Etiquette class teaches attendees how to adapt overseas
At an etiquette class held at The Ritz-Carlton Beijing, Financial Street, Chinese attendees learned the intricate rules of traditional Western dining manners, including drinking from the same part of the glass, only eating caviar with certain spoons and never putting your elbows on the table.
“There is only one circumstance for women to put their elbows on the table, and that’s when they show their ring finger to let the gentlemen around know if she is married or available for a date,” said Guillaume Rue de Bernadac, the teacher and founder of French manners training company Academie De Bernadac.
The hotel provided only 15 seats, costing 3,688 yuan ($553) for each adult for a whole day course, according to Suzie Tang, public relations director of the hotel.
Tang said part of the reason why the class was so popular is that Chinese people are keen to build their personal and corporate image.
Attendees of the etiquette class learned how to use different spoons, forks and knives; how to place them on the table; how to arrange seats for a social gathering; how to place guests’ plates; and how to pour and appreciate wine.
Wang Xueyu, staff member of a Beijing-based supermarket, attended the course with two of her colleagues. She said they plan to pass the training on to the waiters at their newly opened indoor dining hall, to enhance their customers’ dining experience.
“The sense of ceremony is important to improve the experience of eating. It’s a trend for modern living,” she said.
As more Chinese people travel or do business abroad, the demand for Western manners training and the ability to adapt to local customs and cultures is growing.
Bernadac offers classes in major Chinese cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Shenzhen, to help individuals and corporate staff members to learn Western manners.
He said around 90 percent of his students in China are women aged from 20 to 25 years old, who want to appear elegant when eating, walking and sitting.
Niu Ben, a martial arts teacher in Beijing, attended the class. He said the training provided some of the most useful skills required for going abroad, and that learning the social graces is not something that’s only for the rich.
“I might be poor but I don’t have to be slovenly,” he said.
Bernadac said it’s not about having money, “it’s about how to present the best of yourself to others.”
He said since China has strong traditions and culture, the goal of the class is not to make Chinese attendees change their own habits, but help them to adjust according to different circumstances.
“Both Chinese manners and Western manners have the same goal, that is to make other people comfortable,” he said.
“People (at the class) are connected with their traditions, while adopting something useful from all cultures to adapt themselves to the modern world.”