Catering is a common social activity. China is rich in catering culture, and China people are hospitable and pay attention to catering etiquette. Chinese banquet refers to a banquet with the traditional national style of China, which abides by the eating habits and etiquette norms of China people. Banquet activities can be divided into three types in terms of their purpose and nature: one is ceremonial, such as welcoming important guests or political dignitaries for official visits; Banquets held to celebrate major festivals or hold an important ceremony are all etiquette needs, and such banquets should have certain protocol specifications and procedures. The other is friendship, mainly for communicating feelings, expressing friendship and developing friendship, such as welcoming guests, seeing them off, saying goodbye and getting together. Another kind is the nature of work, where the host or participants hold a banquet to solve a certain job so as to discuss the work at the dinner table. These three situations often complement each other and have both. The purpose, form and nature of the banquet are different, but the basic etiquette followed by the host and guest is the same.

basic etiquette of banquet

seating arrangement. For formal banquets, seats are usually arranged in advance, so that the participants can sit in order and be polite to the guests. For informal banquets, seats don't have to be arranged in advance, but there are usually points for sitting up and down. The following points should be considered when arranging seats: First, take the position of the host as the center. If there is a hostess, the host and hostess are the center, and those close to the host are the top, which are arranged in turn; The second is to arrange the guest of honor and his wife in the most important position. It is usually right-oriented, that is, the owner's right hand is the most important position. The farthest position facing the door is the upper seat, the nearest position facing the door is the lower seat, the second position is on the right of the upper seat, the third position is on the left, and so on; Third, under the premise of following the protocol order, make the neighbors as easy to talk as possible; Fourth, the host's accompanying guests should be inserted between the guests as much as possible, so as to talk with the guests and avoid their own people sitting together.