China Service

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I worked in a restaurant for almost 6 years, and during which I was pestered by the impatience and annoying tendencies of foreigners, in particular the Chinese. Well now the tables have turned, and in many ways I have become one of them. In little less than a month, I have adapted to their culture and to their restaurant etiquette. I have learned the ways of street vendors, fast food clerks, and even had lunch at a five star restaurant with a nine course meal. So to all my serving friends, this is for you. I am going to reveal to you what typical service is like in China.

1) SEAT YOURSELF: Upon entrance into a restaurant, and this is true for most restaurants, the customer chooses the seating. You walk in and sit wherever you want. There are places where a host seats you, but in those instances, there is always a host to sit you. If there is no host, I usually expect to seat myself.

2) I AM NOT READY TO ORDER: the server will bring the menus, and stands there waiting for you to order. Since i am indecisive, I always tell them to give me a few minutes. This is probably why they are always always ready.

3) CAN I GET SOME SERVICE: Sometimes they will come back, sometimes they won't. So you have to flag them down. If you don't raise your hand and call over the (服务员、美女), they just won't come or it'll be a good ten minutes. You have to call them over if you want service. Which explains why they are constantly raising their hand and calling you over. Even now, I am hesitant to call over the servers. I just feel like it's rude, but I need to remember it's necessary here.

4) READY TO PAY: Some places have you pay immediately after ordering, some have you pay afterwards. I would say it's about half and half at most sit-down restaurants.

5) FAST FOOD: Every fast food place I have been to has you stand at the register until you receive your food. I think this is so because you can verify your food order right there and you can't come back later saying you never got something cause it was already verified.


6) FAST FOOD BUSSING: It is expected in the US that everyone busses their table at a fast food restaurant. I am not sure what the norm is for China. Most places, I bus it myself cause it's simple, and I feel makes it easier for the staff. There are some instances where I go to bus it and the staff rushover to help me.

7) TIPPING IN RESTAURANTS: I have yet to find a place where you have to tip. It is just a part of the culture. I will note, the some of the worst service I have had has been in China.

8) OVERALL SERVICE: Yet, some of the best service has been in China. Many restaurants seem to be overstaffed, well... most places seem to be overstaffed. I don't know if it has something to do with the cost of labor, but may restaurants have more than enough servers. You just have to call them over.

9) Foreign Affair: So you know when you're serving a table of 12 people, and no one knows what they ordered 'cause they just pointed and said, "This one" or in this case, "我要这个...这个...这个." I am now guilty of such. I try my best to keep track of what I ordered, but when you aren't fluent in the language, it becomes difficult to express your needs. Since I have come to China, I have eaten plenty of things that I didn't know I had ordered. Sometimes I could comprehend only half of the characters in one menu item and so all I know is that I ordered something with rice and beef. I would eventually learn that I ordered a spicy rice beef soup with lotus. So I kinda just have to stick with what I get.

10) Bring Everything as It's Ready: In American restaurants, even with large parties, it is expected that everyone receive their food at the same time. This is certainly not true for China. Even when you order family style (where you order a bunch of dishes that everyone shares), the dishes come out as soon as they are ready. So you always get your food hot, but sometimes it takes a while waiting for the rest of the food.

11) Drinks first? As an American, I always want my beverage beforehand, just a cultural preference I guess. Half the time I am as thirsty as I am hungry. Unfortunately, sometimes when you order a beverage, it is one of the last things to come.

12) Soup is not a drink! The teachers at my school receive free lunch and breakfast. At breakfast, they offer zhou (a rice porridge) and doujiang (which is kinda like a soy drink), but both are served in bowls. At lunch they offer a small carton of milk (which no one except me drinks with their lunch). They believe you should drink warm things with your meals, like soup. It is supposed to be good for your body and good for your qi. I don't think I will ever get used to that.

13) Ordering by myself: Last night I went to a dumpling place. The lady started talking to me in Chinese and I informed her I was a foreigner (she just walked over speaking Chinese, never really looked). Anyway, she asked if I wanted noodles. I replied in Chinese, "No, I want dumplings." So she pointed at one on the menu, and I just said that that would work. When serving Chinese tables, I would simplify the questions for them and for me. It would make my life easier by saving time, and it wouldn't confuse them. Instead of offering the sides of mashed potatoes, baked potato, rice pilaf, stuffed hashbrowns, etc. I gave them an ultimatum, fries or mashed potatoes. If I suggested all of the above, I would have to explain each, and it would really put me behind.

I typically gave the foreign patrons the benefit of the doubt when they would seat themselves, waves their hands incessantly, and call me over. Restaurant etiquette is typically not covered in textbooks. I was not prepared for the restaurant protocol of China just like they were never prepared to go to a restaurant in the US. If you lived in China for 20 years, you just have to work off what you know about dining.

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Photos

A Great Lunch
Lunch after the Great Wall with some fellow CTLCs and our TA's.

Dumplings before Acrobats
Before the acrobat show, my friends and I went to "Narnia" to eat some dumplings and chuan.

I'm Lovin' It
McDonald's serves hamburgers and of course weird wraps and plates of rice with beef.

Happy Hot Pot
After eating hot pot for a friend's birthday. We celebrate with a pudding cup :)

Dessert Please
Went out to lunch for a second time. My friends got lunch; so I got dessert.

Street Food
Sometimes I just crave streetfood: Jiaozi, chaofan, baozi, etc.