Chinese business banquet etiquette

Chinese business banquet etiquette

Preparation before going to a banquet. Going to a banquet is one of the regular activities of communicators, and there are many etiquettes worth noting. Below is my detailed introduction to Chinese business banquet etiquette. You are welcome to read it!

Chinese business banquet etiquette 1

The priority of table and seating arrangements is different

When arranging a banquet, you must first arrange the tables and seats. This is Chinese food culture a very important part of. In terms of seating arrangements, there are big differences between China and the West: Chinese people give priority to men, while Westerners give priority to women; Eastern couples sit next to each other, and Westerners sit opposite each other; Easterners give priority to the left, while Westerners give priority to the right. Large; Chinese-style seating often places the company's "second-in-command" directly opposite the owner, while Westerners will place the most distinguished guest directly opposite. The principles of seating arrangements for Chinese meals are "to the left and to the east" and "to face the door is to respect". The person with the highest seniority is at the head of the family banquet, and the person with the lowest seniority is at the bottom of the table.

Table number. The round table facing the door is the host and guest table, with 2, 4, 6, 8 on the left... 3, 5, 7, 9 on the right... until they meet. If it is a formal banquet, the arrangement of tables should be such that the first table is in the front and center. The principles of table arrangement for different numbers of tables are as follows:

1. When there is only one table, start from the direction of standing facing the door. See, the host should sit closer to the door, and the guest of honor should sit facing the door.

When there are two tables, from the direction of standing facing the door, the table on the right is the main table, and the table on the left is the secondary table.

When there are three or three tables, from the direction of standing facing the door, the middle table is the main table, the right is the secondary table, and the left is the auxiliary table.

If the four or four tables are arranged in a ring, from the direction of standing facing the door, the table in the first row in the middle farthest from the door is the main table, and the second row from the right is arranged in sequence as The second and third tables, the table in the third row closest to the door is the fourth table; if they are arranged in a straight line, from the direction of standing facing the door, the second table on the right is the main table. The third table is the second table, the first table on the right is the third table, and the table on the far left is the fourth table.

The five or five tables are arranged in a row around an axis. From the direction of standing facing the door, the table in the center is the main table, and the table on the right of the row far away from the door is the second table. times, the table on the left is the third table, the table on the right of the row closer to the door is the fourth table, and the table on the left is the fifth table; if the row is in the form of a plum blossom, from the direction of standing facing the door Look, the table in the first row farthest from the door is the main table, the table on the right in the second row is the second table, the table on the left is the third table, and the table on the right in the third row close to the door is the fourth table. The table on the left is the fifth table.

Seating. If it is a large banquet, the Chinese seating order also needs to be clarified.

Place tableware carefully

During the Olympic Games, the distinguished guests received came from more than 200 countries and regions, and they must be looking forward to tasting the famous Chinese food. However, many foreigners do not know Chinese dining etiquette. Therefore, the host should introduce the Chinese tableware to the guests before dining. The specific method of placing Chinese tableware is as follows:

1. Seat card: placed in front of the wine glass or placed flat on top of the tableware, but not placed on the dinner plate.

2. Bone tray: The bone tray will be placed on the table at an equal distance, with the signs facing upward, and about two finger widths away from the table, depending on the number of people present. Small sauce plates will be placed one finger apart on the upper left side of the bone plate, allowing guests to add seasonings according to their own taste preferences.

3. Napkin: Fold it into a flower and place it in a water glass or place it flat on the bone plate.

4. Spoon: The spoon and spoon holder are arranged on the upper right side of the bone plate, parallel to the flavor plate, with the concave spoon facing left.

5. Chopsticks: At a formal banquet, chopsticks should be equipped with chopstick holders to facilitate guests to place their chopsticks. The chopstick holders should be placed one finger's width apart and horizontally on the upper right side of the spoon holder. The chopsticks should be level with the chopstick holder. If there is a logo, the text should face up.

6. Cups: The quantity and style should match the type of wine and beverages, and should be placed on the upper right side of the saucer. During Chinese meals, a male cup is usually placed on each table, about a finger's width away from the edge of the turntable, with the mouth of the cup facing to the left.

7. Condiment pot: The small condiment pot containing soy sauce and vinegar will be placed directly opposite the male cup, with the spout facing to the left.

8. Toothpicks: The toothpick cup is usually placed on the right side of the condiment pot.

9. Serving fork and spoon: To the right of the owner's position, place a base with a long silver ladle and serving fork and spoon tilted.

10. Potted flowers: placed at the center of the turntable.

Chinese cuisine and wine

For the Chinese, eating is an art and a manifestation of culture.

Chinese food serving order. Most Chinese meals are served with cold cuts, drinks and wine first, then hot dishes, then staple food, and finally desserts and fruits. The principle of serving dinner is: guests first, then the host; first female guests, then male guests; first main guest, then other guests. Dishes are served in order, starting with the guests to the right of the host. The order of serving Chinese food is as follows:

1. Cold cuts and side dishes. Chinese cold dishes are divided into two types, one is side dishes, usually two to four plates are prepared.

2. Stir-fry. Chinese stir-fries usually come in four plates and are served after the appetizer platter, but many banquets now omit this dish.

3. Main course. Immediately after the appetizers, the main course continues, and the number of main courses is usually an even number such as four, six, eight, etc. The dishes use different materials, combined with the five flavors of sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and salty, and are prepared by various cooking methods such as deep-fried, steamed, boiled, pan-fried, roasted and stir-fried.

4. Special dishes. There are some special dishes in Chinese food that need to be eaten with your hands. For example, when wrapping roast duck in pancakes, be careful to wrap it tightly to prevent the filling from falling out. A considerate host should also prepare a finger-washing dish so that guests can clean off their greasy fingers after finishing the dishes.

5. Soup. You need to know the essentials when drinking soup, and be careful not to make any noise. Chinese people usually suck soup with their mouths, so they will make noise. If it is a formal dinner, it is very rude. You can follow the techniques of Westerners and drink the soup with a spoon. When you are about to finish drinking, do not pick up the soup bowl to eat. Instead, use your left thumb and index finger to gently hold the edge of the bowl and tilt it slightly towards the center of the table to get the soup.

6. Desserts. Generally, rice is not served at banquets, but cakes, cakes, noodles, steamed buns, dumplings, etc. are served instead.

7. Dessert. Including snacks, such as pies and cakes; sweet soups, such as rock sugar lotus seeds, white fungus sweet soup, almond tofu, etc.

8. Fruit. There are many kinds of fruits, most of which are presented in fruit plates.

Chinese drinking culture. The Chinese drinking culture has a long history, and the drinking culture in China and the West is also different. Chinese wine is roughly classified into rice wine, fruit wine, beer, white wine, prepared wine, etc. Wine is used for many purposes, such as weddings and funerals, and entertaining guests. Toasting is an indispensable etiquette in Chinese banquets, but toasting should be done in moderation, and one should not force the person to drink, and drinking orders should not be done at a formal banquet.

Usually, after the guests and hosts are seated, the waiter will pour wine, first the hard liquor, then the fruit wine, beer, soda, etc. Usually, the guest of honor pours wine first from the right side of the host, then the female guest, then pours to the host, and then one by one in clockwise direction. Guests on the right side of the host should also pay attention to pouring first. Pour wine and water until it is eighty full. When toasting, toasts should be made in order from the chief to the toasters. The toasters do not need to drink up the wine in the glass, just take a small sip at a time. When men toast to their elders, they should hold the cup with both hands and stand up to toast; women, regardless of seniority, should hold the cup in their right hand and gently hold the bottom of the cup with their left hand, nod in greeting, and take a sip.

Meal Etiquette

Before meals. In Chinese banquets, most guests like to sit freely and choose their own partners. Couples often sit together. The hostess should invite all the guests to sit down one by one. The order of invitation is: the female companion of the distinguished guest should be seated first, and the position should be placed on the right hand side of the male host, and the distinguished guest should be placed on the right hand side of the hostess. If there is no special distinction between host and guest, let the elders take their seats first, and then the ladies can take their seats first.

To sit down, you should enter from the left side, gently pull the back of the chair, and for ladies, let a man or a waiter do it for you, and then take your seat slowly. The sitting posture should be upright. Women should have their legs together, while men should sit naturally. Don't lean your hands on the table or the back of the chair next to you, and don't bend over while eating, as this will make you look listless. It is best to turn off your mobile phone or turn it to vibrate mode. If you need to answer an emergency call, please leave your seat and go to a suitable place to answer it.

Personal items such as handbags, keys, mobile phones, cigarettes, lighters, etc. cannot be placed on the table to hinder others from eating. They should be placed in the handbag, and then the handbag should be placed between the back and the back of the chair. Not on the dining table or on the floor. Long coats that are taken off cannot be draped directly on the back of the chair. Overcoats, coats, etc. should be given to the waiter for safekeeping in the cloakroom. The sitting posture should be maintained upright, but not stiff or unnatural, and be careful to maintain an appropriate distance from the dining table.

While eating. After a dish is served, you usually have to wait for the owner or elders to eat it before eating it. If you need to use male chopsticks or female spoons to eat, you should first use the male chopsticks to place the dish on your own plate, and then eat slowly with your own chopsticks. When picking up food, you should wait until the dish is in front of you before using your chopsticks. You should not pick up too many dishes at one time. Do not put the picked up dish back on the plate and then use your chopsticks to pick up another dish. This is very impolite. action. If you encounter someone sitting next to you while picking up food, be careful not to fight with your chopsticks. If there are foreign guests at the same table, you don’t need to persuade them repeatedly to order food, and don’t pick up food for them, because foreign guests generally don’t have this habit. In the past, serving dishes to guests showed Chinese hospitality. Now, guests should be allowed to take dishes according to their own preferences, which is more fashionable and hygienic.

For Chinese food, a large plate of dishes is usually placed on the table. Sometimes a waiter will help divide the dishes. If not, the man will help the woman to get the dishes, or he will take them in order. When eating, do not hold dishes and utensils in your hands. Use chopsticks to take bite-sized pieces of food and bring them to your mouth. Do not put too much food into your mouth at one time. When you want to spit out bones and thorns, you should cover your mouth with a napkin or your right hand, spit it out secretly in the palm of your left hand, and then place it gently in the bone plate. Do not throw it on the table or the ground. For food with bones or shells, avoid peeling and biting it with your hands. It is better to eat with chopsticks or spoons. Do not use your mouth to cool down very hot food and put it into your mouth in a hurry. You should wait until it cools down slightly before eating.

After meal. After finishing the meal, you must wait for the host and hostess to see off the guests before you can leave your seat. Never make loud noises or criticize guests before they leave. When seeing off guests, you should remind them of the items they are carrying or storing, bow to them, and try to wait until the guests are completely out of sight before returning to their seats. It is not appropriate to settle the bill in front of the guests after the meal, nor is it appropriate to rush to pay the bill. If you really want to rush to pay the bill, you should find an appropriate time to settle the bill quietly. Chinese business banquet etiquette 2

The reception order cannot be ignored

In the reception process, the order of priority is extremely important, so as to highlight the identity and status of the guests. The order of the reception work cannot be neglected. Whether walking, going up and down stairs, or taking the elevator, the elderly and the young must be organized in an orderly manner and men and women should be differentiated. In addition to order before and after, attention must also be paid to safety while traveling.

The general principles are: the front is respected, the back is humble; the right is big, the left is small. Therefore, when traveling with an officer or elder, it is only etiquette to walk behind or to the left.

When two men and women walk side by side, the man should let the woman walk on the safer side, that is, the man should walk on the side of the road close to the traffic. However, when hiking in a safe condition, the principle of men on the left and women on the right should still be followed. Men should walk on the left of women as is the etiquette.

When there are three people walking together, if they are all men, the middle seat will be the most respected, followed by those on the right, and the last seat on the left. When two men and one woman are walking together, the woman should be allowed to walk in the middle to show respect; If women are traveling, men should go to the outermost lane.

When there are many people walking, the front ones are the largest, and the ones in the front and back are smaller. When entering or exiting the door, juniors should step forward before their elders, and men should step forward before women and be responsible for pushing the door or knocking on the door. After opening the door, the lady follows the gentleman first and is responsible for taking care of the door.

The way to enter the car is to put your buttocks in first, then your feet, and your body and head last. When there is a driver driving, the driver's right hand side is the smallest. Among the three people in the back seat, the right side is larger and the left side is smaller.

If the owner is driving, the right side is largest, and the same goes for the back seat.

When going up and down the stairs in order, the guests walk in front and the host behind; ladies in front, gentlemen in the back; the elderly in front, the young in the back.

When going downstairs, the host walks in front and the guests walk behind; men go in front and women go behind; children go in front and elders go behind.

Enter the elevator in order. When there is a special person to guard the elevator, guests should go in first and exit first. When there is no one to guard the elevator, the owner should go in first and exit last and hold down the button to prevent the elevator door from pinching the guests. .

When accompanying a visitor to the elevator, as soon as the elevator door opens, the receptionist should press "open" first and make a "please" motion with one hand to let the guest enter first; after entering the elevator, he should turn around immediately Face the elevator door and avoid turning your back to the guest to show courtesy; after reaching the target floor, let the visitor exit the elevator. The receptionist will then exit the elevator and indicate the direction of travel.

In the order of hospitality, when welcoming guests, the host walks in front; when seeing off guests, the host walks behind. When sitting, the seat is on the right, and guests should be placed on the right side of the host or other accompanying persons.

Before entering the reception room, you should knock on the door lightly and wait until there is an echo inside before opening the door and entering. When entering the reception room, you should open the door with your right hand and then use the same action to close the door, trying not to show others with your back. When entering, if the door opens outward, open the door and hold the door open before inviting guests in. If the door opens inward, push the door open and ask guests to go first.

Tea preparation is a small thing that makes a difference

Although tea preparation is a small matter, it can make the guests feel the host's attentiveness and respect, so it must be prepared carefully. The specific preparations are as follows:

Preparation for refreshment reception The refreshment reception in the office is very important. The secretary should prepare refreshments as soon as the guests sit down. If the customer is an Oriental, they can mainly order tea; if they are a Westerner, they can mainly order coffee. Foreigners usually ask the guests what they want to drink first and then prepare it; Orientals focus on convenience in their own company.

Tea reception utensils and refreshments should be served as a whole on a tea tray instead of individual tea cups or fruit plates. There are three types of tea cups: paper cups, glass cups and porcelain cups. For particularly important guests, tureen cups are the best choice.

Beverage selection: If you use tea bags to make tea, you need to take out the tea bags after brewing the tea soup, and do not give the tea bags to the guests for drinking. On the contrary, if you use tea leaves to make tea, you should use hot water to make the tea. , and wait until the tea leaves sink into the water before serving them to the guests. If you are using coffee, you don’t need to ask the guest’s opinion. A pot of coffee or a cup of coffee will be served automatically, along with creamer and sugar, for the guest to help themselves.

The correct usage of the tray is that if there are more than two guests, the whole pot of tea should be served and brought out on the tray. At this time, there is no need to pour out the tea first, but place the empty cup on the table and ask the guests to help themselves. The way to carry a tea tray is to hold the middle edge of the tray with one hand and the bottom of the tray with the other hand, slowly walk into the reception room or reception area, and hand it to the guest behind the left or right side.

The order of serving tea. After the tea tray is placed on the table, tea should be served first according to the age of the guests on the table, and then according to the age of the host. When serving tea, hold the center of the teacup with your right hand and hold the bottom of the teacup with your left hand, holding it flat to the chest level as a greeting. After serving tea, you should face the guests and nod in greeting, then hold the tea tray beside you with one hand, take two or three steps back, and then turn around and leave.

Standard time for changing tea and refilling cups. If guests stay for too long, they should enter the reception room to refill tea (or coffee) every 60-90 minutes, and leave as soon as possible after refilling cups to avoid disturbing them. The meeting is in progress; if it exceeds two hours, there is no need to enter to refill tea until the break between meetings.

Never make loud noises or criticize guests before they leave. When seeing off guests, try to wait until they are completely out of sight before returning to your post. When seeing off guests, you should remind them of the person you are carrying or leaving, and bow in greeting.

Ten Principles of Meeting Etiquette

When participating in a meeting, you should know the basic etiquette of participating in a meeting, so that the meeting can be successfully held in an orderly manner.

The basic etiquette for participating in meetings is roughly as follows:

1. Respect others’ speeches. You should have the utmost respect for other people's opinions and views. You should not insist on your own way, be too insistent, or even make fun of other people's ideas or creativity.

2. Think proactively about problems. A successful meeting relies on the brainstorming and joint participation of participants. With one more initiator, differences in opinions will be reduced, making it easier to generate solutions.

3. Respond positively and make proposals enthusiastically. During the meeting, participants should not only respond positively, but also actively express their opinions, share information, make timely proposals, and contribute wisdom to "win the battle."

4. Stick to the facts. Statements made at the meeting must be based on facts and should not be overly exaggerated.

5. Maintain flexibility and adhere to principles. Many people agree that "big things should be reduced to small things, and small things should be reduced to nothing." They are too relaxed about certain principles, resulting in poor performance. However, some issues must be flexibly adjusted according to the situation. Set open topics as needed and provide appropriate flexibility to prevent discussions from getting into a stalemate.

6. Come prepared. Participants should prepare in advance and have an in-depth understanding of relevant data and charts that appear in the meeting, so that they can achieve the purpose of the meeting and propose solutions.

7. Choose your seats carefully. Meeting arrangements and seating arrangements have established etiquette. Attendees should exercise caution and choose seats that suit their positions to avoid making people laugh. :

8. Concentrate. This is the meeting etiquette that is most easily overlooked and not followed. Some discussions are carried out at a fast pace. If you are not focused, it is easy to miss important discussions without realizing it. This may delay your own work at least, or may cause financial losses to the company.

9. Attend on time. "A good start is half the success." If a meeting can start on time, it means that half of the meeting's purpose has been successfully achieved. Only when everyone attends on time can the meeting be successful.

10. Pay attention to appearance and maintain image. In external corporate meetings, the participants represent the company, and their personal demeanor is the epitome of the corporate image.

“If people are rude, nothing will happen, if things are rude, nothing will happen, and if the country is rude, it will be uneasy.” Chinese people are relatively reserved and conservative in dealing with others, but they should be generous in dealing with international situations. In all international interactions, you must strictly abide by your commitments, do not be late for appointments, and you must honor your commitments in formal agreements.

As for the host and guest parties involved in higher-level business negotiations, they must abide by the principle of "winners don't win all, losers don't lose all" at the negotiation table to achieve the highest criterion of win-win. Both Chinese businessmen and Western businessmen think it is very important to maintain interpersonal relationships or connections in the mall, but the methods of operation are different. The greatest utilization value of human resources is to form a dense network of relationships, and in such a network, sufficient market information and intelligence can be obtained. Chinese business banquet etiquette 3

Common sense of Chinese dining etiquette

1. The elders of the host eat first

2. Do not eat with the bowl in front, but eat with the bowl

3. When picking up the rice bowl, do not hold the bottom of the bowl. (Because the action is similar to begging

4. Use a spoon to drink soup, do not lift the bowl to drink [however, this is generally only applicable to eating out on the street; it is not harmful for family members to drink at home], and do not use chopsticks to stir Do not sip hot soup but drink it

5. If there are not many dishes on the plate and you want to "clean" it, you should ask your tablemates for their opinions

6. Don’t gobble others’ food with your mouth. Don’t lick the tableware with your tongue

7. Put the spitted bones, fish bones and other rice residue in the designated place. If you need to cough, cough. When sneezing, cover your mouth with your hand or handkerchief and turn your head back

8. If there are elders, you should politely give food or pour wine

9. Chopsticks are not allowed When one pair of chopsticks pinches another pair of chopsticks while eating, it is called a chopstick fight.

This is a very impolite thing

10. It is very bad if the tableware is dropped to the ground and damaged, such as breaking the bowl. In some places, it is customary to break tableware during the New Year and say "every year is safe" (Cantonese people may also say "falling to the ground, blooming, wealth and prosperity")

11. Any behavior of breaking tableware is considered impolite. . For example, bowls or wine utensils

12. When waiting for the meal, you are not allowed to hit each other with chopsticks, or hit the tableware with chopsticks. (Also because the action is similar to begging

13. When picking up vegetables, be careful. It is best to pick up what you want to eat at once. Do not use chopsticks to rummage through the dishes

14. If There are many people sitting at the table, the table is large, and it is not a rotating table. The dishes are far away from you. It is best not to stand up abruptly to pick up food. On the contrary, if you observe that other people want to eat the dishes next to you, you can stand up and help them. This is in line with etiquette and appears cordial

15. If you have not finished the meal and want to put down the bowl and chopsticks to rest for a while, the chopsticks should be placed flat on the bowl and must not be inserted vertically (or nearly vertically) into the rice. , because it is considered to be a place for mourning the dead (the reason is that it is very similar to the incense placed in the incense burner, the etiquette of worshiping the dead) 16 Generally speaking, the position opposite the door on the dining table is the position of the host. The first and second distinguished guests on the left and right sides should be waiting for the host to assign seats to you

17. Don’t make chewing sounds when eating

Chinese tableware placement etiquette

First: There are six main types of tableware for Chinese food: cups, plates, bowls, plates, chopsticks, and spoons. At a formal banquet, the water glass is placed above the dish plate and the wine glass is placed on the upper right.

Second: Chopsticks and spoons can be placed on dedicated seats or in paper covers. It is best to place public chopsticks and spoons on dedicated seats.

Third. : The order of serving Chinese food is generally: cold dishes first, hot dishes next, sweets and fruits last. Before the meal, the first wet towel the waiter brings to each person is for wiping hands. It is best not to use it. Go wipe your face.

Fourth: Chopsticks are the most important eating utensils in Chinese meals. The posture of holding chopsticks should be standardized. When you need to use other tableware, you should put the chopsticks down first. Don't put it on the shelf, or put it on the cup or plate, otherwise it will be easily knocked off.

Fifth: When talking at the table, don't use chopsticks as props and dance around randomly; or use chopsticks to knock the dishes. Use your chopsticks to point to others on the table. Put your chopsticks down gently every time you use them, and try not to make any noise.

Chinese dining may seem like the most ordinary thing, but there is a lot of etiquette involved in dining. It is of great significance to understand the arrangement of tableware in Chinese restaurants;