Hong Kong Eating Etiquette
When eating Chinese food, it is a good idea, if possible, to go with a large group of people so that you can try some more dishes than if you only order your own meal. If you look around in Chinese restaurants, you will see there are very few tables for two but many big round tables of boisterous colleagues, friends or families all tucking in to their food together. If you want an intimate dinner for two, avoid Chinese restaurants altogether, as they are almost without exception noisy and rarely romantic.
There are few rules as regards table manners. Chinese people tend to eat with great gusto, and slurping soup or talking at the same time as eating seems to be quite acceptable. There are however, some rituals that tend to be followed. The Asian style of eating is to order several dishes of food, which are put in the middle of the table and shared by all diners. Bowls of rice are separate , however. The usual way to eat rice is to pick up the bowl to your lips and scoop the rice directly into your mouth using the chopsticks.
It is considered impolite to take food from the centre of the table and put it directly into your mouth- transfer the food into your own bowl before you eat it. The superstitious also regard it as bad luck to turn a fish over to extract the flesh from the under side, as this symbolizes the capsizing of a fishing boat.
If you are hosted to dinner or lunch in formal and traditional circumstances, it is customary not to finish all the food in the centre, so as to avoid embarrassing your host, who may feel that he or she has not offer enough food.
Tea is generally served as a matter of course in restaurants, and the pot is constantly refilled throughout the meal. Note that it is considered impolite to refill your own cup without first filling the cups of fellow diners, even when their cups are not yet empty. You are often asked to choose which type of tea you would like for your table.