With Chinese New Year being celebrated from Friday, 31st January to Friday, 14th February this year, many luncheons and dinners will be hosted.
It could be bewildering for a non-Chinese to cope with unfamiliar table arrangements. Visiting guests might not be conversant with appropriate social mores. For everyone, feeling comfortable in situations which differ from our own always provides a sense of self-confidence.
Traditional Setting
Traditionally, the host (or hostess) will sit with his back to the entrance of the room and a guest-of-honour will be seated opposite the host (facing the entrance), or to his left.
Generally, individual settings comprise a rice bowl, with chopsticks and a chopsticks-rest to the right, with a small flat plate for placing food on, a soup bowl with a porcelain spoon, and a small dish for soya sauce to the left. A Chinese teacup is found to the top right of the setting.
Serving platters of food are placed in the centre of a table, with serving spoons.
Food, Glorious Food
There are usually eight to ten courses for a formal meal, and one should eat small portions from each course. Firstly, a combination of appetisers is served, after which dishes could include poultry, soup, prawns, vegetables and pork, though not necessarily in that order. Fish is served towards the end of the meal, followed by noodles or fried rice. Dessert and Chinese tea complete the meal.
With soup, the spoon scoops the contents of the individual bowl towards the diner. The bowl is tilted towards the diner, where necessary, the bowl remaining on the table.
Drinking Tea
A traditional Chinese teacup is held in the right hand by placing the thumb and index finger on opposite sides of the top rim and the small finger on the edge of the base of the cup. Lifting the cup with both hands (the left hand simply supporting the underneath of the cup) is courteous.
Guidelines to Note
Before eating, it is usual for the host to raise his cup and toast the guest-of-honour, if there is one, and all present will do likewise, and take a sip of their drinks. The host, holding his chopsticks, will gesture towards the food, inviting guests to help themselves, after which everyone may begin eating.
It is good etiquette to empty one’s rice bowl by eating all the rice. Upon finishing a meal, chopsticks are placed together to one’s right side. After a meal, the soiled section of a table-napkin is folded inwards and placed casually on the table.
Once a formal meal at a restaurant is finished, there is generally no lingering. This comes as a surprise to some visitors, who are possibly used to less hurried ways.
Chinese hosts are well-known for taking care with the menu, and of the comfort of their guests. Enjoy savouring traditional fare during this auspicious time of the Lunar New Year.
Image: Raelene Tan
Excerpts from “Chinese Etiquette – A Matter Of Course” by Raelene Tan, published by Landmark Books.