When you’re ready, why not try them out on the staff at a local Chinese restaurant? Feel like another beer? Need some extra rice? Want to pay separately? No problem! After this lesson you’ll be ordering from the menu in Chinese like a pro, and impressing everyone at the table with your Chinese language skills. Is your mouth watering? Let’s get started!
Resources for further reading:
Ordering in a Chinese restaurant
Practice Your Pronunciation With Rocket Record
In China the waiter or waitress will bring the bill to your table. Traditionally, Chinese people don’t split the bill. Instead, it is very common in Chinese culture that either the oldest or most respected person will pay for everyone at the table, or that everybody in the group will try to pay for the whole lot, depending on the occasion. It is interesting to see a "fight" (or at least heated exchange) take place at each table towards the end of a meal, because every person is trying to pay for the entire party. Of course, if someone “wins” and successfully pays for the whole group this time, it will be someone else’s turn the next time.
Nowadays, this is less common within the younger generation. And WeChat even has a "split the bills" feature with its built-in apps. So it is still important to know how to say the following words, especially if you are dining out with foreign friends who might not share this tradition.
Here are a few recommended Chinese lessons to try next!
- Everyone loves talking about sports in Chinese.
- Talking about music in Chinese.
- All about the parts of the body in Chinese.
下次见！ Xiàcì jiàn!
Lin Ping: Rocket Chinese