's pudding
Hoisin Sauce: sweet, spicy, fermented soybeans
Hong choi: Chinese parsley (coriander/cilantro)
Jai: monks food - a vegetarian dish
Jook: very bland rice soup (congee)
Li Hing Mui: preserved plum
Lup Cheong: sweet, oily sausage
Lychee: fruit with sweet, smooth flesh
Mein: thin wheat noodle
Won Ton: deep fried stuffed dough

you might want to do some research here:
http://chinesefood.about.com/food/chinesefood/

[Nick.Shu]

generally, you will find that some of the chinese dishes found in european countries will have corrupted names. A good example is:

Chow Mein is the european corruption of:

Teow Mien, or , basically, "fried Noodle".

From what i have been told in the basis of the cantonese language, a menu item will be (in the cantonese description) will follow the vernacular. For instance in chinese, "Wonton Dai Ha Tong Mien" in english means: "Wonton, big prawn, soup Noodle".

Now, here is were the lesson gets a little wierd. Chow Fun to me, sounds like Teow Fan, or fried Rice.

Iam relatively new to cantonese, but by virtue of my heritage (half Hong Kong Chinese/half Australian), i have heard words for years and can quickly connect to them.

But anyway. (p.s., i work with subordinates with ethnic chinese backgrounds as varied as the solomon islands, papua new guinea, singapore and hong kong - so if i cant source a answer, i just ask.)