Learning Chinese Dining Etiquette – Fighting At The Dining Table

By Author: james toma
Total Articles: 85
Comment this article

Now, more and more people take join to learn Chinese. Learning Chinese has become an international trend. During the summer months, many children will seize the opportunity to learn Chinese, and strive to enrich their knowledge and broaden their horizons. Learning Chinese is really a very meaningful and very interesting thing. Now, there are many online summer courses for kids. Today, I have an interesting Chinese lesson about Dining Etiquette— Fighting at the Dining Table.

China is known as the "state of ceremonies." No matter whether it's in daily life or business activities, all Chinese people pay attention to etiquette. Do you know Chinese Dining Etiquette – Fighting at the Dining Table? It is very interesting.

An American "学生 (xuésheng) student" traveled to China and was having dinner with his Chinese friends. His "老师 (lǎoshī) teacher" asked him what he thought of China and the Chinese people. The student said: "I notice that Chinese people fight three times at the '餐桌 (cānzhuō) dining table.' Can you tell me why?"

His teacher explained: ...
... The first "打架 (dǎjià) fight" is for "the seat of honor." In China, Chinese people pay much attention to the seating arrangement during dinner. People who should be given the "主座 (zhǔzuò) seat of honor" will courteously decline. Generally, round tables are used at Chinese banquets and the seat facing the "入口 (rùkǒu) entrance" is the seat of honor. The seats on the left hand side of the seat of honor are second, fourth, fifth, sixth, etc.

The second "fight" is about who will be the first to eat. After all the dishes are served, people often courteously decline to be the first to "品尝 (pǐncháng) taste" the dishes. Usually, people will "邀请 (yāoqǐng) invite" the "客人 (kèrén) guest" to eat first. After the guests taste the food, everyone begins eating.

After the dinner, everyone "fights" to pay the bill. Unlike many western cultures, Chinese people usually don’t like "AA制 (AA zhì) going Dutch," and they prefer to follow the practice of ‘this time is my treat, and next time is your treat’.

Fighting at the Dining Table is only one of characteristic of Chinese Dining etiquette. If you want to know more about the Chinese Dining etiquette, you should join the rank of learning Chinese. Now, we have some online summer courses for kids. This is a good opportunity to learn Chinese; I want the love Chinese friends to join us immediately. Do you want to take Chinese lesson online? Are you eager to learn Chinese? Come and join us.

More materials in http://www.echineselearning.com/