Taboos in life

[Photo from chinadaily.com.cn]

When having meals at home or at restaurants, one should not knock on bowls with chopsticks, nor grasp bowls firmly, as beggars usually do so.

When filling a bowl with rice for others, one should not insert chopsticks erectly or cross the chopsticks in rice, because this action reminds people of the way the dead are worshiped.

Food should not be passed through a window or a threshold from the outside to the inside or from the inside to the outside, for it is said that people who eat such food could suffer from dysphagia.

"Dumplings should be served when a guest leaves, and noodles should be provided when a guest comes." The first meal for a guest should not be dumplings, because dumplings hint that the visitor is not welcomed. Besides, a guest should not move his or her seat randomly when having meals.