Observations of Chinese Table cultures and Stage Theater
- Interview with Ben
Student name: Mr. Fritjof Benjamin Nelting
Nationality: German
Time in Global Exchange Center: 26 weeks from November 1, 2011
Occupation: Businessman
Question1: I know you have been in China for sometimes and I heard that you talked about your observation of Chinese table cultures, how people drink, eat, behave on the foods table with others. Could you think about that from cultures point view and compare with western or European, then write your comments on that?
Ben: Chinese food culture is quite different from the western way of having food. There are many local “rules” and customs just like it is in the western world. But there are some aspects which are the same all over china. I want to name some of them. One major difference in western and eastern culture is the question “Do I finish all the food?”. In the western civilization it is common to finish all the food, children learn from their parents already that it will be really terrible weather the next day if the plate is not empty up to the last little piece. This is also a way of telling a host that the food was very delicious. In China, if it comes to having guests, this would be very un-polite to the host because it would imply that the food was not enough so eating up all the food is almost equal to insulting the host. So it’s always best to leave at least a little bit left on every plate. Western and Chinese dishes are very often containing the same ingredients like meat (chicken, beef, pork and sheep), fish and vegetables but the way of cooking it is very different as well as what part of the animal is being eaten. Western people mostly like to eat food which isn’t too complicated to eat for example steak, mashed potatoes and some soft vegetables but the Chinese eat many more variations than that. On a Chinese food table there is most of the time a variation of different foods, all the different kinds of taste are present (sweet, salty, spicy, sour) and there is hardly just a steak on the table. Usually there are at least two different meat dishes (and/or fish), some kinds of which western people have to get used to like the muscles of a cow or the knee or foot of a pig. But as long as a westerner doesn’t want to prove that he is real Chinese there is no obligations to eat those things if one doesn’t like it. Altogether the Chinese food has millions of very interesting and well tasting variations and shouldn’t be compared to a typical Chinese restaurant in the western world (especially since most of those chefs are from HongKong) because there are hardly any similarities. Drinking habits are also quite different to the western world. The aspect of “drinking out of respect” is the keyword here. And the best way to respect another person is by finishing the drink (usually beer, red wine or hard liquor) or at least drink as much as the person proposing the toast. It is also obligate to propose a toast to the guest of honor. If going out with friends it is also ok to just drink as one pleases. If one doesn’t drink alcohol (for example because of religious reasons or taking medicine) it is also possible to replace alcohol with tea but to be honest that doesn’t happen very often.
Question 2: you have a Chinese girl friend in acting profession so you must have been in Chinese theater many times, I guess very few westerners have such opportunity. Do you like to share some of your experiences or observations in this part with our other students?
Ben: Chinese theaters are very interesting to visit. If you ever get the chance of doing so, you should definitely go for it even if your Chinese is not good yet. It is very interesting to see how the Chinese are behaving on stage and in the audience, even if you don’t understand what they are talking about. There are many shows in every bigger city. A lot is copied from the western world but even more is now produced in China. Many stage plays include singing and dancing, there are many very talented Chinese singer and dancer which make it a pleasure to watch them act. For me as a westerner there is only one thing which took me a while to get used to. In a western theater it is common to be very quite ones the lights turn out, everybody turns their cell phones off and no one is allowed into the theater ones the show begins in order not to disturb the actors as well as the audience. This in fact is not happening in China. The audience is not as silent, I have also seen it many times that people are not turning off their cell phones and when it is ringing, some are even answering it during a performance. Also ones the light turns off the people start to search for better seats, which is every time causing quite a bit of disturbance. But that is the only really disturbing aspect if it comes to watching a play in the theater. And ones the audience is enchanted by the performance, there is not really any disturbance any more. The quality of the plays is mostly really good and absolutely able to compete with western productions. Another difference between western and Chinese theaters is the code dress. In western theaters there is almost always a code dress and sometimes guests wouldn’t be allowed to enter if they are not wearing appropriate clothes such as dresses and suites. In China this doesn’t really matter. In most of the Chinese productions the audience is wearing whatever is comfortable and no code dress at all applies (unless international events with a lot of westerners).
