Whither the Buffet?

Sinophiles are quick to tell you how rare authentic Chinese restaurants are in the United States. After all, there are no buffets in the Middle Kingdom. Well, that's true, but then it's not.

Allow me to explain. As I've mentioned previously, sharing food - particularly when dining out - is common here. For a typical meal, two or more people will share a single dish （such as malatang). However, for certain events - birthdays, festivals, or similar celebrations - this is impractical due to the number of people involved. Perhaps more significantly, serving a single dish denies the host to show off his or her wealth and status.

These parties can take place in restaurants, hotel banquet halls, large bars, or anyplace else which has the room and is properly equipped. The tables for these events are equipped with circular glass trays similar to Lazy Susans. Before the meal, these are covered with small trays containing cold cuts, fruit, peanuts and candies, as well as various beverages. Once the meal proper begins, the staff brings out trays of food at regular intervals. It never stops coming. Just by way of example, here's some of what was served at a birthday party I recently attended:

-whole shrimps
-steamed broccoli
-fried eggplant
-tofu
-duck with greens
-beef dumplings
-vegetable dumplings
-sweet pork
-miniature pancakes
-vegetable stir-fry

It's tempting to call this a multi-course meal except that the dishes don't come out in any particular order. A better comparison would be the "family-style" restaurants where everyone is given separate plates but served from common bowls and dishes. Of course, those sorts of restaurants are not particularly common these days. In fact, I've never actually seen one. So, they went the buffet route - much more popular in the States.

To reiterate; no, there are no buffets here. However, at a party or at certain restaurants you will be served a wide variety of foods and invited to take what you want and as much as you can eat. And in my book, six = half a dozen.