Aust Winner 澳洲长风论坛

[xiaoping]

By David Lindley
President, EXIM LLC

I like to think that courtesy is more about your attitude than what you know. Even if you don’t get all the nuances exactly right, or make mistakes, a kind spirit and willingness to try something new will always serve you well as a gracious guest during any business dinner in China.

For many westerners, it is hard to slow down for the longer style of customer entertainment in China. The notion of a “power breakfast” or “working lunch” is not common here. Dinner is a place where business is discussed, but it is typically secondary to the enjoyment of the meal and getting to know each other better.

I have found these meals have a way of slowing things down and helping to decompress from a busy day of work in the factory. A dinner with the factory management can often distill what really happened that day, as well as what needs to happen later in your relationship. A lot of times, you may learn business details at dinner that you never find out in the factory office.

It’s a place where you can measure each other in a different way. Often, for example, you may meet new people who are friends of the factory or relatives running other factories that are an important part of your local area’s production network of suppliers who can help you later on.

Remember your hosts are probably just as worried as you are about doing something discourteous. If you are at ease during dinner, it will go long way to helping your host become more comfortable too.

Whether you are just getting acquainted, working to together on a production run or celebrating an achievement, building a deeper personal bond at dinner will always benefit you and your business associates.

Depending on what region of the country you are in, and how formal the dinner arrangements are, you will find considerable variety in what to do at dinner. Still, you can expect to find a few common formalities and courtesies that are commonly observed.

When going to the restaurant, you will often find yourself in a private dining room and you will not be seated in the general serving area. This is a show of respect for you as a guest.

As a guest, you may be asked to sit prominently at the table in the so-called “honor seat.” Usually, this seat is facing the door of the dining room. Your back will be to the wall or window of the room as a show of courtesy and respect.

Sometimes, you might note that one of the napkins is folded differently than the others; this designates who is paying for the dinner. Napkins will typically be placed beneath your plate and then draped onto your lap from the table.

Generally, the courses are: cold dishes, followed by the hot soups, vegetables, meat and fish dishes, followed by rice or noodles if more food is desired. Finally, a fruit selection might be served at the end of the meal. At the start of each course, as the guest, everyone will be waiting for you to taste something before others begin, so don’t be shy.

It is more polite to try a little bit of everything, even in small portions. If you find something you do not like, just leave it on your plate and move on to what you do like. You get extra points for using your more adventurous tastes when dining out, and, typically, there are more good surprises than bad.

Toasting with drinks can be a random free-for-all, or it can be a very formal circle of toasting where the guest will toast those at the table working alternately from right to left. Toasting may also move around the table where you are toasted by your host and then shortly after you will toast that person back before moving on to the next person.

After the toast, especially if you have finished your drink in the toast, you may see your host gesturing back toward you holding the empty glass with both hands; you should do the same back as a way of ending the toast.

Group toasting is often done by simple clinking your glass on the table, and then raising it with both hands in a toasting gesture.

Regardless of where you find yourself in China, dinner should be fun and a chance to relax for a few minutes from the cares of the day. More often than not, it is one of the best places to build the foundations for your relationship with your factory.

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