TheOtherRichard at Cup of Cha finds that along with smoking in taxis and spitting on the street, eating salads has been banned for the Olympics. It’s the first time I’ve heard of this ban (and I’m in Cafe Zarah surrounded by salads as I write this), but it’s a funny story anyway.

This afternoon my lunch-mate and I were refused salad at a Thai restaurant in a mall on Wang Fu Jing. The reason given was that salad is banned for the Olympics. This was news to me, but my colleague said that he had heard tell of this impending ban but had not believed that it would be brought into effect.

The motivation for this ban remains slightly mysterious to me. It might be genuine concern for people鈥檚 health during the games, which could in turn, stem either from concern for their welfare and from the costs and difficulties of caring for people brought down by digestive complaints due to dodgy lettuce. Another reason could simply be the potential embarrasment to the city and country should visitors, domestic and international become ill in droves.

It’s probably good advice for visitors to stay away from salads (either the veggies have been washed in Beijing tap water, or they’ve not been washed. Either way — ick!) but banning salads seems a bit extreme.

Via Cup Of Cha