In China, it's a common thing to have a meal, but such a meal is often difficult to deal with. There are many hidden rules waiting for you to savor.
Pay attention to the details
1 -- seats
Generally speaking, the seats are 'respect the left and respect the East' and 'respect the front gate'. If it's a round table, the one facing the gate is the host and guest. In terms of the distance from the host and guest, the closer the host and guest are, the more respectful the position is. In the same distance, the left side is more respectful than the right side. If it is the eight immortals table, if there is a seat facing the gate, the right seat facing the gate is the host guest. If it is not facing the gate, the right seat on the east side is the chief.
If it's a big banquet, the arrangement between tables should pay attention to that the chief is in the front and the middle, with 2, 4 and 6 seats on the left and 3, 5 and 7 seats on the right. According to the identity and status of the host and guest, they can be divided into close and distant seats.
If you are the host, you should arrive ahead of time, then wait at the door position and guide the guests. If you are invited, you should listen to the host.
Generally speaking, if your boss is present, you should lead him to the main seat and ask the highest level of the client to sit on the left side of the main seat. Unless this time the host is at a very high level of leadership.
2 -- order
If time permits, you should wait for most of the guests to arrive, pass the menu around and invite them to order. Of course, as an official banquet, you will worry about the budget. Therefore, to control the budget, the most important thing for you is to do more homework before meals. It is more important to choose the right place to treat, so that the guests can understand your budget greatly. Moreover, generally speaking, if you come to pay the bill, the guests are not very happy to order, and you will be the master. If your boss is also at the banquet, don't ask him / her to order just because he / she respects him or thinks he / she has rich social experience and eats too much at the banquet, unless he / she asks for it on his / her own initiative. Otherwise, he would not feel decent enough.
If you are a party goer, you should know that you should not take the initiative to order, but let the host order. If the other side gracious request, you can order a not too expensive, not everyone taboo dishes. Remember to consult the people on the table, especially 'are there any things you don't eat? 'or' what do you prefer? 'it makes people feel taken care of. After ordering, you can ask 'I ordered, I don't know if it suits your taste', 'would you like to order something else', and so on.
When ordering, be sure to know. When ordering, you can follow the following three rules
Let's look at the composition of the staff. Generally speaking, one dish per capita is a common rule. If it's a meal with more men, it can be added appropriately.
Second, look at the combination of dishes. Generally speaking, it's better to have meat and vegetables, cold and hot, and try to be comprehensive. If there are more men on the table, you can order more meat. If there are more women, you can order more light vegetables.
Third, the importance of the banquet. If it is an ordinary business banquet, the average dish is about 50 yuan to 80 yuan, which is acceptable. If the target of this banquet is the key people, then order a few dishes with enough portions, such as lobster, swordfish, shad, and abalone, fin powder, etc.
Another thing to note is that when ordering, you should not ask the waiter about the price of the dishes or bargain. This will make your company look a little petty in front of customers, and customers will feel uncomfortable.
Attachment: instruction of ordering Chinese food
A standard Chinese meal usually starts with cold dishes, followed by hot frying, then the main course, then snacks and soup. If you feel a little greasy, you can order some desserts after the meal, and finally the fruit plate. In order to take into account the various procedures of the dishes.
Priority dishes
1、 A dish with Chinese characteristics. When entertaining foreign guests, we should pay more attention to this one. Such as fried spring rolls, boiled yuanxiao, steamed dumplings, lion's head, kung pao chicken, etc., are not delicacies, but because of their distinctive Chinese characteristics, they are highly praised by many foreigners.
2、 Local cuisine. For example, Xi'an's mutton steamed bun, Hunan's maojia's braised meat, Shanghai's braised lion's head, Beijing's instant boiled mutton, when they entertain foreign guests there, these special dishes are probably more popular than the stereotyped raw seafood.
3、 It's the specialty of our restaurant. Many restaurants have their own specialties. The last special of our restaurant shows the host's care and respect for the invited.
When arranging the menu, we must also consider the dietary taboos of the guests, especially the dietary taboos of the guests. There are four main dietary taboos
1. Religious dietary taboos should not be neglected at all. For example, Muslims usually don't eat pork and don't drink. Domestic Buddhists eat less meat and fishy food, it not only refers to meat, but also includes onion, garlic, leek, mustard and other pungent food. Some Buddhists who believe in Guanyin are especially forbidden to eat beef in their diet, which should be paid special attention to when entertaining compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas Chinese.
2. For health reasons, some foods are also taboo. For example, people with heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, pulse sclerosis, high blood pressure and stroke sequelae are not suitable for eating dog meat; patients with hepatitis are not suitable for eating mutton and turtle; people with digestive system diseases such as gastroenteritis and Weikui decoction are not suitable for eating turtle; patients with high blood pressure and high cholesterol should drink less chicken soup.
3. People's dietary preferences are often different in different regions. For this point, we should take into account when arranging the menu. For example, people in Hunan Province generally prefer spicy food to sweet food. People in British and American countries usually don't eat pets, rare animals, animal viscera, animal heads and feet. In addition, when entertaining foreign guests, we should try our best to reduce the number of dishes that need to be chewed. Foreigners are not likely to spit out the food that they chew in their mouth. This also needs to be taken into account.
4. Some occupations, for some reason, often have different special taboos in catering. For example, civil servants are not allowed to eat and drink when they perform official duties, eat and drink at official banquets, have meals beyond the national standard, and drink strong liquor. Another example is that drivers are not allowed to drink alcohol during work. If this point is ignored, the other party may make mistakes.
3 -- eating vegetables
Chinese people are generally very particular about eating, but also very particular about eating. With more and more attention paid to workplace etiquette, eating and eating on the business dinner table are also more particular. Take Chinese food as an example to teach you how to be polite and convenient at the table.
At the beginning of a Chinese banquet, the first wet towel the waiter gives is to wipe your hands. Don't use it to wipe your face. When lobster, chicken and fruit are served, a small water bottle will be presented with lemon slices or rose petals. It is not a drink, but for hand washing. When washing hands, wet your fingers in turn, rinse them gently, and then dry them with a small towel.
Pay attention to politeness when eating. Don't try to persuade foreign guests to eat Chinese food, but introduce the characteristics of Chinese food to them. Some people like to persuade others, or even for each other. Foreign guests don't have this habit. If you are polite again and again, maybe people will feel disgusted: "I said I would not eat. What do you have to force me to do? And so on, when you attend a banquet hosted by a foreign guest, don't expect the host to give you food repeatedly. If you wait for others to make your own dish, you have to eat it.
Don't eat immediately after the guests are seated. But should wait for the host to say hello, when the host raises a glass to indicate the beginning, the guest can start; the guest cannot snatch in front of the host. To be civilized, you should wait until the dishes are in front of you, and then move your chopsticks. Don't rush in front of the next seat. You should not clip too many dishes at a time. To chew slowly, which is not only conducive to digestion, but also the etiquette requirements on the table. Never put a big piece into your mouth and gobble it up. It will give you the impression of greed. Don't be picky, don't just focus on what you like to eat, or rush to pile your favorite dishes on your plate. The action of dining should be elegant. Don't touch your neighbor when you are eating. Don't put the dishes on the table. Don't spill the soup. Don't make unnecessary sounds, such as' grunting 'when drinking soup and' babbling 'when eating vegetables. These are vulgar expressions. Don't talk to people while eating. Don't spit the bones and fish bones in your mouth on the table. Cover your mouth with napkin and put them on the plate with chopsticks. Don't eat the dishes that fall on the table. Don't play with bowls and chopsticks, or use chopsticks directly to others. Don't pick your mouth with your hands. When picking teeth with toothpick, cover mouth with hand or napkin. Don't let the tableware make any noise.
At the end of the meal, you can wipe your mouth with napkin, napkin or small towel sent by the waiter, but you should not wipe your head, neck or chest; don't belch or belch uncontrollably after the meal; guests can't leave the table before the host signals the end.
4 -- drinking
As the saying goes, the more wine you drink, the thicker it is. However, there is a lot of knowledge on the wine table. Here is a summary of some small details you have to pay attention to on the wine table.
Detail one: leaders drink each other before it's their turn to toast. Make sure you raise your hands and toast.
Detail 2: you can respect one person by many people, and never respect many people by one person unless you are a leader.
Detail 3: respect others. If you don't touch the glass, how much you drink depends on the situation. For example, the other party's drinking capacity and attitude should not drink less than the other party. You should know that you respect others.
Detail 4: respect others by yourself. If you clink a glass, I'll finish it, and you're free to be magnanimous.
Detail 5: remember to add more wine to the leaders or customers. Don't blindly substitute wine for the leaders. Even if you want to substitute, you should also pretend that you want to drink instead of drinking for the leaders. For example, if leader a is too strong to drink, he can stop the person who is ready to respect leader a by beating around the bush.
Detail 6: pick up the wine cup (beer cup), hold the cup with your right hand, pad the bottom of the cup with your left hand, and remember that your cup is always lower than others. If you are a leader, you should be more knowledgeable and don't put it too low. Otherwise, how can you be called a person below?
Detail 7: if there is no special person present, it is better to touch the wine in clockwise order, not favor one over the other.
Detail 8: clink a glass, toast, have to say a word, otherwise, why should I drink your wine?
Detail 9: don't talk about business on the table. If you drink well, the business will be almost done. Otherwise, people won't open up to drink with you.
Detail 10: if, purely if, when there is not enough wine, put the wine bottle in the middle of the table and let people add it by themselves. Don't pour the wine one by one, or the people behind will have no wine?
About toasting
1. The host respects the guest.
2. Accompany the guests and respect the guests.
3. The guest replied.
4. Accompany and respect each other.
Remember: a guest must not make a fuss over the host. It's very impolite and disrespectful to the host.
5 -- pour tea
The same applies to the business table where customers visit.
First of all, the tea set should be clean. After the guests come in, let them sit down first and reserve tea. Before making tea, make sure to wash the tea sets, especially those that have not been used for a long time