chow vs. lo

i had an interesting conversation with my friend mark recently concerning chinese food. or rather, american chinese food.

we were trying to determine the difference between chow mein and lo mein. neither of us really had any idea and even after consulting wikipedia i'm still not sure i completely understand how to differentiate the two, although it seems that chow mein is typically made with a slightly softer type of noodle. other than that they seem like pretty much the same thing.

anyway, i think i like the lo better.