My First Real Chinese Banquet
As a teacher at a university, it’s not uncommon to be invited to banquets for any variety of reasons. It’s also not uncommon to find out about the banquet on the day of. This is exactly what happened early on in my time living in China. It was early afternoon and we got a notice that we were expected to attend a banquet that evening. That wasn’t a big deal to me because I was excited about a new experience and some good food!
My colleagues and I got dressed up in our business casual attire and made our way to the restaurant for the banquet. There are many rules when it comes to formal dining in China. I remember one of the first things I was taught by people more experienced in these events than me was to not sit down when you enter the room. A typical banquet in China involves a large round table with chairs all the way around. There is a fairly specific rhyme and reason to where people sit around that table. So, the best approach as a foreigner is to just walk into the room and awkwardly stand around the table until someone tells you exactly where to sit. That’s no big deal for me, I’m good at being awkward and I love it when people make simple decisions for me - such as where to sit.
We were finally seated at the banquet table and there were so many varieties of spoons and chopsticks that I was immediately lost and confused. But, as any good foreign guest, I just kept an eye on my colleagues who had more experiences and mimicked what they did. The food came out and the colleague next to me leaned over and whispered the best advice I had ever received, “Eat slowly,” he said, “There will be at least a dozen courses of food so you have to pace yourself or you’ll never make it to the end.” That was perfect advice. I would eat a few green beans, a few pieces of chicken, a little beef, and a little of this and a little of that. For the next hour, I simply nibbled my way through the banquet. My colleague was right about pacing myself but wrong about the dozen courses. It must have been two dozen!
I remember distinctly after losing count of the number of courses that had come out, it must have been time for the main course because the servers came to clear our plates and make room for the next big thing. Suddenly, an army of servers came from another room with trays of small clay pots. They placed one pot in front of each person around the table. I peaked inside the pot and couldn’t believe my eyes. There was an entire turtle in there! Shell, head, feet, and all! I followed the behavior of my neighbor and peeled back the shell and began to eat the turtle meet underneath. To my surprise, it was delicious! In hindsight, I feel bad for all those turtles and to see them all around the table is a bit of a shock. But at the time, I couldn’t believe what I was experiencing. It was other-worldly and amazing.
Even today, when people ask me about food or banquet experiences in China, I always tell that story. I had the privilege of attending more banquets than I can remember, but that one will always stand out because it was my first, but also because the food was so extravagant.