When doing business in China, inevitably you will have to go to many Chinese banquets at fancy restaurant. How you act at the banquet can determine if the business or job prospers or fails. Chinese businessmen use the banquet as a way to gain and give guanxi, or face. If the business meal is a success everyone wins, however if you have bad table manners or business etiquette it can end in disaster destroying the chance to enter Chinese business.
Chinese Banquet Table Setting
A banquet in China will almost always follow the same easy to follow format which is considered important to Chinese business etiquette. Each seat will have a name card for each guest. Do not try to rearrange the cards as they are almost always carefully chosen in regards to seniority and importance. Trying to change the seating arrangement without a very good reason can confuse the Chinese hosts and possibly cause them to lose face.
The table setting itself will usually look like this: a small bowl, a medium size plate, three glasses, a large porcelain spoon and chopsticks. The bowl is to be used for rice, soup or noodles. The plate holds regular food and can be used for bones, shells and other scraps. The largest of the three glasses is for beer, soda, yogurt and juice. The second glass, a small wine glass, is for wine. The third glass is for strong alcohol, particularly baijiu, the national drink of China. The large porcelain spoon is a typical Chinese spoon and is used like a regular spoon.
The servers will come out to change the plates as they get dirty fairly regularly, and if you wish to get a new plate simply ask them to change it right away. Occasionally a dish will come that requires condiments or a special bowl. When this happens, the servers will bring out the condiment and bowl immediately before or after the dish arrives.
Table Manners for Chinese Chopsticks and Spoons
Most Chinese do not expect foreigners to be proficient with chopsticks, so if you cannot use them they will understand. If you have to use the spoon to server yourself and eat, they'll consider it inelegant but not a faux pas. If you do use the spoon for serving, ask the server for a second spoon, so that you don't eat and serve with the same one. Other people may do it, but it is bad table manners.
If a Westerner can use chopsticks it will increase the respect for them amongst their Chinese colleagues. However even if you cannot use chopsticks, if you attempt to use them it will show respect to Chinese culture. So even the inexperienced should try to pick up some simple foods with chopsticks to earn some brownie points.
When using chopsticks its important not to lick them. They're used for serving food as well as eating, so avoid licking them at all cost. When eating, you may touch them to your lips, but for perfect eating etiquette try to take the food in your teeth and avoid touching the chopsticks as much as possible.
Some Chinese food is finger food: large steamed buns, fruit, shrimp and other shellfish, and the joints of some animals. All other food should be eaten by chopsticks or a spoon. Also, a lot of Chinese food has bones or other inedible parts. If you get a bone, do not use your hands to remove it. Either spit the bone out on the plate or use the chopsticks to remove it from your mouth.
Chinese Etiquette at a Banquet
The banquet officially begins when the host serves the food either to himself or the guest of honour. In China it's respectful to serve guests, so most Chinese businessmen will keep placing food on the guest's plate as soon as its empty. To avoid being loaded down with food, simply leave a few pieces on the plate or in the bowl. It is polite if you return the favour and serve them a few times during the meal.
There are usually dozens of dishes served during the banquet, so while its polite to sample each dish only a few bites should be taken from each. If there is a food you cannot stand, simply take a small piece and place it on your plate hidden behind some other food, or very politely decline with a small smile.
Chinese customs encourage drinking at banquets. Often businessmen will toast each other with alcohol to show off their strength. If you can keep up with them it will help build guanxi, but it will also make you drunk. Once you have reached your limit, politely sip your drink when someone makes a toast rather than draining the cup. If you do not want to drink any alcohol, claim you are allergic to it.
These simple rules and tips should give business people a bit of an advantage when dealing with Chinese banquets. Remember that these banquets are a way for Chinese businessmen to learn about you and to build up guanxi, which is vital when trying to do business in China. Following Chinese etiquette and Chinese customs will gain respect in their eyes and make them happier to do business with you.
Daniel Clarke - Dan Clarke is a freelance writer and English teacher living happily with his wife and daughter in Nanjing, China. He moved to China 4 ...
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