Whether you are traveling abroad or on business, if someone invites you to a formal banquet, you need to know some basic etiquette of western social places.

Arrival: You'd better arrive on time, even if you are four or five minutes late, but you must never be more than a quarter of an hour late, otherwise you will be embarrassed. If you go to a rich and elegant family, the first person you meet when you enter the gate may be a man, who is responsible for hanging your clothes or giving you directions, so don't shake hands with him in a hurry, observe and make a decision.

Preparation: enter the living room, don't worry about not finding a seat. Westerners usually walk around on this occasion, waiting for the host to introduce other guests to themselves. You can choose a suitable glass of wine and other drinks from the waiter and chat with others while drinking. When the door of the restaurant is opened, the host and hostess will lead everyone into the restaurant. The host and hostess should go last, but if the host is a big shot, the host and he can go first.

Seating: the rules of western food seating are very particular, and seats are generally arranged. At this time, the gentleman or lady who comes with you will never be arranged to sit next to you. Europeans and Americans think that acquaintances have many opportunities to chat and should take this opportunity to make more friends. The host and hostess sit on the top and bottom of the rectangular table. The male guest sits on the right side of the hostess and the female guest sits on the right side of the host. Other guests are seated alternately by men and women. Before the man goes to the table, he should help the woman on the right to pull out the chair, and then sit down by herself after the woman sits firmly.

After everyone is seated, the host takes the napkin and you take the napkin. Remember: no matter what happens at this time (such as the host has the habit of praying before meals), you can't take the napkin until the host takes it away.

Dining: The general menu is three to five courses. The first three dishes should be cold cuts, soup and fish, the last two dishes are the main course (meat or seafood with vegetables), dessert or fruit, and finally coffee and snacks. When eating, don't focus on the enjoyment of your stomach, and talk to people around you more. If coffee doesn't appear after dessert, you may be invited to the living room for a drink later. In a word, you can put down your napkin and leave your seat after you see the hostess put it on the table and stand up. At this time, the polite man has to stand up and help the lady pull open the chair. The lady who is taken care of doesn't have to have special ideas about this series of attentions, he should.

There are many differences in dining habits between the east and the west, especially in formal western-style banquets, which have many rules; If you know nothing about this, generosity is inevitable.

Qian Gechuan, a famous scholar, once cited two examples.

First, at a banquet held by Hitler, an China envoy wiped his knife and fork with a napkin according to the habit of eating western food at home, but it was extremely impolite, as if to blame the knife and fork for being unclean. At first sight, Hitler immediately ordered the waiter to change the tableware for all the guests, which embarrassed the diplomatic envoys in China.

You should wait until all the guests have finished serving and the hostess signals before you start eating. Guests are not allowed to eat any food until the hostess picks up her spoon or fork. This is an American habit, which is different from some European countries.

2. Napkins should be placed on your knees; If the napkin is large, it should be folded in half on the leg; If it's small, you can open it all. Although napkins can also be worn around the neck or tied to the chest, they are not generous and it is best not to do so. You can wipe off the oil stains on your mouth or fingers with a corner of a napkin, but you must never wipe the tableware with a napkin.

Sit up straight when eating, don't lean forward too much, and don't cross your arms on the table to avoid colliding with the guests next to you.

When using a knife and fork, you should use a knife with your right hand and a fork with your left hand. When using only a fork, you can hold it with your right hand. When using a knife, don't put the blade outward, and don't use a knife to send food into your mouth. When cutting meat, don't cut the knife on the porcelain plate and make a noise. When eating noodles, you can roll it up with a fork, don't pick it, put down your knife and fork halfway and put it on a plate in a figure of eight. If you put them together, it means the meal is over.

5. Hold the bread in your hand and put it on the side dish or the edge of the big plate. Never fork bread with a fork. Use a butter knife to get butter, not a personal knife. Take out the butter and put it on the side dish. Don't put it directly on the bread, don't cut it with a knife, and don't butter the whole piece of bread. Instead, tear off one piece at a time and eat one at a time.

6. When eating salad, you can only use a fork. Hold the fork with your right hand, with the fork tip facing up. If there are bread and biscuits on the salad, you can hold a small piece of bread or biscuits with your left hand to help push the salad onto the fork.

7. When eating fish, you can hold the bread in your left hand and the knife in your right hand to poke the thorn. Don't spit the propagated bones or fishbones directly into the plate, but pick them up with a fork and gently put them on the plate, or take them out with your hands as little as possible without paying attention and put them on the edge of the plate. You can't throw them on the table or underground. Spit the stones in your hand, and then put them on the plate.

When you want to drink water, you should swallow the food in your mouth first. Don't rinse your food with water. When drinking water from a glass, you should pay attention to wipe off the oil stains on your mouth first to avoid soiling the glass.

9. Don't pick up the plate while eating. When you drink soup, you can tilt the plate and eat it with a spoon. Don't put the spoon in the cup when drinking tea or coffee.

10. When eating, especially soup, don't make any noise and shut up when chewing.

1 1. Don't blow your nose or burp while eating. If you sneeze or cough, you should apologize to the people around you.

12. Don't pick your teeth when eating; If something gets stuck between your teeth, take it out and cover your mouth with a napkin, preferably when no one else is present.

13. It is impolite to keep silent while eating. You should talk to people around you, but don't talk while chewing food. Even if someone talks to you, you should swallow the food in your mouth before you answer; You can talk without putting down your knife and fork, but don't hold it in the air.

14. On the dining table, all the food along the way should be taken with a knife and fork; Only celery, radish, olives, fruits, dry snacks, dried fruits, sweets, potato chips, corn, frog legs and bread can be eaten with your hands.

15. When the waiter serves the food for the guests in turn, it's your turn to take the food when you walk to your left. If the waiter is standing on your right, don't take it. It's your turn to take the food for the guest on your right. When picking vegetables, it is best to take a little of everything, which will make the hostess happy; If you really don't like a dish, you can also say, "No thanks."

16. When the hostess wants to add food for you, you can hand her the plate together with the knife and fork placed on it or give it to the waiter; You can't ask for more food if she doesn't ask you. It's impolite to do that.

17. Some foods on the table, such as bread, butter, jam, pickles, dried fruits, sweets, etc. Can only be eaten after the hostess puts forward it; When everyone takes turns to get food, the male guest should let the female guest next to him take it first, or ask her if she wants you to help him get some. Don't take food in front of others when eating. If you need something, you should pass it on behind others' backs.

18. After dinner, guests should wait for the hostess to get up from her seat and then leave with her. It is impolite to leave the table at dinner or before the party is over. After standing up, the male guest should help the female guest put the chair back and put the napkin on the table. Don't fold it as it is, unless the host asks you to stay for the next meal.

To make the banquet full of pleasant and harmonious atmosphere from beginning to end, not only the guests should behave appropriately and politely, but also the attitude of the host and hostess is very important.

After the banquet begins, the host and hostess have the responsibility to keep the conversation lively and interesting, so as not to let every guest be left out in the cold; If someone says something inappropriate, the host should try to change the subject skillfully at once.

When eating, the host should entertain the guests to finish one dish and then change to the next. The host shouldn't eat too fast. If most people have finished eating, but a few people haven't finished eating, we should slow down so as not to make the guests feel uneasy.

During the dinner, the host should try his best to make every guest feel comfortable. If a guest drops a knife and fork, he should politely change it immediately. If the guest accidentally breaks the dishes, the hostess should clean them up calmly and comfort the guests, and never show the color without saying anything.

Finally, the host must never calculate the cost of entertaining guests in front of them. (Five R, _ Hi Bao Commune