Thank you at a chinese restaurant?

My aunt used to own a chinese restaurant. It is traditional that you tap to express thanks whille he pours your tea. Pouring the tea is the customary response to the patron that he has been honoured to serve you. If the waiter does not pour your tea, you either are quick to not notice that they are being respectful in not interrupting your eating. In some asian cultures, it is rude to bother someone while he/she is eating. Dining is sometimes seen as a ritual to people. A waiter or waitress or a servant is deemed to always not speak or say a word, unless spoken to in important matters. This dates back to a Chinese emperor during Qing Dynasty. A servant from a tea house took his turn to pouring the tea, the emperor was traveling incognito and thanked his servant by tapping for keeping his identity silent.

Make sure that when you go to your next Chinese restaurant, you leave the lid open for them to refill your empty pot.

The best way to say thanks to your server is to bow quickly.

It is not wise to speak or have them speak to you while you are eating/dining.

If you have a question about the menu or the dish, simply ask for the manager, never the waiter. Most waiters younger than 25 are apt to help and take upon themselves (if they're not too busy during dim sum time) Older waiters usually are not familiar w. American service rules. A better way: ask to keep the menu.

There are several dialects in China so many that TV shows have subtitles all over the country, because even though the pronunciations and words vary the written words are the same.

In almost every region went to in China the pronunciation of the word for thankyou varied, sometimes even in the same region.

Try saying SEE SEE, but pronouncing the S the way Sean Connery does, without the rest of his accent, haha.

If that doesn't get the response you want don't worry. You can thank your waiter/waitress with a nice tip.

Yummy Yam10's answer is the best one, detail and informative.

The culture differences between the east and west may lead you feel the Chinese wait staff are rude. But we Chinese think that is normal. They are not supposed to "talk" or "make noise" when they are doing their job.

Nowadays, some modern Chinese restaurants serve customers in western manners, the wait staff always ask,

"would you like to have some more tea / beer / juice / wine?

"Is the food alright?"

"excuse me, may I change your serving plate?"

"May I withdraw this dish?" (even the dish is empty, certainly of course!)

.... within every 15 or 20 minutes, you have questions to answer!

I do have to say "Thank you", "Oh, certainly, thanks!", "The taste is great or hmmm.. the prawns are overcooked!"... etc..., and they again ... answer me... blah .. blah.. blah..!

Say ... a dinner last for 2 hours+, Chinese cuisine for 4 persons serve dish by dish from starters to deserts.. 5-6 courses, how annoying?

I never bring my parents to these kind of restaurants, my father is extremely impatient when people making noise around him while he is eating.

Don't worry about it. That's just how things are. Though we may perceive it as being slightly rude, the Chinese generally see it as being very professional. You can tap the table with your index and middle fingers, side-by-side and bent, but the waiters will even usually ignore that. Nowadays, it's considered a little old-fashioned, but I kinda like it. If you feel the need to say something, you can say "shay-shay" quickly. It simply means, "thank you" in Mandarin.

Yes, the tapping is done as a way to say, "Thank You".

It's hard to tell with waiters sometimes... they may understand some English, but not the etiquette.

However, I've been in all types of restaurants (where the servers are definitely fluent) and still ignored when I say, "Thank You". Sometimes, I think the servers are tired of saying "You're Welcome."

I say "Shay Shay"...it means Thank You in Mandarin Chinese

Mandarin - Cantonese - Chinese (Mandarin) - Xie_Xie (shieh shieh)

Cantonese - M'goy (sp? -- thank you for the service) thank you in Cantonese.

age

(30+)usually didn't know english in our country

lol, i think they don't say your welcome no matter what, they are rude, i'm asain and i've been in chinese restaurant billions of time, sometimes they say your welcome, because my dad know s them, but don't worry about it

That's so weird to say thank you to waiters at restaurants!

I mean, we are paying them for their service and the cost of the meal includes their salary, you know? So, actually, waiters should be thanking you and not the other way round.

I think this is the difference between etiquette of the East and West. In the East, we don't have to say thank you when we are paying for the service. We expect it. We only say thank you to unexpected kindness.

just smile.. not need to say thank you ... if you're eating. cause they wont care anyway