The fish head points at you: reading the whole fish at a Chinese dinner

The whole fish usually arrives late in a Chinese dinner, steamed with ginger and scallion, and the server turns the lazy Susan until it stops. Where the head stops is not an accident.

The head faces the guest of honour

In much of the country the fish is set down with its head toward the most senior guest, a custom called yútóu duì zhǔbīn (鱼头对主宾). Nobody else touches the dish until that person takes the first piece. If the head is facing you, take a small portion promptly, and the table will follow.

In Shandong, the head comes with a drink

In Shandong and across the northeast, the head brings a toast, known as yútóu jiǔ (鱼头酒). The usual formula is tóu sān wěi sì: three cups for the person facing the head, four for the person at the tail. Hosts rarely hold a visitor to the full count, and a cup of tea raised in its place is generally accepted.

Do not turn the fish over

When the top side is finished, the instinct is to flip it. In coastal and river towns that gesture reads as a capsized boat, so diners lift the backbone away with chopsticks and eat the lower fillet from above. Some avoid even the word fān, to flip, and say huá guòlái, row it over, instead.

鱼吃完一面，不翻，把鱼骨挑开再吃下面。

What stays on the plate

At a New Year's Eve dinner the fish is often left partly uneaten on purpose. The phrase nián nián yǒu yú (年年有余) hears yú, fish, as yú, surplus, so a little left on the plate carries the wish into the next year. On any other night, finish what you like.