When You Go To A Chinese Friend’s House

When you go to a Chinese Friend’s house, what would you expect? Let’s use an infographic to introduce what you may experience when you visit a Chinese friend’s house.

Visit A Chinese Friend’s House

1. When you walk in your Chinese friend’s house, have good manners and bring a gift!
   • No flip flops
   • Be punctual
   • Dress neatly
   • Shoes off before entering (The host usually will provide indoor slippers after entering.)
2. Usually, the host will invite you to have some tea and maybe walk around the house before the meal
   • Tea made from tea leaves instead of tea bags
   • Expect them to show you around the house if it is your first visit.  Make polite small talk.
3. Now it is about mealtime. When you share a meal, these are correct table manners… 
   • Do not dig around or pick through your food with your chopsticks to find a special morsel.
   • Do not leave your chopsticks stuck vertically in food. 
   • Unlike in the West, spitting small bones out onto your plate or an empty bowl is acceptable. 
   • Family style meal
   • When taking a break, leave your chopsticks to the side of your plate or bowl.
   • When serving utensils are not present, turn your chopsticks around when moving food from communal bowls to your own plate. 
4. Offer to help after the meal, although the hostess might not let you help since you are a guest. 
   • Help by bringing dirty dishes to the kitchen sink.
   • Offer to help do the dishes
5. Here are a few ways to say goodbye in Chinese
   • Ways to say goodbye in Chinese:
     • 再见！  Zàijiàn!  Goodbye!
     • 拜拜！  Bàibài! Bye-bye!
     • 我们再联系！  Wǒmen zài liánxì! Let’s stay in touch!
     • 我们有空再聊！  Wǒmen yǒu kòng zài liáo! We will chat again when you are free!
     • 明天见！ Míng tiān jiàn! See you tomorrow!

Infographic