The Contrast and Analyses of Customs in Britain and China

The night of the wedding, the bridal room will lit dragon and phoenix¹ candale to drive away the evil spirit, the newlyweds will drink wine from two cups tied together with a red string, arms crossed from each other. This is the formal wedding vow² in Chinese culture. Then the bride will be offered dumplings that's boiled half-raw.  The pronunciation of "raw" is the same as giving birth to children, a indication of family prosperity. The next morning of the wedding, the bride should get up early and make a meal for the groom³'s family to demonstrate that she is well nurtured⁴. Three days after the wedding, the groom and bride will go back to visit the bride's parents.

2.3 Eating Customs
Now, as the development of the intercultural communication, it is inevitable⁵ for us to pay more attention to some eating customs different between the two countries. We all know that China is also famous for its delicious foods. And we all have ideas about what kinds of foods are good to eat, what kinds of foods are bad to eat. And because of the different culture, we can also find the different eating customs.

2.3.1 Eating in Britain
The British people are not too fastidious about their food; their food is a little dull. If you ask me what kind of food in Britain is famous, nothing is better than beefsteak and several kinds of dessert. Although the British food is not very sumptuous⁶ in verity⁷, they pay more attention to the delight of eating. So you can easily find some restaurants in Britain, which are graceful⁸ and elegant. There are many kinds of meat in Britain food market, and the marine⁹ products are abundant. However, most of the vegetables in Britain are imported from other countries. In spite of this, the vegetables are with a great variety. Usually, the vegetables are sold in the special store, with good order, and the price is a slight high. In Britain, the food flavoring is not as much as in China, so if you want to cook some Chinese food in Britain, half of the flavoring could not be found here. Maybe that is one of the reasons why the British food is not very delicious.
The British people like desserts very much, and the desserts are with good tastes. There are many kinds of bread, pies and cakes. Especially, their puddings are so delicious. The British people often have deserts in their “afternoon tea”, or after their banquet, and sometimes they also have deserts when breakfast. Most of the British people have the skill of making some dessert and they like toasting food. Often in the school, there would be some competitive activities of making dessert. In these activities, the schools invite the parents to join together with the students; they make the dessert by themselves, and taste each other’s food. If you have the opportunity to take part in, you are sure to be surprised with their excellent skills and the good taste of the dessert.
The British people make their food in simple way. Usually, they cook the vegetables in the water, or make them into cold dishes; even they sometimes eat raw vegetables. They seldom eat fried vegetables. While they often toast or fry the meat, which is often half cooked. Together with some vegetables, the meat is wonderful. They like using the toasted meat in the banquet, and you can also eat this in the restaurant. If they want to eat something else, they often go to some restaurants, which are operated by foreign people. Among these restaurants, there are some Chinese restaurants, especially with some Guangdong food. We should pay attention to British meals, which have their own characteristics. They have four meals one day, but not three. They have breakfast, midday lunch, afternoon tea and the evening meal.
Breakfast is often a rather hurried meal at eight or nine o’ clock. The fresh milk for breakfast is delivered to the house before breakfast. They often eat fried eggs, bacon, sausages, bread with butter and jar. However, as the life pace get faster and faster, most people have less than this for breakfast, and some have no breakfast at all or only a hot drink. The midday lunch time is from about 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. many men work busily, and they don’t mind if their lunch are so rich. But if on Sundays, the family usually sits together to lunch. They give a small quantity of soup as a first course; the main course consists of meat, potatoes and other vegetables. The next meal is afternoon tea, at about four or five o’clock. The British people never miss it, no mater what important tings you have, sorry, please wait for a moment, cause this is Tea Time. At that time, they stop their work, have a cup of tea or cup of coffee, usually eat some dessert and have a chat. They can relax themselves during this time. They have dinner at seven or eight o’ clock. The dinner is always very sumptuous. At about 8 o’ clock, all the family sits together, and enjoys their food.
In a word, British meals are an important element in family life, when they sit together round the table; the meals often have a great cementing effect on family life. In the eyes of the British people, meals are rather formal affairs and are not usually shared with outsiders. Visit at meal time, or ask someone if they have meal is impolite.

2.3.2 Eating in China
Chopsticks play an important role in Chinese food culture. Chopsticks are called "Kuaizi" in Chinese and were called "Zhu" in ancient times (see the characters above). Chinese people have been using kuaizi as one of the main tableware for more than 3,000 years.
It was recorded in Liji (The Book of Rites) that chopsticks were used in the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC - 1100 BC). It was mentioned in Shiji (the Chinese history book) by Sima Qian (about 145 BC) that Zhou, the last king of the Shang Dynasty (around 1100 BC), used ivory chopsticks. Experts believe the history of wood or bamboo chopsticks can be dated to about 1,000 years earlier than ivory chopsticks. Bronze chopsticks were invented in the Western Zhou Dynasty (1100 BC - 771 BC). Lacquer chopsticks from the Western Han (206 BC - 24 AD) were discovered in Mawangdui, China. Gold and silver chopsticks became popular in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907). It was believed that silver chopsticks could detect poisons in food.
Chopsticks can be classified into five groups based on the materials used to make them, i.e., wood, metal, bone, stone and compound chopsticks. Bamboo and wood chopsticks are the most popular ones used in Chinese homes.
There are a few things to avoid when using chopsticks. Chinese people usually don't beat their bowls while eating, since the behavior used to be practiced by beggars. Also don't insert chopsticks in a bowl upright because it is a custom exclusively used in sacrifice. If you are really interested in chopsticks, you may want to visit the Kuaizi Museum in Shanghai. The museum collected over 1,000 pairs of chopsticks. The oldest one was from the Tang Dynasty.
A. Sitting and Dining Customs
If a Chinese dinner has been arranged in a restaurant, the host will usually sit nearest the kitchen or service door. Then he will be in the least-favored position - sitting where the waiter will stand while serving individual portions of food (the waiter's "mark" being his serving utensils¹⁰ laid on the table). Some hosts, however, seat their most junior guests or family members at this slightly awkward spot so that the host can talk more easily to guests on either side of him. It is also becoming more common for hosts to sit next to foreign guests of honor.
Should you find yourself in one of the "junior" seats on either side of the server's position, take comfort from the fact that your fellow diners are either even more "important" or older than you and you are honored to be sitting with them, or your host has flattered you by deciding you are one of the least status-conscious guests!
Whatever your table position is, you may be expected to make at least one toast during the meal - to the course which is about to commence, if necessary, when everyone else has used up all socially-acceptable topics of mutual¹¹ esteem¹²! Every person stands up for a moment, raises his or her glass, and finds out who has the strongest constitution!
Taking one's turn is also expected for tea pouring at smaller gatherings¹³ where each guest leans over or rises to fill fellow-diners' teacups. The almost surreptitious finger tapping on the table that greets the pouring service is said to date back to a ploy¹⁴ invented by a Qing Dynasty emperor. While making an incognito¹⁵ tour of South China, the emperor visited a teahouse. In order to maintain his cover as an ordinary member of a party of travelers, the emperor took his turn at pouring tea for his companions. They started to acknowledge this astonishing honor by bowing in the usual fashion but the emperor told them they could simply tap the table with three fingers - two of which would represent their prostrate¹⁶ limbs, while the third finger would symbolize¹⁷ their bowed heads. The custom survives in Hong Kong and South China as a silent token of thanks for the gesture.
Other older habits have been known to make some visitors a little uncomfortable when not used to fellow diners slurping¹⁸ their soup, laying discarded bones on the tablecloth¹⁹, and audibly making a meal of a meal.
The second habit is dying out now that most restaurants provide side-plates for bones but it is still possible to see waiters clearing a table by sweeping²⁰ everything into the middle of a tablecloth - rice bowls, chopsticks, bones and all - in order to have a vacant table as quickly as possible. As for mealtime noises, they are considered sounds of culinary appreciation²¹, the slurping of soup also being an acceptable way of cooling it down before it burns the tongue.
B. The Guest Gets the Best
The guest of honor naturally receives the choicest morsels²², and is expected to lead the way when necessary. With a fish course, the fish head would be left for the guest of honor - and it is the most nutritious²³ part (the eyes and lips are the valued delicacies²⁴ offered to the senior lady present). The platter holding the fish will always be laid on the table in such a way that the fish head points towards the guest of honor (at family meals, the head faces the head of the family). If visitors find that they are the guest of honor and are unwilling²⁵ to accept the duties involved, they should always delegate the honor to the person on their left, or politely turn the platter so that the fish head faces the host.
At the end of the meal, when the guest of honor feels that everyone appears to have had their fill of post-prandial brandy or ceremonial final cups of tea, he should rise. In theory, no other diner can rise until the guest of honor has, and such a social nicety has often resulted in a meal being very lengthy²⁶! Nowadays, however, the host will usually give an appropriate, discreet²⁷ hint to the guest of honor.
In a restaurant, the signs that a meal is ending are more obvious. A bowl of fruit will be presented, fresh towels will be provided for wiping mouths and hands, and the final pot of tea - a ceremonial farewell greeting - will not be refilled

The British people never urge to drink, and never drink strong dink. Wine is just an ornament²⁸ of the dinner. Different wines have different meanings, but they never drink lot of wine at the table. Beer is their favorite one, but never too much. To them, the etiquette²⁹ is more important than the beer. In the reverse, if a person drink too much during the dinner, it is impolite. If they are in the street inn, only a glass of wine will be a whole night. The wine culture in Britain is like the characteristics of the British people. So we seldom see some people drunkard in the street. Additionally if the food is different, the wine is different. For example, they drink red wine with meat, but white one with fish. They could choose how much to drink, but the most important, they must keep their etiquette.
It is worth noting that China has good capabilities³⁰ for vine growing and for wine making: it has a wide variety of soils, many different climates and micro-climates, indigenous³¹ and imported grapes, as well as a huge population that constitutes a tremendous potential market, ... It is important to note, that culture serves as the starting point . The use of alcoholic³² drinks in its variety of applications is intimately related with the social, ethical³³, religious, economical, artistic³⁴ and other aspects of life over all periods of time.
To some extents, the Chinese long history of over 5000 years has been the history of the evaluations³⁵ of wine-culture. As the above statements, the wine culture has connected with the almost each aspects of our daily life, and I think this kind of intendancy is becoming stronger as the time went by. The top priority of my introduction is the relationships between the wine and the Chinese table manners. In China, there is so much etiquette in wine. The order of drinking is sensitive, as usual, the young to the old, and the humble³⁶ to the respected. Also, in China, the order of circling the table is also sensitive, as usual; the most honorable has a seat in the square middle of the table, and the other circle by the right and left. I think this is the important reflection of Chinese feudal³⁷ dominions³⁸ for over several thousands years. With the comparison, British wine culture possesses the less sense of the sensitive considerations which is connected with the social superiorities and inferiorities. I think this is a distance between China and Britain.
III. The significance of knowing the differences of custom
We have had a glimpse of the different customs of Britain and China. Of course what we have discussed just now are only one small aspect of the different culture. To learn the different culture is very important for our English major students and it really means a lot. Then what is the significance of understanding these differences? Followings are just some of them.

3.1 In Political Activities
To a country, the political activities with other countries are very important, which will improve the development of the relations between countries. And the harmonious³⁹ relationship between countries is a fundamental factor of the peace and development of the world. During these activities, people should pay much attention to the custom differences between two countries; because it would promote the successful communication between different countries. Especially IF we visit Saudi Arabian countries, we should pay more attention to their customs, because the people of those countries are very sensitive, and lots of political problems appear between those countries. In all Islamic cultures, use your right hand for everything even if you are left-handed. The left hand is considered unclean. So in political activities, We should shake hands with them always with your right hand. And also in those countries, it is impolite talk with the female. Sometimes the misunderstanding of foreign countries’ custom will produce lots of problems in the process of communication, so the knowledge of this is helpful for dealing⁴⁰ with these problems.

3.2 In Business Activities
Globalization has changed the way the world does business. Today, international businessman increasingly find themselves working in multi-cultural environments, dealing with real difference in everything from communication styles to social etiquette. In the era of globalization, understanding the basis of custom in both informal and formal settings is an important skill. It allows a businessperson to concentrate on the deal at hand rather than worrying about which fork to use or which hand to use for passing food. Without this, you may even put your company’s image at risk. However, learning to deal with the differences and perhaps turn them to your advantage can make the difference between a successful and unsuccessful international business deal. Taking the differences between the east and the west for example, we know, compared with Asian culture, American culture and European culture are more individualized, which belong to the low—context culture. Therefore, some adventures proper in China or Japan, which are indirect and obscure, are improper⁴¹ in western countries. Because those kinds of adventures in western countries will make people confused. For example, a piece of advertisement of Nestle coffee “The taste is wonderful” is very popular in China. However, if in Germany, the consumers will immediately ask “In which way is it wonderful?” because Germans are very prudent⁴², they think that advertisement is so vague.

3.3 in Academic Exchanges
With the development of the society, the academic exchanges become more and more frequent. These exchanges are so beneficial to the progress of our world. However, we should understand that the successes of the exchanges are on the basis of mutual understanding of each country’s custom and values. Then we will have the possibility to make academic exchanges and gain some achievements. In a university, if some teacher will visit a foreign university, they often take something as gifts to the foreign friends. Considering different cultures, what kind of gifts to choose is very important. For example, in Japan, please don’t give anyone the same gift. Individual in the higher level should get and they expect better—quality gifts than their underlying⁴³. This is consistent with the cultural respect for rank and an individual’s place in the social order. A failure to differentiate⁴⁴ between ranks could be viewed as an insult.

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