It depends on the Chinese takeaway and what you order. chinese takeaways are renowned for using a lot of additives (particularly MSG - you can usually spot the ones that use it a mile off becaus ethe sweet and sour sauce will be virtually fluorescent orange), and they do tend to use a lot of salt and oil. But there are takeaways that have a no MSG policy (my local takeaway is one of them in fact). Chinese takeaways do tend to use fresh vegetables and reasonable quality ingredients, and as most dishes will be made from scratch while you wait you can ask them to go easy on the oil and the salt (try doing that in McDonalds). Most Chinese food traditionally is shallow, rather than deep fried, so a chicken chow mein is much lower fat than a large portion of McDonalds fried. There'll also be dishes that are much less fattening than others - for example you can order boiled rice, rather than fried. Spring rolls, deep fried pork dishes, or anything with batter will be very fatty - but bean curd with cashews and black bean sauce (my personal favorite) is pretty nutritious. If you go for something with a high veg content and avoid the noodles and other obviously fatty stuff - and of course keep your portion sizes sensible, Chinese takeaway isn't a particularly unhealthy option. Add to that the fact that you'll likely be supporting a local family business and it will taste a hell of a lot nicer - and I think the Chinese is the obvious choice.

Ick! i hate chinese!

Chineese, it always makes me sick afterwards.

i don't eat macdonalds at all. and where i am the chinese food is awesome and i've never gotten sick from it before.

Definitely McD's although their ubiquity saved our butts during a blinding rainstorm in Lake George, NY. The storm was too intense for us to drive anywhere or for anyone to deliver but there was a McD's across the road from our Super 8 motel. Otherwise I'd take Panda Express over the former.

I like to split the difference and order a McWonTon burger.

I've read that it's Chinese food. Higher fat content and more carbohydrates than McDonalds.

You'd be surprised, actually: Quarter Pounder meal, with fries and a diet coke, has: 790 calories, 39 grams of fat, and 950mg sodium Orange chicken from Panda express, with steamed rice, a veggie spring roll, and diet coke, has: 960 calories, 44.5 grams of fat, and 1140mg of sodium. That is with 1 serving (5.5 oz) of chicken, oftentimes the meal includes two servings and rice, and sometimes even soup (which I didn't include). So, it's surprisingly similar.