How to Eat a Chinese Dinner in China

There aren't many rules to eating in China, but there is a certain etiquette, and even if you have to stab things with your chopsticks, there are other things you can get right.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. If you're at a restaurant where there are pictures on the menu, you should know that in Chinese meals, dishes are served in a certain sequence. Cold dishes, the equivalent of Western appetizers, are served first and should be ordered first, followed by hot dishes, soups and dessert.
2. In most restaurants, ordering seafood goes beyond just picking an item on a menu. You'll actually pick your fish out of the tank prior to dining, much the way Western restaurants serve lobster. Only in China, you will choose everything from flounder to oysters. (On the plus side, if you don't know the language, this makes it really easy to order seafood.)
3. Tea is the most common drink, and water isn't usually served dining out. If you order alcoholic drinks, or if your host does, be prepared for a lot of drinking (though you yourself don't have to drink more than you want). "Gambei" is the toasting word.
4. You'll most likely have your own dish of rice, but the rest of the food will be placed in the center of the table. This will likely be a raised platform that spins, allowing you to turn it to get to the dish you want. Take a little bit of what you want and put it in your own bowl.
5. If your order fish, it's going to come with it's head still attached. In formal - or even informal - dining, the fish should be pointed at the most honored or senior guest. As a foreigner, that might well be you. You can demur and aim it at someone else, but choose wisely or you'll just end up staring down the fish again.
6. When the soup comes, there are spoons. In fact, you'll see these from the start. You can also use them to scoop food into your rice bowl, or just plain eat with them if you really can't use chopsticks. You'll amuse your hosts, but they won't laugh at you.
7. Desert will again be communally served, not placed individually before you. It's often some form of pastry or dim sum dish, and can be warm or cold.

Tips & Warnings

• There is no limit as to how many times each dish can go around, so don't worry if you are spinning the noodles towards you five or six times.
• Very few people on China "go Dutch." Someone's going to pay, and you may end up alternating later.
• If there are pictures and you want to try your hand at ordering, confer with your local colleagues. At least one shrimp dish is served live, and the shrimp don't move in the picture the way they will in the bowl.