In most Chinese restaurants, you either have to point to what you want or act it out. Since few Chinese speak English, you don’t have much choice in the matter.
Our best experience involved using Google Translate (even though the translation left something to be desired). Our worst experience was when we tried to mime a chicken wrap.
Fortunately, a lot of restaurants include photos on the menu (though I must admit that beef dumplings and pigeon dumplings look a lot alike). However, there are still exceptions and some restaurant menus are text only. When that happens, you just cross your fingers and hope for the best!
Alex Grandmont – Mission China 2017