Typical Customs Associated with EatingTaiwanese consider eating as one of the essential parts of life. There is a Taiwanese saying, " Eating is as important as the Emperor. " Although there is no emperor anymore, this saying shows how important eating is to the Taiwanese. In order to suit the importance of eating, the Taiwanese have a set of longstanding, complicated dining etiquette, meal patterns, table settings, dining utensils, etc. Among Taiwanese dining customs, chopsticks are perhaps the most abstruse part. It can be almost said that Taiwanese cannot eat without using chopsticks. The way of holding chopsticks may be complicated to foreigners; following is the method of hold ...view middle of the document...
7.With enough practice, the two sticks function like a pair of pincers.8.For easier handling in the beginning, hold the sticks at the midpoint as a child would do. With proficiency, hold the sticks at the upper ends for a farther reach and a more mature look.There are also many rules about chopsticks. For instance, it would be considered extremely rude using chopsticks to make noise by banging on the bowl, and Never rest your chopsticks by sticking them point-first into your bowl of rice. This is reminiscent of ancestral offerings and can be seen as disrespectful. The Taiwanese generally eat three meals a day, but each meal contains a great deal of dishes, especially dinner. A formal traditional Taiwanese breakfast usually consists of a pot of congee and several side dishes, eaten around 6:00 in the morning, but this tradition now only exists in the countryside since people living in the cities don't get up that early. Lunch is eaten at with something lighter but providing more energy because in early agricultural society of Taiwan everyone used to be working at this time. Then the dinner is always ready about 5:00 p.m. when the men get home from work. The dinner is regarded as the most important meal of a day and prepared the best. In addition, when a Taiwanese banquet is held at a restaurant, the host and hostess always sit in the central of a big round table--which is a traditional Taiwanese table shape--facing the door, and the guests of greatest importance sit right beside them and the people of least importance sit backing against the door. However, the rules have been loosened nowadays.
