132 CultureShock! China
small portions as the dish passes you. You should first put
the food onto the plate before putting it into your mouth.
It is acceptable to dip the food down to just touch the dish
and then put it in your mouth if you are in immediate need
of a bite.
During a meal, the glass disk is constantly being rotated
on the table as people present dishes to each other. Chinese
are customarily very considerate and polite of those around
them and will give servings to people sitting on their right or
left before taking food themselves. There is etiquette involved
in using the rotating glass disk, which requires that before
spinning the desired dish to its place in front of you, you first
check to see if anyone else is taking food. You must wait until
they are finished. Then you need to slowly rotate the dish
you desire toward you, making sure to stop if people want to
take something from one of the passing platters.
In eating ‘family style’, each person uses his or her own
chopsticks to pick food out of a common serving dish. In a
more formal environment, there are dedicated chopsticks
and serving spoons that accompany each dish. You should
use these to serve others and yourself, and then eat with your
own chopsticks. If you would like to serve another person
food using your chopsticks, the polite thing to do is to turn
them over and use the end that you are not eating from to
serve the other person. To show thoughtfulness to the people
eating with you, especially if they are older or in a position of
respect, it is usual to serve them before serving yourself.
In a formal situation, everyone will wait for the guest of
honour to take the first serving before they begin eating. If
the person who seems to be taking charge of the meal spins
a dish toward you and offers it, you are being honoured as a
guest and should take a serving so that others at the table can
also begin eating. If you would like to show your respect to
someone else sitting at the table, instead of putting a serving
on your own plate, put it on his or her plate instead.
Rice or noodles accompany most meals, and they are
usually served as one of the last dishes, eaten to ‘fill the empty
corners of your stomach’. Many visitors to China prefer to
have rice as an accompaniment for their meals, as it allows