Many Westerners are not accustomed to the Chinese table manners. There are no forks or knives for them to use. The Chinese host makes great, sweeping arm movements that go over large sections of the table passing over both food and friends alike. The scene is fantastic, but it leaves many foreigners at a loss for what to do. In most Western restaurants and homes there are rules about how to talk, eat and sit that are highly restrictive, and they create an atmosphere that is completely different from what in China.
While having dinner in the West, everything must be done as quietly as possible. One has to eat with his mouth closed. To make a “smacking” noise is, perhaps, the worst offense possible. While drinking soup or coffee or wine "slurping" is also forbidden. If any sound whatever is created by the intake of food or beverage, it constitutes bad manners! Of course, it’s unthinkable to speak with one’s mouth full of food, so speaking only occurs before or after one has taken in food and swallowed it. The topics open for discussion on the table are very much restricted. One is not allowed to bring up anything that is potentially unappetizing: body functions, bugs, murder are all strictly forbidden topics. One should never reach for any food on the table; instead, he should ask someone sitting near it to give it to him. “Would you please pass the potatoes?” “May I trouble you for the salt?” These are phrases that you are likely to hear on any given night of the week at a family dinner. Besides, one is supposed to drink only when there is no food in the mouth. Don’t put much food in the mouth at a time; don’t clean the teeth at the table or anywhere in public, either with the finger or a toothpick, not even with the tongue.
When a guest comes from the West to enjoy a meal with you, it would be a good idea for you to explain to your guest what will happen at dinner and to find out if a fork would be easier to use than chopsticks.