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	location:Home > Table Etiquettes in China
	Table Etiquettes in China
	Before you come to China, we strongly suggest that you master the use of chopsticks. But the experience of eating at even the least westernized Chinese restaurants in your native country quite resembles the experience of enjoying the authentic Chinese cuisines in China. Eating at a restaurant or any eateries, both in the States and in China, is quite similar, except for the different tastes as the rear is more authentic, not westernized. Never be worried about the communication barriers as most the waitresses can speak a little English in most of the 4 star hotels. Family Meals Though customs and the kinds of food eaten vary according to regions, it is most common for Chinese families to gather for three meals a day. In some areas and at some times of the year, laborers may have only two full meals a day, but when possible, they supplement these with up to three smaller ones, often taken at tea houses. There is not, in general, the strong association you have in the West between the type of food and the time of day it should be served (say, eggs for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, pot roast for dinner). The sorts of dishes served at the two or three main meals are pretty much the same. The goal in planning, however, is to provide a number of dishes at each meal, so that, rather than experiencing difference by comparison between one meal and the next, each meal include a satisfying array of elements. The Stuff of the Meal Having a Chinese meal sounds like ¡°chi fan¡±. In the South and among urban families in other areas, the fan may be rice or rice products, but rice is expensive, as is the wheat eaten in the North in the form of cooked whole grains, noodles, or bread. Depending on the region, then, less prosperous families might make their meals of millet, sorghum, or corn. The meats and vegetables we think of as the focus of the meal are known as tsai, which means something like "side dishes" -- one could almost go so far as to call them condiments so as to eat more fan,  grains. Place Settings and Serving Etiquette An individual place setting for an everyday meal includes a bowl of fan, a pair of chopsticks, a flat-bottomed soupspoon, and a saucer. Instead of a napkin, a hot towel is often provided at the end of the meal for the diner to wipe his hands and mouth. The meat and vegetable dishes are laid out all at once in the center of the table, and the diners eat directly from the communal plates using their chopsticks. Soup is also eaten from the common bowl. Rather than for serving oneself a separate portion, the saucer is used for bones and shells or as a place to rest a bite taken from a communal plate when it is too large to eat all at once. It is perfectly acceptable to reach across the table to take a morsel from a far-away dish. To facilitate access to all the dishes, Chinese dining tables are more likely to be square or round, rather than elongated like their western counterparts. Who Eats First and When and How Eating begins in order of seniority, with each diner taking the cue to start from his or her immediate superior. Children are taught to eat equally from each tsai dish in turn, never betraying a preference for a particular item by eating more of it, never seeming to pause to choose a specific bite from the plate. In order to cool the soup a bit and to better diffuse the flavor in the mouth, soup is eaten by sipping from the spoon while breathing in. This method, of course, produces the slurping noise that is taboo in the West. To eat fan, a diner raises the bowl to her lips and pushes the grains into her mouth with chopsticks. This is the easiest way to eat your share. The diner must finish his or her share. To leave even a grain is considered bad manners, a lack of respect for the labor required to produce it. Accompaniments Beers are common served during meals. People drink tea nearly all day, but at meals soup is usually provided at the end of meal besides beer or Coca-Cola. At special events there may be wine or liquor, but the water that westerners drink with their meals is never present unless you trade your beer for a bottle of mineral water. Sweet foods, usually snacks, are usually reserved for special events, where they are served between courses, or for small meals at tea houses.
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