China etiquette

[Foreigner]

Useful tips. When in China.

Chinese Etiquette, Do and Don'ts in China

'...at the end of the meal you should leave a little on the plate to demonstrate the generosity of the host.'

 

[Limewood]

While there must visit a Chinese Wallmart sure to please the best palate...

 

[Foreigner]

I assume most of the edible items are delicacies there.

Water appears safe but I would probably pay extra for imported varieties.

Pig faces are repeats in pic. 25 and pic. 31

 

[horseman]

Don't step on the lama's shadow?

 

[Homer]

There are a few do's and don'ts missing from that article though, such as "Never queue, just push your way to the front of every line" and "Always order tap water in restaurants and even if your free water is refilled, never leave a tip". Oh and the classic "Never smile, particularly if somebody smiles at you."

 

[mushez]

'...at the end of the meal you should leave a little on the plate to demonstrate the generosity of the host.'

Because eating everything and/or having a clean plate is taken by your Chinese host as they didn't offer enough food for you to eat and that therefore you consider your host to not be that great and stingy and hence your host looses face.

Loosing face is a big thing to Chinese.

 

[mushez]

Death is an unwritten rule to not talk about in China, and learned it the hardway when I told a Chinese friend who didn't take my calls for 6 hours "I thought you had died" in our common younger and cheek way.

Sì = Four
Sǐ = Die

Because of the taboo over death and it shall not be suggested, four is a number Chinese will avoid as it is easy to miss pronounce it and sound like the word for "die".

Most will never order 4 dishes, it is 3 or 5, even if 5th is not touched, but never 4.

Prices are rounded up or down around 4, I know one contract I negotiated we had to change the currency for us to get the best price as they wanted $5 for something they had calculated to being $4.

Buildings often miss or skip having a 4th floor.

You can get SIM cards containing a lot of 4's in the number for half the cost of credit that comes with them as most Chinese will not touch them and a phone number containing one 4 is a hard sell.

 

[Foreigner]

Frenchman teaches etiquette in Shanghai to the well-heeled:


http://www.traveller.com.au/chinese...-wealthy-are-improving-their-etiquette-ghnhxs


May turn into suave travellers. In another generation, perhaps.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

"Always order tap water in restaurants

It will be bottled/filtered water anyway.

 

[Pilgrims Progress]

Never stick your chopsticks in your bowl of rice. It is bad because it is death related. In China people used to place incense sticks to honor, ask for help, and talk to relatives who crossed over which for just about all traditional Asians is deemed crass.

(Chinese culture) Passing food to the family members especially the elderly is considered respectful.

If you have been invited out to by a Chinese host. Don't forget to toast them during the meal.

 

[moa999]

Becoming less common now, but in some (more formal) settings rice (mi fan) is served at the end.
Reason is because rice is seen as a cheap/peasants food, and therefore only to be consumed at the end when the other food has run out.

Thus if rice has not been served with a meal, may be offensive to ask for it, as you are essentially saying to the host that the rest of the food is so bad that you would prefer to eat cheap filler.

If it has been served, which is now far more common, then no issues.

 

[yohy?!]

Death is an unwritten rule to not talk about in China, and learned it the hardway when I told a Chinese friend who didn't take my calls for 6 hours "I thought you had died" in our common younger and cheek way.

Sì = Four
Sǐ = Die

Because of the taboo over death and it shall not be suggested, four is a number Chinese will avoid as it is easy to miss pronounce it and sound like the word for "die".

Most will never order 4 dishes, it is 3 or 5, even if 5th is not touched, but never 4.

Prices are rounded up or down around 4, I know one contract I negotiated we had to change the currency for us to get the best price as they wanted $5 for something they had calculated to being $4.

Buildings often miss or skip having a 4th floor.

You can get SIM cards containing a lot of 4's in the number for half the cost of credit that comes with them as most Chinese will not touch them and a phone number containing one 4 is a hard sell.

This is a really good one to know and explains how I ended up with 3 x 4s in my phone number when I lived in HK!

 

[Foreigner]

Is burping okay whilst/following eating?

And slurping?