Five Tips For Proper Etiquette with Chopsticks in China

During your first meal in China, you will realize that the main utensil used during meals is chopsticks. When I first moved to China, it was the first time I ever used chopsticks in my life.

The use of chopsticks requires proper etiquette, and when you pick up your chopsticks, you join in a cultural experience. It’s important to go into your dining experiences in China with some knowledge about to have good manners the chopsticks.

Here are five tips for using chopsticks in China:

1. One important piece of etiquette when using chopsticks is to never knock any dishes such as plates and bowls with your chopsticks.  In Chinese culture, the meaning of hitting your dishes with chopsticks traces to beggars and homeless. This is viewed as negative and rude at the dinner table.  If Chinese children do this, they will be scolded by their parents or not allowed to eat.

2. When you are eating food with chopsticks, especially with rice, do not stick your chopsticks into your food or rice. This is seen as a curse in Chinese culture. This is taboo and said to bring bad luck because it reminds people of the incense used a funeral. Out of respect, you especially do not want to do this as a guest in someone else’s home. Instead, simply lie your chopsticks together and flat across your plate or bowl.

3. Whenever you are out to a meal with family or friends, and you want to hand someone else chopsticks, you want to double check the chopsticks: make sure the two chopsticks are equal in length, same colors, and same materials.  This is a sign of respect and table manners at the dinner table.

4. It viewed as very rude in Chinese culture to point at people with chopsticks.  This is similar to the rude action of pointing to a person or something with one finger in China.  To avoid this, keep your chopsticks relatively low to the table when picking up and eating food.

5. When eating a meal and perhaps being indecisive, you cannot use chopsticks to pick up food randomly that you do not intend to eat.  In other words, you cannot pick up a piece of food from a shared plate and then put it back down. If you touch the food, you must follow through with it!

Eating with chopsticks may be something different and out of your comfort zone, but it is not a difficult feat with practice.  As long as you are aware of the etiquette involving chopsticks, you will be ready to properly and politely feast on delicious Chinese food!

Want to learn more about Chinese people and culture? Check out my blog on Five Important Tips When Meeting People in China!

How Chinese Food in China Changed Me Forever

What is one of the best parts of traveling abroad?  It’s the food, of course!  Eating different foods native to a country, authentically prepared by locals is special, as it is not the same here in America.  Trying these native foods will only widen what you know about a country's cuisine. 

I discovered that this is true for Chinese food. Chinese food in China is much more diverse and rich in tastes and spices than I had ever imagined prior to my travels.  

Through trying dozens of new dishes in China, my perspective on Chinese food has changed, but for the better!  I now have a love of Chinese food that I did not have before, and wish that more dishes in the states had as much flavor as those I tried for the first time in China.  

Spring rolls, one of my favorite American Chinese dishes!

Prior to traveling to China, I was a little worried whether I would really enjoy the food or not.  Before my gap year, I had always stuck to certain routines and I was not a very adventurous eater.

I was not sure what types of food I would be trying, but I have always enjoyed eating Chinese food here in Massachusetts ever since I was young.  However, I was only used to the steak teriyakis, vegetable lo meins, egg rolls, spring rolls and pork fried rices of American Chinese cuisine.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love these dishes from my local Chinese restaurants! However, I did not realize how much variety of food there actually was to try in China and the cultural differences that I would learn to appreciate during my time abroad.

Chinese Food in China: My First Impressions

Within the first few days in China, I started to get acclimated to Beijing but I did not enjoy everything that I ate at first.  At first, I mostly disliked how breakfast in China is nothing like a hot American breakfast because there were no donuts, bagels, or egg sandwiches.  

Check out the Peking Duck in the center!

One of the most common breakfast items that I was first introduced to was “baozi”, a steamed bun filled with pork. The first time I ate baozi, I felt strange eating a lot of meat for breakfast.  This was simply an adjustment for me, as I then began to eat delicious lunches and dinners.

In my first few days, I fell in love with one of Beijing’s most famous dishes called Peking duck. Some of my friends had told me that we were going to one of the best Peking duck restaurants in Beijing, and they were not wrong!  

The Peking duck we dined on was amazing, with thin, crisp skin on the outside and delicious duck meat on the inside, and numerous tasty sauces to complement it all. After I traveled to different cities in China, I began to learn that each place was famous for a particular dish and locals were extremely proud of their food.

Load your bowl with side ingredients and then pour in the hot pot!

New Foods, New Beginnings

As I began trying new foods, such as Guilin mifen (rice noodles) and Shanghai “xiao longbao” (soup dumplings), I started to acquire a taste for these foods that I had never tried before in my life.  While I was in Chengdu, in the Sichuan province of China, I learned about the ingredients of an authentic “huo guo” (hot pot), and learned my lesson to wear the apron while doing so! By the end of my trip, I knew that I would miss the diverse range of foods from China once I got home, and realized that there was nothing to be weary about before my trip.

After my time abroad in China,  I realized how much more of an open mind I had when it came to eating and trying new foods.  I also soon realized that the Chinese food here in America is different from that actually in China.  

The Taste of Nostalgia

Attending school in a city, I am fortunate to have a “Chinatown” nearby, which does have some great authentic Chinese food.  I still enjoy eating Chinese food here, but at the same time, I miss the tastes from China.

When it comes to food, to taste the best of the best, you must go directly to the source.  This is yet another benefit of traveling the world and expanding your appetite to new foods that you perhaps have never tried!

Ready to taste the difference for yourself? Start Planning Your Trip so EdOdyssey can help get you on your way!

The Secret Ingredients Behind Peru's Diverse Culinary Scene

History Behind Peru Powerful Gastronomy

Peru’s incredible access to land and sea has given it a natural base for some of the world’s most unique food that involves powerful influences from a variety of cultures. The country’s culinary foundation comes from a wide range of countries like Spain and China that has pushed the locals, and immigrants, to innovate its dishes that include food from both the land and sea. Collectively, the local Peruvians and migrants - who have integrated into the fabric of Peruvian culture - have embraced their responsibility for taking Peruvian meat, seafood, fruits and vegetables in order to combine them and make some of the world’s most delicious cuisine.  

A Small Piece of Peru’s Culinary History

In September 2016, I sat down one night to eat dinner one night at Tío Mario’s, a local restaurant in Lima’s Barranco neighborhood, and I unexpectedly got an informative history lesson about one of Peru’s most famous yet seemingly bizarre dishes. At the restaurant, I placed an order of Peru’s famous “anticuchos” with confidence and a gringo accent that made the waiter question if I knew what I really ordered. The waiter glanced at me, slightly squinted after hearing me, and wanted to make sure that I knew I was ordering cow hearts.  

Yes, anticuchos are cow hearts!

Cow hearts come on a skewer with a side of boiled, skinned potatoes. Don’t forget to ask for sauces!

In response, I smiled and told him that I love them and he seemed so pleasantly surprised that he asked me if I knew the story behind how cow hearts became a culinary favorite in Peru. At the time, I didn’t know so I asked him if he’d share a quick recap with me, given the fact that it’s a popular restaurant and it was busy at the time. He explained that when the Spaniards came and colonized centuries ago, they took the best of the food which left the rest for the locals.

He mentioned, in the times of Spanish colonial rule, the Spaniards ate the finest of steaks and the nice cuts of cow meat. Meanwhile, the Spanish colonists gave the Peruvian locals the leftovers, which you can imagine, included cow hearts. Aside from Spain’s impact of Peru’s cuisine, Peru has also innovated and infused local ingredients, foods, and products from other places.

Special Peruvian Staples

The variety of Peruvian food allows the locals and visitors from all around the world to try the array of dishes that indicates a wide range of tastes that play between sweet and spicy as well as flavors from the land and the sea. The delicious food, and the famous local soda that goes with it, gives Peru a unique identity in South America. The combination of various dishes incorporate local ingredients, spicy peppers, fruit, fish, and meat highlight and show off the many flavors of Peru.

Ají - these peppers are made and cultivated only in Peru, but please be aware, they can be very spicy! Before I tried it for the first time, one of my good Peruvian friends told me to avoid the seeds.

Orange ají peppers - that’s a lot of heat!

Why look at the seeds?

Similar to other spicy peppers, the seeds can make it very spicy, and according to pepperscale, the ají pepper can be four to twenty times spicier than a jalapeño. One of the most popular dishes in Peru is Ají de Gallina which involves making a spicy and creamy sauce with these delicious peppers, mixing the sauce and other ingredients with chicken, and adding rice and potatoes on the side. It’s as delicious as it sounds!

Don’t forget about the juice - it doesn’t bite!

Ceviche - Also written as “Cebiche”, this national Peruvian dish combines the best of the land and sea. Peru’s world-famous dish combines fresh, uncooked fish sprinkled with lime juice along with finely cut onion along with a sides of peeled “camote” (sweet potato) and a side of “canchita” (fried corn kernels) to provide a salty crunch.

Local tip: you should spoon the juice mix of fish oils and lime juice from the bottom of your place on top of the fish as you eat it to combine the flavors! Don’t forget about the juice, or as the Peruvians call it “la leche de tigre” (tiger’s milk) because despite the intense name the flavor has an acidic yet smooth finish!

Lucuma - This special fruit can only be found in the region of the Andes mountain region, especially in Peru. Its natural sweetness makes it into a refreshingly delicious addition to ice cream that you can find in most shops in Lima, depending on the season.

Inca Kola - This Peruvian soda has become one of Peru’s best selling products and one of the most unique, untold stories. True story: Coca Cola tried to compete directly with Inca Kola in the 1980’s, and surprisingly, the Peruvians still stayed loyal to Inca Kola. Although Coca Cola came in and took 21% of the market during that time, Inca Kola had control of over 30% of the soda market in terms of sales. Although Coca Cola lost the initial sales battle, it won the war because it now owns 50% of the business, according to a report by Penn’s Wharton Business School.  

Chinese Influence

The Chinese people who have immigrated to Peru and have changed the face of Peru’s culinary with their food has become some of Peru’s most popular food known as “Chifa”.

Surprisingly, more than twenty Spanish-speaking countries simply label food with Chinese as “comida china” or Chinese food, but Peru’s distinct heritage has given this unique blend a name that infused new elements new to the Peruvian diet. The words “chi” and “fa” in Chinese collectively mean “to eat rice” because the Chinese foods incorporated rice that became more widely used as the Chinese influence grew and new food group gained popularity.

In Lima, the popularity of these Chifa restaurants has grown because the Chinese took Peruvian recipes and incorporated local ingredients. Today, the Chifa restaurants offer the local sauces, such as the aforementioned ají sauce, to go alongside their stir-fry-style meals. When the Chinese first came, they lacked certain ingredients such as ginger so they had also began incorporating well-known Peruvian foods, such as tomatoes and onions, into their foods. These restaurants stand out in most of the neighborhoods as Chifa continues to boom in major cities like Lima.

Chinese-style rice along with Peruvian ingredients and staples, such as potatoes, have become all part of the famous “Chifa”!

Whether you like seafood and meat, or if you prefer more fruits and vegetables, you have no excuse to avoid Peru! The endless amount of food options welcome anyone to come and try the wide array of foods. You can be adventurous and try the cow hearts, or you can pick from a lot of other foods!

Have you tried any different foods lately? Do you want to try something new and adventurous? Please visit our custom programs page if you’re interested in a faculty-led or high school program to Peru, or our study abroad page if you’re a student interested in studying abroad in Peru!