Etiquette(礼节) is important at a Chinese dinner party. Usually, the host(主人) should politely ask the guests to be seated first before he sits down. If there is a speech, people stop eating and drinking to listen. Every time a dish is brought out, the host asks the guests to try it first. Guests would not start eating the dish until the host asks them to. While eating, people should stop often to talk for a while. Eating all the time without stopping is not polite, and could be laughed at. Usually, people do not finish a dish. A finished dish would suggest that there is not enough of the dish to eat, which may make the host embarrassed( 不好意思的), so people would not usually pick up the last piece off a plate. During a meal, the host asks the guests again and again to eat and drink more. Without this, some people may feel embarrassed about how much they eat. From time to time, people pick up food to give it to those sitting beside them. The host keeps the guests company all the way through the dinner. He would not finish until all the guests do so.
The host is not polite if he sits down at the table before the guests do so.