Chinese Tips中文通Open the appLife in Mainland China
Most Chinese meals are shared, and a few customs make them easier: where to sit, what to do with your chopsticks, how a toast goes and who pays.
Play: Dinner table quizGroups sit at round tables, often with a glass turntable in the middle. Dishes arrive one by one and are shared; you take a little at a time onto your own small plate or into your rice bowl. Turn the table clockwise, and wait while someone is serving.
At a formal meal the guest of honour sits facing the door, with the host beside them; the seat nearest the door is for whoever orders and looks after the table.
Many families and restaurants now put serving chopsticks or spoons with each dish. Where there are none, people use their own chopsticks, sometimes turned round to the clean end.
Chopsticks are not stood upright in a bowl of rice, which looks like the incense sticks at a funeral, and are not tapped on the bowl, which is what beggars once did. Rest them across your bowl or on the rest.
In coastal Guangdong and Fujian, a whole fish is not turned over to reach the underside, because it suggests a boat capsizing. Lift the bone away instead.
Traditionally a host orders more than the table can finish, and a little food left shows that there was plenty. Since 2013 a national campaign against food waste has encouraged ordering less and taking leftovers home.
The person who invited usually pays, and friends may compete to pay, sometimes by slipping away to settle it before the end. Among younger friends splitting the bill is common, called going AA.
Hotpot has its own rhythm: everyone orders plates of raw ingredients, cooks them in the shared broth with their own chopsticks or a small ladle, and dips them in a sauce mixed at a sauce bar. Thin slices of meat take seconds; tripe is dipped up and down for about fifteen seconds.
A pot of broth kept bubbling at the table; each person cooks their own meat, tripe, tofu and greens in it. Chongqing's is made with beef tallow, chillies and Sichuan pepper, and a split pot keeps a mild broth beside the fiery one.
Seats, chopsticks, fish and the bill.
At a formal dinner, where does the guest of honour usually sit?
Facing the door. Facing the door, with the host beside them. The seat by the door is for whoever orders.
Why don't people stand chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice?
It looks like incense at a funeral. Upright sticks in a bowl look like incense sticks offered to the dead.
In Guangdong and Fujian, what is the custom with a whole fish?
Don't turn it over. Don't turn it over: in fishing communities, flipping a fish suggests a boat capsizing. Lift the bone away to reach the flesh underneath.
A friend slips away from the table before the meal ends. Why?
To pay before anyone else can. To pay before anyone else can. Friends may compete to settle the bill.
Among young friends, what does 'going AA' mean?
Splitting the bill. Splitting the bill evenly, a common choice among friends and colleagues.
A dish is on the turntable and someone is serving themselves. What do you do?
Wait until they finish. Wait until they have finished, then turn it, usually clockwise.
What does tapping two fingers on the table mean when someone pours your tea?
Thank you. Thank you. It started in the south and has spread.
Why might a host order more food than the table can eat?
So there is plenty, which shows generosity. So that there is plenty: a bare table can look as if the host did not provide enough. Taking leftovers home is normal too.