Information and advice for your family visit

Where possible, your host university will try to provide the opportunity for you to spend the afternoon
or day with a Chinese family. This is a unique, fun and interesting experience that has been the
highlight of the programme for many students.

What you will do during the family visit:

You will spend the day or afternoon with your host family in small groups of usually two or three
students.

Your host family will meet you at university, usually on a Saturday. From the university you will be
driven or will take public transport, to either the family home or a local restaurant, for a meal.

If the host family has a child you may go to a local park or playground prior to the meal.

The focus of the visit is usually the preparation and eating of a meal together. This may involve
making dumplings together or helping your host to prepare other dishes.

The purpose of the family visit:

This visit provides an opportunity to practice your language skills, experience life in a Chinese family
envirnoment, prepare and eat authentic Chinese food. Your hosts will possibly want to practice their
English language skills or provide their child with interaction and language practice with foreign
visitors in a relaxed, informal, environment.

How families are selected:

Your Host University will generally select families who are staff members at the university or friends of
staff members. Families receive a small payment from the university to cover their food expenses.
Your family may speak extremely limited English or none at all. Be prepared to use your language
skills (however basic) and to communicate with body language and gestures.

General etiquette during your family visit

We want you to enjoy the visit; it will be relaxed, fun, informal and certainly interesting.

We have prepared some practical pointers for you to follow. Please do not worry too much, just be
polite, friendly and show respect to your host. You will have a great time.

What to wear:

There is no specific dress code you need to adhere to, just look smart.

Please either wear socks or take a spare pair with you to put on if required.

Arriving at the home:

At the entrance to many homes, you may see a rack of shoes. Depending on the home, the host may
greet you at the door in slippers, socks or bare feet. If this is the case, take off your shoes. The host
may give you a pair of slippers or sandals or you may just walk around in your socks. In some homes,
a separate, communal pair of plastic sandals is worn when using the bathroom.

If you are not sure just ask if you should remove your shoes at the entrance, please wear socks.
Gifts:

Bring a gift, this is a token of appreciation for your hosts hospitality, it does not have to be anything
expensive, just a small token. You could give shortbread biscuits, tea, chocolates, or, for children a
colouring book, crayons or a jigsaw ideally an activity that you can complete with the child.

Your gift may or may not be opened in front of you. You can suggest the gift be opened in your
presence but dont push the issue.

Drinking:

You may be immediately served tea whether you want it or not. It is impolite to request a drink or
request an alternative beverage, if you really don't want to drink it just smile politely and leave it to one
side.

Take a small bottle of water, water served at the table may be from the tap, you cannot drink tap
water.

During the meal alcohol may be served, this is usually a spirit and will be served in shot measures;
invariably it will be extremely high in alcohol content.
If you dont want to drink just politely decline, you will not cause offence. If you do decide to drink
please pace yourself and stop when you feel you have had enough.

There will be frequent toasts made throughout the meal, your host will raise their glass and say
ganbei, which is the equivalent of cheers. It is not necessary to always drain your glass after a
ganbei, although a host will encourage it, again, you may politely decline.

Do not drink until you toast others at the table. Chinese consider drinking alone to be rude. Simply
raising your glass and making eye contact is sufficient. If you are toasted, sip your drink in reply.

Eating:

Typically it is the female of the house who will prepare the meal. Since Chinese meals are served
course-by-course, the cook may not join in the meal until after all dishes have been served. Dishes
tend to be served family style (this means that you all eat from central serving dishes). Some
restaurants and homes will have separate chopsticks for serving the dishes while others may not.

Follow the lead of the host and serve yourself however he or she serves themselves. Eat when the
host eats. Be sure to eat plenty of food to show that you are enjoying it but dont eat the last bit of any
dish. If you finish off any dish, it will signal that the cook has not prepared enough food. Leaving a
small amount of food demonstrates good manners.
Do not show offence if your host slurps their soup and belches, this is perfectly acceptable in Chinese
society. Cover your mouth with your hand when using a toothpick. Put bones, seeds, etc. on the table,
never in your rice bowl.

Chopsticks:
Chopsticks are used for all meals. Tapping your chopsticks on the table is considered very rude.
When you have finished eating, place your chopsticks neatly on the table or on the chopstick rest.

When to leave:
You will be the guest of honour at the meal, therefore no one will leave before the guest of honour
and your family may not indicate that the visit has now finished. Unless there is a specific activity
planned for after the meal, aim to leave within one hour.

We do ask the host university to arrange in advance with the family for a specific time that the visit will
finish, ask the Programme Supervisor on the day what time you should leave.
If the host university have not made this arrangement then aim to leave within one hour of the meal
finishing, unless there is a planned activity.

Vegetarian food, allergies and dietary requirements:

Please be aware that your family meal will not be tailored to meet your personal dietary requirements
in any way.

We request that the host university asks families to prepare vegetarian and meat dishes, however this
does not always happen.

If you are a vegetarian or have food allergies you need to inform your Programme Supervisor prior to
the family visit, your family will be informed so that no offence is caused when you decline dishes.

Take the eating out sheet below with you.

Presenting this list at the family visit will not guarantee that your meal will be free of ingredients
which you cannot consume.

It will be your responsibility to select the dishes on offer that you can eat. If you are in any doubt that a
dish contains meat or an ingredient that you are allergic to, do not eat it. Do not worry about causing
offence.

Eating out :

Wo bu neng chi- I cannot eat

NUTS

PEANUTS

EGGS

SESAME

SESAME OIL

BRAZIL NUTS

PISTACHIO

HAZELNUT

DAIRY

SHELLFISH

I am a vegetarian (no meat)

()
No alcohol

No MSG