Chinese Dining Table

The Chinese dining table comes from China, where the largest population on Earth resides. It is not just a table with delicate and beautiful designs. It carries a lot of history value and the Chinese culture is of utmost importance when dining. 

Features

Made almost exclusively from wood material, you can also find Chinese tables that have a marble table top.

The most common wood types are rosewood (hardwood), ebony (hardwood) and fir (softwood). Rosewood is great against pest attack.

Chinese dining tables always have the antique look, having symbols and carvings at the side of the table.

They are available in round and rectangular shapes. Round ones are much preferred for the Chinese people due to the strong cultural belief that everyone should dine together, creating a sense of gathering and reunion. Round tables can cater for more people too.

For the round ones, most of them have a lazy susan in the middle. Lazy susan is a round table accessory that can be spinned like a disc in order to pass food. It helps you to reach for foods far away from you.

For the Chinese chairs, they always have 2 gaps in between. This way, a person's back is supported by the middle part of the chair back rest. The upper part of the chair always resemble a rooftop curve of ancient Chinese buildings. This applies to other Chinese furniture as well.

Benefits

Get back to your roots if you have a Chinese descendant history. You can dine outside, wherever you want. But Chinese people should dine using the Chinese dining table at home with their family.

Enjoy dining on an old style table? Are you a "traditional" person? Get Chinese kitchen tables for your dining room.

Tips

Chinese dining etiquette

This is a big factor when eating on the Chinese table. This is because Chinese people are very superstitious people at heart. It is recommended that you follow the following advice carefully. You should be fine if you know every bit of dining rule here because these are the most important ones. So you can survive everytime you dine with the Chinese folks!

What to do:

If you are a guest, wait for the host to start eating first.

Chinese people use small bowls that contain rice. Rice is the staple food for the Chinese people. You must always bring the rice bowl close to your mouth while eating.

Always leave some amount of food or drinks. In other words, do not finish your meal completely. This is because if you finish everything (leaving a clean plate and a dry cup), your host might think he or she did not provide enough for you. The key is to leave a tiny amount of food and drink after your meal.

For those of you who are used to using fork and spoon or knife, you might have some trouble using chopsticks at first. Perhaps the most difficult challenge is to eat rice using chopsticks. As a tip, bring the rice bowl close to you and push the rice into your mouth using the chopsticks. Chopsticks are the only main eating utensil used by the Chinese, nothing else. Of course, when it comes to serving soup (a must have in every Chinese meal), you should use the ladle as provided.

There is one special rule about paying for the meals, especially if you are eating outside with Chinese people. Only one person (host will pay if you are a guest) should settle the bill for everybody. Then, the next time, another person takes this role and pays for everyone. The cycle continues. There is no going Dutch here. The reason for this payment method is to boost personal relationships.

Expect to drink wine and Chinese tea using small cups. These small cups compare to the size of a bar shot. Wait for your host to serve you drinks. It is his responsibility.

Don't dos:

Don't leave your chopstick on the rice bowl in a parallel manner. It is bad luck.

Don't finish the last dish till there's nothing left. Otherwise, your host might think you still want more to eat.

Chinese dining chairs

There are no other chairs that can match the Chinese kitchen table. You should always use the appropriate Chinese chairs. Don't even think about using other so-called Asian or oriental chairs that you find online. This is because Chinese chairs have designs that match its table counterpart. Using other chair types will only make your Chinese dining set look awkward.

If you are one of those people who just loves going to the Chinese restaurant for Chinese food everytime, why don't you get a Chinese dining table at home for yourself?

Man man chi (take your time while eating)!

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