Regardless of how difficult you may find chopsticks to use, these thin, eight-to-10-inch-long eating utensils are used by more than a quarter of the world’s population. Known as kuai zi {fast fellows}chopsticks were used in China as early as 400 B.C. These days ,chopsticks for eating are made from plastic, as well as any light but strong wood, including bamboo, cedar, sandalwood, teak, and pine.

Chopsticks are used for all meals in China. Food is placed at the center of the table and may include more than one type of main dish to be eaten with rice. Some food is taken to be placed in the bowl, which is then held close to the mouth for eating. Inedible bones and seeds are placed on the table or in a dish but never back in the rice bowl. When finished, a person places the chopsticks neatly on the table; they are not left in the rice bowl. Soup is served toward the end of a meal, except in Guangdong province, where soup is served as the first course.

At restaurants, a revolving tray at the center of the table allows guests to sample from several dishes. Toasts are offered to the whole table and sometimes to a neighboring table. At formal banquets, guests should have a short, friendly speech prepared to respond to a host’s remarks

Basics: How to Hold Chopsticks

1. Hold the upper chopstick with the index finger, the middle finger, and the thumb.
2. Put the other chopstick between the bottom of the thumb and the tip of the ring finger.
3. Move the upper chopstick only when you pick up food.

Some of the most important chopstick rules are:

• Hold your chopsticks towards their end, and not in the middle or the front third.
• When you are not using your chopsticks and when you are finished eating, lay them down in front of you with the tip to left.
• Do not stick chopsticks into your food, especially not into rice.
• Do not pass food with your chopsticks directly to somebody else's chopsticks.
• Do not spear food with your chopsticks.
• Do not point with your chopsticks to something or somebody.
• Do not move your chopsticks around in the air too much, nor play with them.
• Do not move around plates or bowls with chopsticks.
• To separate a piece of food into two pieces, exert controlled pressure on the chopsticks while moving them apart from each other. This needs much exercise.
• If you have already used your chopsticks, use the opposite end of your chopsticks in order to move food from a shared plate to your own plate.