Etiquette for Oriental Dining
When invited by a Chinese host at a dinner party and you are quite unsure of what to do at a traditional Oriental dinner, let this guide to Chinese dining etiquette help you.

- Never play or point with your chopsticks. Do not leave them standing in a rice bowl because they resemble joss sticks used in a funeral or for ceremonies for their dead. Doing that is considered bad luck.
- It is not good to push food around the plate with your chopsticks to find tasty morsels. Instead, select the piece you want by sight and pick it up with your chopsticks without touching other food.
- As with regular dining etiquette, it is also not good to use your personal spoon for serving from a communal plate or bowl.
- To ask for a teapot refill, lift the lid and let it hang by the cord that connects to the pot, or let it balance on the pot handle.
- Clearing of plates once a dish is finished is acceptable—it shows attentive staff. Plates used for bones and other discarded tidbits may be changed several times throughout a meal; but chopsticks are not replaced.
- A polite way to indicate you have finished eating is to lay your chopsticks across each other on your own bowl or plate.
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12 Comments
papaleng, posted this comment on Oct 23rd, 2009
Yehey! now i will not be lost when dining with my Chinese friends. Thanks for the great tips. Ongpin, here I come..
LilRoastBeef, posted this comment on Oct 23rd, 2009
Wow, thanks for the tips…know I know why I got all the stares!!
Agnes Chin, posted this comment on Oct 23rd, 2009
very true indeed.
Mystify, posted this comment on Oct 23rd, 2009
Another excellent article!You write about such a wide range of everyday things and they are always well written,providing fabulous advice!! You always have my like!
Frances Lawrence, posted this comment on Oct 23rd, 2009
Very helpful information. My daughter’s best friend is Chinese, her family are lovely, but when the girls were little her grandma always gave my daughter baked beans rather than chinese food, she thought all English girls ate baked beans with every meal! The girls are at university now, but my daughter loves Chinese food and her friends family love to feed her!
sunshine926, posted this comment on Oct 23rd, 2009
This is a great article on chinese dinner etiquettes. I don’t know how to eat with chopsticks. lol. This article I will refer to again.
Little Roast Beef’s comment. lol. Anyways, congrats on HC.
giftarist, posted this comment on Oct 24th, 2009
Great write. Thanks for sharing!
Ruby Hawk, posted this comment on Oct 24th, 2009
Excellent, If I ever eat Chinese I will know the correct manners.
chitragopi, posted this comment on Oct 25th, 2009
Eating with chopsticks seems so difficult. Informative article. The picture is extremely appetising.
Netty net, posted this comment on Oct 25th, 2009
thanks for the information, lay your chop stick a cross,
Atikin, posted this comment on Oct 29th, 2009
I LOVE Chinese food and I’m off to the local Chinese for a meal nearly every month and this just tells me where I’m going wrong. Even though it doesn’t mean a lot to me, I’m sure every time I just leave my chopsticks as they are, the waiters etc. would disapprove of it. I will keep these in mind the next time I dine at the local Chinese.












alc, posted this comment on Oct 23rd, 2009
A great article! Full of information! Thanks for the share!