Banquet ettiquette

I’ve been to two formal dinners so far in China, so allow me to elaborate on some of the culture involved in the formal dinner.

China is a ranked society. Everyone is aware of their rank in a room, at work, or in a classroom. When you approach the table, you must wait to be seated by someone, for there is a seating arrangement. The seat of honor sits facing the door. The rule of thumb here: Stand next to the seat CLOSEST to the door and the host or someone will tell you where to sit. We dined with the president of the university here and his wife. Once they had taken their spots, they just told us to be seated wherever.

Toasting. You normally have two glasses: a toasting glass and a tea or water glass. You NEVER toast with tea or water because they have no value—they are free. Before you take a drink, you must wait for the host to make a toast. From then on, you can only drink when there is a toast. Usually there will be several. I’ve had ones to me directly, ones to the guys, etc. We learned quickly that we could toast each other, which is the only polite way to drink when you don’t have a tea cup.

Eating. At these formal meals, the meals are placed on a glass centerpiece that rotates (a Lazy Susan I think?). Each new meal is presented to the host first, and then moved around. You must only take small portions and never load your plate up. The last dish to be served will usually be rice, noodles, or dumplings.

You must never eat with your hands or eat food that has fallen on the table or the floor.

Never stick your chopsticks straight up or turn your glass upside down. These are an insult to your host.

In other news, I ate donkey the other day and it was good.