Hi, I am going to book a hotel in Nanjing which has only Chinese cuisine in description and wonder what does breakfast buffet consist of in China? Is it something completely Chinese and what do they take for breakfast then? The hotel offers rooms with or without breakfast, so I am considering an option of eating in or going out for breakfast. Any advice will be helpful as this is our first small trip in China .

chinese breakfast can be:
congee (rice slurry/porridge) with all kind additional stuff, fried noodles, fried rice, steamed/sauteed vegetables, steamed buns with meat and/or vegetable inside. always some fresh fruit, an so on... stuff that you (as a westerner) may actually expect for dinner. breakfast is usually a warm meal in china.

some hotels also have some smaller "western" selection alongside their chinese fare, which is usually toast, some butter/margerine, sometimes jam. fried eggs are found almost all the time, however they will usually not beat up an omlette (they don't know it).

you will survive it and you should go for it! it's part of the "china experience", in worst case you can brag about the terrible breakfast back home.

whether you have better options outside the hotel depends on the area where the hotel is located. downtown may have some starbucks/mcdonalds in walking distance, but not guaranteed!

If you book 2-3 stars hotel, don't expect a spectacular breakfast as their chinese breakfast was quite standard and oily. It's acceptable for chinese and some foreigner but unacceptable for most of foreigners. You can opt not to include breakfast but most of hotels included the breakfast inside and there's no option not to have one.

However for 4-5stars and reputable hotels, their breakfast buffet is pretty decent and expensive.

Basic story, you get what you pay, can't complain if it doesn't suit you standard as the chinese breakfast price is definitely much lower than western breakfast. Personally after living for so many years in China, I've adjusted my standard, for convenient sake, I usually take the breakfast. Sometimes there are not many decent restaurants outside hotel in short distance.

whereabouts in Nanjing? I know a great place for breakfast

Thanks for the answers. Still considering as we are taking our five-year old daughter with us and didn't want to get a too spicy breakfast for her .

Swiss-James, thanks, we are thinking about Insurance Mansion or probably something else in the downtown. Where's your place located ?

http://www.synotrip.com/nanjing/restaurants/foreign/skyways-bakery-and-deli-984.shtml

This place- it's a bakery and coffee shop near the university. Great sandwiches and pastry, and good coffee too.

Thanks a lot, it sounds really nice .