The Sanctuary

Its funny at how much more tolerant I am of certain things now that I have lived in China for a while now. Being a Chinese-American, I am able to somewhat penetrate the realm of the local Chinese. Therefore, unlike other expatriates here in China I am able to get a better sense of what life is like for a local. It also helps that I am open minded enough to try things that would have made me uncomfortable in America.

One such example is embedded in the dining experience. In America, dining is very much a social event especially when dining out. It is a time when one relaxes with food, drink and conversation with friends or family members. There is an expectation of privacy in order for that ambiance to pervade. This is true no matter if you are dining in McDonalds or Lutece.

Here in China, there is a somewhat different expectation from the dining experience. It is more about the eating that is emphasized rather than the social interaction especially at the mid to lower price of the spectrum. It seems its all about getting seated and having your food, therefore it is very common for people to share tables in restaurants during peak dining hours. I had experiences where I have sat at a table for 4 and every person at the table is a stranger to one another. Since everyone is a stranger there is an aura of awkwardness where no conversation is taking place. This leads to a strange dynamic of just putting your head down and eating your food as fast as possible to get out of that awkward situation. Its almost akin to the experience in the men's urinal where every man is staring at the wall in front of him so he doesn't accidentally look at the private parts of the man standing next to him.

Sharing tables would have been something that I would never consider in America and its something that I would still avoid even here in China, but sometimes during peak dining hours and my stomach is growling I will make the sacrifice. Besides, you really can't control the situation if a stranger plops himself next to you while you are in the middle of your braised pork.

Of course, this is not to say that this is true in every restaurant in China. First, business has to be good enough where table sharing becomes necessary. Second, this is less true as your move up the price spectrum. Therefore, the sanctuary of your own table in a restaurant can still be had here in most cases.