Differences in table manners between Chinese and Western banquets 1: Seats. China usually leads the guests to the dining table after the guests gather, with the top on the left as the chief, with two seats on the top, three seats on the bottom and four seats on the bottom. In the west, generally speaking, the seat facing the door farthest from the door belongs to the hostess, opposite to the host's seat. The seat on the right of the hostess is the first guest seat, usually a man, and the seat on the right of the male host is the second guest seat, usually the wife of the guest of honor. The seat on the hostess's left is the third guest seat, and the seat on the host's left is the fourth guest seat.
2: The order of serving. In China, the first dish is soup, followed by staple food, such as dried rice, and then the last dish is fruit to promote digestion; In western countries, the order of serving is usually vegetables and soup, fruit, table wine, staple food, and finally dessert and coffee.
3. The difference between tableware. In China, tableware is relatively simple, generally only cups, plates, bowls, plates, chopsticks, spoons and so on, while in the west, there are knives and forks, spoons, cups and plates, and knives and forks are subdivided into many kinds. Tea cups and coffee cups are porcelain with saucers, while water cups and wine glasses are mostly glass products.
4. Different ways to stop eating. When you stop eating at a party, you can put chopsticks directly on the plate or spoon. If chopsticks are placed horizontally on the plate, it means that you are drunk and full, and you don't eat any more. During a short break in the west, the placement of knives and forks has different meanings. Put the knife and fork in the center of the plate in a figure of eight, indicating a short rest. If the knife and fork stick out of the plate, it is neither safe nor beautiful. It's impolite to wave a knife and fork when talking. Put the knife and fork at four o'clock after eating.
In addition to the above four basic differences, there are of course subtle differences in hotel table manners. For example, in terms of clothes, in China, people can wear casual clothes in restaurants, even T-shirts and jeans, and only at important banquets will they wear grand clothes. But when going to high-end restaurants in the west, men should wear neat tops and leather shoes; A lady should wear a suit and shoes with heels. If formal clothes are required, men must wear ties. Don't wear casual clothes to eat in a restaurant.
Differences of table manners between Chinese and western banquets. Differences in table atmosphere.
Generally speaking, the dining table in the west is quiet, while the dining table in China is mobile. Westerners are usually active, but as soon as they sit at the table, they concentrate on cutting their own dishes quietly. People in China are usually quiet. As soon as they sit at the dinner table, they will talk endlessly, helping each other with food and persuading them to drink. The noise on the dining table in China and the quietness on the dining table in the west reflect the fundamental differences between Chinese and western food cultures.
2. Table manners
In China's cultural tradition, people are more particular about attending various formal dinners. However, in the change and development of modern customs, there are both progress and backwardness. From the traditional point of view, this overloaded diet not only causes waste, but also is harmful to human body. Although people in China pay attention to dietotherapy and nutrition, but our cooking takes the pursuit of delicacy as the first requirement, which leads to the loss and destruction of many nutrients. Therefore, nutrition may be the biggest weakness of China's diet.
3. Western cooking follows norms and science.
Westerners emphasize science and nutrition, so the whole cooking process is carried out in strict accordance with scientific norms. The use of recipes is an excellent proof. Westerners always take recipes to buy food and cook, but in comparison, it is still a very mechanical thing, which leads to a disadvantage of western food. When people are in a foreign land and want to taste local food, no one will definitely choose KFC or McDonald's. In addition, standardized cooking even requires accurate ingredients, accurate spice addition to grams and accurate cooking time to seconds. Due to the standardization of western food, there is no creativity. What westerners can't understand is that China's cooking not only does not pursue accurate standardization, but advocates randomness. Turning to China's cookbooks, we often find that the amount of raw materials and the amount of seasonings are very vague concepts. Moreover, in China cooking, not only the major cuisines should have their own flavors and characteristics, but also the collocation of side dishes and various seasonings of a cuisine will change according to the chef's personal hobbies. It's also tofu brain. It's made for Sichuan guests and Suzhou guests, and the seasoning used is definitely different. In the west, a dish faces different consumers in different regions and seasons, and there is no change.
4. Westerners who advocate freedom emphasize differences and individuality.
This cultural feature is also clearly reflected in Chinese and western food culture. Except for a few soup dishes in western food, the ingredients in the main course are irrelevant. Fish is fish, steak is steak. Even if there is a collocation, it is carried out in the dish, which embodies the inheritance and violates the traditional cultural customs. For example, the clothes when eating are much more casual than in the past, such as tunic suit, jacket or suit, which also reflects the change and development of traditional culture and is the best effect of the integration and positive transmission between Chinese and western cultures.
Examples.
Nowadays, many westerners, especially Americans, don't like smoking and drinking, and many people don't like others smoking and drinking in their own homes. In today's China, many people both smoke and drink, which seems to be a strange social phenomenon. No one can socialize without smoking or drinking. Therefore, China still has a bad habit of smoking and drinking at the dinner table. Although they know it hurts, they can't stop it. Presumably this is the incompleteness and incompleteness of cultural migration and development. It is necessary for us to constantly promote the development of humanistic culture and improve the humanistic quality of the nation on the basis of a correct understanding and understanding of cultural phenomena.
Step 3: Seating order
Both China and the West pay attention to the arrangement of formal banquets. People in China traditionally use square tables. Opposite the door, the seats are on both sides. When entertaining guests, the elderly, guests or people with high status are seated, the male and female hosts or accompanying guests are seated, and the rest of the guests are seated in the wrong order. Westerners treat guests with long tables, with male and female hosts sitting at both ends, and then arrange seats in the order of male and female guests and ordinary guests. For table rules, westerners eat with knives and forks, while China people use chopsticks. Of course, the use of knives, forks and chopsticks has its own rules. The differences between Chinese and western food cultures and the contrast between Chinese and western table manners not only reflect the cultural traditions in different places, but also reflect different national psychology, values and moral standards, social relations, social etiquette and social customs, that is, western culture advocates personal honor, self-centeredness, innovative spirit and personal freedom, while China culture advocates modesty, prudence, selfless dedication, moderation and unity and cooperation; Westerners have a strong sense of equality and a simple family structure; However, China people have a strong sense of hierarchy and complex family structure, and most of the traditional happy families are four generations living under one roof. In cross-cultural communication, it is not uncommon for people to misunderstand information or even hurt each other because of cultural barriers. Sometimes kind words will embarrass each other, and polite manners will be misunderstood as absurd and vulgar. Therefore, studying the differences between different cultures and the correct cross-cultural communication behavior has become a problem that cannot be ignored. Their advantages and disadvantages are obvious in the process of comparative study. This kind of research is conducive to the positive transmission of culture, so as to take its essence and discard its dross, thus promoting the development of national language and humanistic culture.