Abstract：Dining etiquette is indispensable in the cross-cultural communication. It is influenced by and closely related to culture and environment. There are many cross-cultural barriers and misunderstandings due to lack of knowledge of different cultures, which otherwise might be avoided. As a result, it is very important to deal with these troubles when peopel get along with others of different cultures. This thesis aims to analyze the six differences between Chinese and Western dining etiquette and the four reasons. The six reasons are: attendance time；seating arrangement；food serving order；table manners；gifts for the host/hostess and use of tableware. The paper concludes the four reasons which are the different ideology；different values on life；different philosophy of life and the different way of diet. 

Key words：dining etiquette；Chinese and Western cultures；culture differences；cross-cultural communication

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT

中文摘要

1. Introduction1

2. The Differences between Chinese and Western Dining Etiquette..2

  2.1 Attendance Time

  2.2 Seating Arrangement

  2.3 Food Serving Order

  2.4 Table Manners

  2.5 Gifts for the Hostess/Host

  2.6 Use of Tableware

3. The Reasons for These Differences5

  3.1 Different Ideology

  3.2 Different Values on Life

  3.3 Different Philosophy of Life

  3.4 Different Ways of Diet

4.Conclusion7

Bibliography...8

Acknowledgements9