Tap anything on the table. Every piece tells you what it is and when it’s yours.
Plates
Bowls and cups
Cutlery
Glasses
Also on the table
Customs
Serving chopsticks
Take from shared dishes with the serving chopsticks or spoon, onto your own plate, then eat with your own pair. Your personal chopsticks never go in the common dish. Source
The lazy Susan
It usually turns clockwise. Turn it slowly so nothing tips, and never while someone is taking food from it. Source
Two-finger thanks
When someone pours your tea, tap two fingers on the table once or twice. It says thank you without breaking the conversation, and it’s most at home in the south, in Cantonese tea culture. Source
Ganbei
Ganbei means “dry the cup,” though it isn’t always taken literally. Keep your glass a little lower than an elder’s when you clink, and toast with tea or juice if you don’t drink. Source
Food left over
Hosts have long ordered more than the table can finish, so some food left on the shared plates is normal, not a complaint. China’s Clean Plate campaign now urges ordering sensibly, so take only what you’ll eat. Source
Don’t flip the fish
In some coastal areas, turning a whole fish over is considered unlucky. Lift the spine away and eat the other side from there; elsewhere, follow your host’s lead. Source
Plate · In front of you
Your plate
Your small plate. Food from shared dishes lands here first.
- When
- The whole meal.
- How
- Take a little at a time from the shared dishes. Put bones and shells here, or on a side plate if there is one.
- Why
- It’s the stop between the common dishes and your mouth.
Source: China Highlights, How to Eat in China: Table Manners and Dining Etiquette
Bowl · Left of your plate
Rice bowl
Your own bowl. Lifting it to eat is correct.
- When
- For rice, and for soup served to you.
- How
- Hold it up with your thumb on the rim and fingers under the base, and bring rice to your mouth with chopsticks.
- Why
- Eating hunched over a bowl left on the table is seen as poor manners.
Source: China Highlights, How to Eat in China: Table Manners and Dining Etiquette
Plate · Above your plate, right
Sauce dish
Your own little dish for dipping sauce, like vinegar for dumplings.
- When
- With dumplings and anything else that comes with a dip.
- How
- Pour in a little and dip bites into it as you go.
- Why
- Sauce is personal: soy, vinegar, a mix of the two, or chili, to your taste.
Source: Chinese Language Institute (StudyCLI), Chinese Table Manners: The Ultimate Guide
Cutlery · Right of your plate
Ceramic spoon
A ceramic spoon, mostly for soup.
- When
- Soup, and dishes served with broth.
- How
- Use it to eat soup from your bowl. It’s yours alone, so don’t serve from shared dishes with it.
- Why
- Its deep, wide bowl holds broth that chopsticks can’t.
Source: Chinese Language Institute (StudyCLI), Chinese Table Manners: The Ultimate Guide
Other · Right of your plate, near the top
Chopstick rest
Holds your chopstick tips off the table between bites.
- When
- Whenever you put your chopsticks down.
- How
- Lay your chopsticks on it between bites. Resting them flat across your bowl or plate is fine too.
- Why
- Just never stand them upright in your food, especially rice; that’s read as disrespectful.
Source: World Federation of Chinese Catering Industry (Google Arts & Culture), Chopstick Etiquette
Cutlery · Right of your plate, pointing up
Chopsticks
Your own pair, laid to the right of your plate.
- When
- The whole meal.
- How
- Eat with them from your own plate and bowl. Don’t point them at people, tap them on your bowl or root around in a shared dish.
- Why
- Pointing is rude, tapping bowls is what beggars once did to get attention, and digging for the best piece looks greedy.
Source: World Federation of Chinese Catering Industry (Google Arts & Culture), Chopstick Etiquette
Glass · Top right
Teacup
A small cup for tea. When someone refills it, you can thank them with a tap.
- When
- From the moment you sit down.
- How
- When someone pours for you mid-conversation, tap two fingers lightly on the table.
- Why
- It’s a silent thank-you that doesn’t interrupt anyone, handy when your mouth is full.
Source: Shanghai Municipal Government, Guide to table etiquette in China
Glass · Right, beside the teacup
Glass for toasts
For beer, wine or baijiu (a strong grain liquor), and for toasts.
- When
- Whenever a toast is raised during the meal.
- How
- When you toast the host, stand and hold it in both hands, and keep your rim a little lower than theirs.
- Why
- A lower glass shows respect, and “ganbei” means you’re expected to finish the drink.
Source: Shanghai Municipal Government, Guide to table etiquette in China
Bowl · Center of the table
Shared bowl
A big bowl for everyone, usually soup or a stew. Serve from it, don’t eat from it.
- When
- Dishes arrive one after another all meal and go in the middle.
- How
- Take a portion with the serving spoon or serving chopsticks and put it in your own bowl or plate first.
- Why
- Everything is shared, and chopsticks that have been in your mouth don’t belong in the common dish.
Source: China Highlights, How to Eat in China: Table Manners and Dining Etiquette
Plate · Center of the table
Shared dish
A platter for the table, often a whole fish at a banquet.
- When
- Brought to the center in turn; on a round table it rides the lazy Susan.
- How
- Take a modest portion. When one side is finished, lift the bone away to reach the other side rather than flipping the fish.
- Why
- In some coastal areas, turning a whole fish over is considered unlucky, so it’s simply avoided.
Source: China Visit Guide, Chinese Banquet Etiquette: The Deeper Layer
Cutlery · Between the shared dishes
Serving chopsticks (gōngkuài)
“Public chopsticks” for moving food from shared dishes to your plate.
- When
- Every time you take from a shared dish.
- How
- Use them to move food onto your own plate, then eat with your own pair. They’re often a different color, like white.
- Why
- Serving from shared dishes with the chopsticks you eat with is considered impolite.
Source: Shanghai Municipal Government, Guide to table etiquette in China
Quiz me · 16 moments
Sit down. The meal is about to start.
We walk through the whole meal in order: sitting down, tea, the first toast, cold dishes, shared dishes, dumplings, soup, rice, the end. Tap the table or pick an answer. Get it wrong and the table shows you.
- Sitting down
- Tea
- The first toast
- Cold dishes
- Shared dishes
- Dumplings
- Soup
- Rice
- The end
The end
right first time