Happy Thanksgiving!
Whether you’re opening a McDonald’s restaurant franchise in China, or just anywhere … it is important to understand the proper food etiquette in that country.
In Tokyo, it is not necessary to tip. It is also rude to let chopstick stabbed in the rice. In fact, this means that you want to kill someone at the dining table.
In dim sum, the drinking of tea plays a significant role. It is polite to pour tea for others during the meal making sure that each up is filled to the brim. As a gesture of appreciation, a custom is to thank the person pouring the tea by tapping the bent index and middle finger together on the table symbolizing a gentle “bow.”
The orgin of this gesture has been past down from generation to generation. An Emperor ate dim sum with the common people outside his guarded palace. Disguised as the everyday common people, he poured tea for his guards. Not wanting to reveal the Emperor’s identity with a physical bow, the guard tapped their fingers.
Moreover, tea pouring occurs frequently during the meal so the tapping of fingers allows patrons to continue their conversation with out needing to verbally say “thank you.” During the Sung Dynasty, dim sum was only served for imperial members and included dishes made from delicacies such as pheasants.
Being a stable in Asia, dim sum can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. At convenient stores such as 7-Eleven, racks of steaming buns and frozen dim sum are popular snacks. Dim sum means “touch the heart” and it is easy to see why. Not only does it refers to the dishes, but describes a social experience. Yum cha “tea drinking” is the term used to describe the dining experience.
