Chinese and Western eating habits are different. In China, the dishes are placed on the table and everybody shares. It is always polite to let guests or elderly people at the table taste every dish first. But in the West, everyone has his or her own plate of food.
Although there are no strict rules on how to set chopsticks and spoons, there are some things you should never do during a Chinese banquet.
Firstly and most importantly, don't put your chopsticks upright in the rice bowl. Instead, lay them on your dish. The reason for this is that when people die, family members give them a bowl full of rice with a pair of chopsticks sticking out upright in it. So if you stick your chopsticks into rice bowl, it appears that you want someone at the table to die.
Make sure the spout of the teapot is not facing anyone, as this is impolite. The spout should always be directed to where nobody is sitting, usually just outward from the table.
Don't tap on your bowl with your chopsticks. Beggars tap on their bowls, so this is not polite. Also, when the food is coming too slow in a restaurant, you should not tap on your bowl. If you are in someone's home, it is like insulting the cook.
