Seating location holds very different importance in China than in most Western countries. In fact, great care must be taken to seat people properly to avoid offending anyone.

In Western countries, people usually don't attach a lot of meaning to seating arrangements. During business meals and when friends get together in restaurants, guests often choose where they would like to sit. When the meal is served at someone's home, such as Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners, the hosts typically sit at the two ends of a rectangular table, and the guests are seated along the long sides. Guests are often arranged so the pattern is man, woman, man, woman, but otherwise not much meaning is attached to who sits where.

In China, the tables are usually round and seat ten at a time. The seating position corresponds to a person's importance rather than to gender. The person sitting farthest from the entrance is the guest of honor. This seat is reserved for the most senior person according to social hierarchy. The person closest to the door, usually opposite the guest of honor, is the person who will be paying the check. That person is not necessarily the main host. For example, he could be the assistant to the main host who will take care of the bill. Everyone else around the table is seated according to rank. People close to the guest of honor are ranked higher; people close to the door are ranked lower.

There is usually a turn-table, or "lazy Susan," in the middle of the table to make sharing of dishes easier. The waiters will always place an entrée immediately in front of the guest of honor. Only after he/she has taken a serving will the junior person turn the turn-table to serve the others.

(selected from 101 Stories for Foreigners to Understand Chinese People by Yi S. Ellis and Bryan D. Ellis, published by China Intercontinental Press in 2012)