Take for instance, rice. In America, rice is served with most every Chinese meal, regardless of what you order or where you’re sitting down to eat. In China, rice is very common – don’t get me wrong – but not nearly as common as you might think. Rice is only served when specifically asked for and is more or less used, not as a compliment to your tasty stir-fired entrée – it’s actually used as your plate.

You see in China, no one is given his or her own meal; instead, everyone habitually shares with everyone else as an onslaught of entrées constantly come steaming out of the kitchen. Because of this, individual plates are not necessary and small bowls of rice are used to sop up any renegade food particles falling from most all foreigners’ chopsticks. In some instances, when rice is not ordered, you’ll be given a small ceramic dish, no bigger than the one you’d normally use in conjunction with a teacup, with which you have the choice to eat with or not.