Chinese Dining Tips And Alcohol| 15 min read

• Most meals are eaten with chopsticks. Never leave your chopsticks sticking out of your rice when not in use – they resemble the incense sticks used at a funeral. For foreigners there is also no shame in asking for a knife and fork.
• When ordering individual dishes for your meal it is ok to eat even if others are waiting for their dish.
• At traditional Chinese restaurants, rice or noodles are often only served after the main courses at the end of the meal. You may therefore have to ask for it if you want it with your meal.
• If there is no English menu, just point at what other people are eating, see if there is a picture menu or try asking for some of the more common dishes such as Gong Bao chicken, Yu Xiang pork, Beijing Duck, dumplings, broccoli, spicy tofu, white rice etc.
• Meal times are relatively early in China. Peak periods are at midday and 6 pm. Restaurants start to get busy from 11 am for lunch and may close in the afternoon. In the evening, restaurants begin to get busy around 5 pm and close around 9 pm.
• Being a vegetarian is relatively easy because there are many different kinds of vegetables which are a staple of the Chinese diet. However, occasionally meat does pop up in unexpected places, so please be aware. In Chinese restaurants, dishes are often listed under the “Vegetable” section because their primary ingredients is vegetable, not because they exclude meat. Sometimes, vegetables may be cooked in animal fat so if you are a strict vegetarian you may have to be more select with where you dine. The concept of vegetarianism is still foreign to most Chinese people but with Buddhism gaining popularity and Western influences in China becoming more prevalent, there are more specialist vegetarian restaurants opening.
• Chinese dining etiquette (link to etiquette section)

1. Sichuan cuisine – known as “Chuan cai” in Chinese – is perhaps the most popular in China and also enjoys an international reputation for being spicy and flavourful. Sichuan cuisine boasts a variety of flavours and different methods of cooking, featuring the taste of hot (“la”) sweet, sour, salty, or tongue-numbing (“ma”). If you don’t like it, say to the waiter “Shao Ma, Wo Pa La!” in Chinese (that literally means “Less Ma (Numbing spices), I am afraid of spices!”)
2. Shandong cuisine – also called “Lu cai” – is known for its excellent seafood dishes and delicious soups. Shandong dishes have a strong and mellow taste, rather than a mixed taste. Chefs are good at using onions and seasonings. The dishes are mainly clear, fresh and fatty which is perfect with Shandong’s own famous beer, Qingdao Beer.
3. Cantonese cuisine – also called “Yue cai” – steamed vegetable and seafood dishes, dim sum etc is probably the best-known outside of China. The original Chinese immigrants in the 1800’s were mainly Cantonese, so Cantonese cooking was the first Chinese regional cuisine to take hold abroad. Cantonese cooking is somewhat lighter than most regional Chinese cuisine. Vegetable and fish dishes are often steamed without the use of too much oil. Sauces made from ingredients like ginger, garlic, onion, vinegar, and sugar are complemented to enhance flavours.
   Dim sum is, without a doubt, a trademark food in Cantonese cuisine. Dim sum is a delectable palate of little snacks, which come in wicker baskets that are placed on trolleys, and pushed around by waiters or waitresses.
4. Hunan cuisine – also called “Xiang cai” – is characterized by its hot and sour flavour, fresh aroma, greasiness, deep colour, and the prominence of the main flavour in the dishes. Hunan’s culinary specialties are akin to those of the chilli-rich Sichuan dishes. However, chilli, peppers, garlic and an unusual sauce, called “strange-flavour” sauce on some menus, enliven many dishes, with a somewhat drier intensity than that of their Sichuan counterparts.
5. Jiangsu cuisine – also called “Huaiyang” or “Su” Cuisine – has a mixture of salty and sweet, fresh, mellow and light tastes that try to focus on the original taste and flavour of the specific dish. Ingredients are strictly selected according to the seasons, with emphasis on the matching colours and shape of each dish and emphasis on using soup to improve the flavour.
6. Zhejiang cuisine – also called “Zhe” cai – is renowned for delicately seasoned, light-tasting mix of seafood and vegetables, often served in soup. Dishes feature originally flavoured sauces, that are not too oily, and presentation so beautiful as to equal the Hangzhou landscape. Sometimes lightly sweetened or sometimes sweet and sour.
7. Fujian cuisine – also called “Min cai” – most dishes are centred on seafood. Fujian dishes are slightly sweet and sour, and less salty. When a dish is less salty, it tastes more delicious. Sweetness makes a dish extra tasty while sourness helps remove the seafood smell.
8. Anhui cuisine – also called  “Hui cai” – most ingredients in Anhui cuisine are from the mountain area, such as pangolin, stone frog, mushroom, bayberry, tea leaves, bamboo shoot, dates etc. Generally the food here is slightly spicy and salty. Some master dishes are stewed in brown sauce with stress on heavy oil and sauce. Ham is often added to improve the taste and sugar candy added to gain freshness.
9. Hui Cuisine: The Hui ethnic group possesses the most Muslims, which influences the cuisine greatly and makes it the representative of Chinese Muslim food. With a long history, Hui cuisine embodies the life habit – cleanliness. Their diet never involves pork, the meat of non-ruminating animals, fierce animals and their blood. But those meats that are allowed and which have been prepared under the auspices of an imam can be made into delicious dishes.
10. Tibetan Cuisine: The staple Tibetan food is barley flour (rtsam-pa), which is consumed daily. Other major foods include wheat flour, yak meat, mutton, and pork. Dairy products such as butter, milk, and cheese are also popular. The people in the higher altitudes generally consume more meat than those of the lower regions, where a variety of vegetables is available. Rice is generally restricted in consumption to the well-to-do families, southern border farmers, and monks.

1. “Kaoya” aka Peking Roast Duck – Both the Chinese and foreigners especially like it for its thin & crispy skin. Traditionally served “kaoya” consists of the crispy skin, steamed flour pancakes, slivered spring onions, hoisin & plum sauce. Guests will often have the duck sliced in front of them by the chef.
   How to eat the roast duck? Dip a piece of duck meat & skin (already chopped into small pieces) into the hoisin and plum sauce, then place it on a pancake and add spring onion and cucumber. The mixture is rolled up and eaten with the fingers.
   The place that offers some of the best Peking duck is the Quan Ju De Restaurant, which has outlets at Qianmen, Hepingmen and Wangfujing. It was established 130 years ago.
2. “Huoguo” aka Hot Pot – is a varied and interesting “cook by yourself” experience. You choose what to eat and the ingredients are prepared and arrive ready to cook. The common ingredients are meat (mutton, chicken, pork and beef) and fish balls, plus various types of tofu, mushrooms, eggs, noodles and vegetables. These are cooked in a “soup” that is heated by gas, electricity or flame. Meat is prepared by being thinly sliced while frozen. When added to the gently bubbling soup, it cooks in about 30 seconds. Leafy vegetables and thread noodles cook even quicker. However, starchy vegetables, such as potato and yam slices, need a few minutes. Tofu and mushrooms perhaps 2 minutes or so.
   Hot Pot comes in basically two styles – Sichuan and Mongolian. Both are commonly found in Beijing. Sichuan hotpot has a soup that is often spicy, or half spicy. By “half spicy” is meant a pot divided in two, with a spicy half and a non-spicy half (yin-yang) which is ideal if two or more people are to share the pot.
   Mongolian Hot Pot has a simpler non-spicy soup, traditionally in a smaller but taller copper pot. Proud of the fine taste of its free range meats from Inner Mongolia, spices and dips are much less prevalent – the idea is to enjoy the natural taste of the ingredients.
3. Dumplings – There are two main types of Chinese dumpling: “baozi” and “jiaozi”. Baozi are more like stuffed buns and are steamed. Jiaozi are made from thinly rolled dough and sealed by crimping; they can be steamed or cooked in other ways (fried or boiled). Jiaozi are often served with a dip of soy and vinegar or chilli sauce. Both may contain either meat or vegetable fillings.
   (Note that Jiaozi and Baozi are different from wontons (a south China dish) which look similar but are served in a soup.)
4. “Chuanr” aka skewers. These are small pieces of meat roasted on skewers. Chuanr originated in the Xinjiang province of China but in recent years has been disseminated throughout the rest of the country.  Chuanr is a product of the Chinese Islamic cuisine of the Uyghur people and other Chinese Muslims. Chuanr was traditionally made from lamb (“yang rou chuanr”) which is still the most common, but now, chicken, pork, beef, and various types of seafood can also be used. In general, chuanr may be spiced according to preference, but generally cumin seed, dried pepper flakes, salt and sesame or sesame oil are sprinkled or brushed onto it.
5. “Xiao chi” aka street snacks. Don’t be afraid of the street food – in Beijing it’s amongst the best in the world, and you’d be missing out on a crucial part of the city’s cultural life if you choose to eat exclusively in the (many) top class restaurants.
   Beijing has over 250 types of traditional snack foods, freshly prepared and served fast. Chinese pancakes, Chinese pies, hongshu (sweet potatoes baked in their skins) etc are some of the snacks you will come across.
   There are the night markets where steaming stalls appear, as if by magic, when the sun sets. Deep-fried sea-horse, slithers of snake meat, glistening bugs, scorpions on sticks etc are available for adventurous types. If your taste buds run to the exotic then the Donghuamen Night Market – Wangfujing Snack Street – offers an entertaining and at times alarming display of culinary choices. The market collects together more than 60 speciality snacks from across all of China, and has become a popular destination on the tourist map.

1. “Gan Bei!” like the English “Cheers!” can sometimes be the two most dreaded words in China. Often, business dinners and other social occasions in China will be accompanied by copious amounts of alcohol and exhortations to drink up.

But you have to know, that “Gan Bei!” in Chinese means “Bottoms Up!” and does not mean just take a sip or two. Locals take drinking very seriously and will not be happy if you don’t take these words to heart. If you can’t drink up all the alcohol in your glass just say “Peng Bei!” – “Cheers”!

1. Baijiu, the national drink of China – literally translates to “white alcohol” or “white spirits,” – is a high grain, crystal clear liquid that can be flavoured or unflavoured. Some additives include tea leaves, Chinese herbal medicines, preserved snakes and scorpions.
   Well known and commonly drunk baijiu’s are:
   Erguotou: inexpensive baijiu and, therefore, more commonly drunk
   Maotai jiu: quality baijiu from the South of China, a gold medal winner made from sorghum and wheat.
   Baijiu is normally served at room temperature or warm in a small ceramic bottle, then poured into a small cup or shot glass. Baijiu sets, sold in specialty shops or Asian markets, generally include baijiu, a ceramic bottle and small glasses.
   Normally, Baijiu is served with food and is enjoyed during family celebrations, business negotiations and holidays. It is also offered when a foreign guest is present. Chinese women do not drink baijiu.
   Making a toast or gesture to the other comrades at the table and drinking with them is the correct etiquette when drinking baijiu. When a glass is empty, it is polite to fill the glasses starting with the person with the most money and filling one’s own glass last. After someone has filled a glass, it should be held with two hands, one hand holding the bottom so that it will not be dropped.
2. It is considered rude to excuse yourself from joining in when offered a glass. If you do not drink alcohol or feel too intoxicated, then fill your glass with something non alcoholic so you can at least join in the toast.
3. When you drink with the Chinese, they would toast their glasses lower than yours to indicate respect. Sometimes, a fight to lower toast glasses would end up equal on the ground!
4. Chinese beer is much tastier than you may expect! Another pro: You can get a 0.75 litre bottle for only ¥4!
   Some of the best Chinese brands are: Qingdao, Yanjing, Snow and Harbin beer etc.

Chinese people usually don’t drink wine, except for rice wine. Rice wine – especially in South China – is one of the popular alcoholic beverages from the ancient times. Rice wines are consumed in very large quantities during festivals, at social gatherings, especially in winter. They are served on holidays and at wedding ceremonies in the homes of country people as well as urban dwellers. They are normally warmed to about 35 to 40°C. It can also be served at room temperature.