Ask a Laobeijing: On the Trend of Tipping in Beijing

By Dominique Wong

'Ask a Laobeijing' is a regular series where we chat with a laoren about their thoughts on different issues. This month, we met Qin, 54, during a tea break in Haidian.

What do you think about the recent trend of tipping in Beijing restaurants?

Sometimes foreigners tip in China, but we view it as a modern, Western practice and don’t accept it ourselves due to our Chinese culture and traditions. Chinese people are unaccustomed to tipping. Even during Confucius’ time, he said that if you give it away, it’s gone.

This is the opinion of people in Beijing, anyway. Perhaps some southerners view it differently.

But in some places we do accept this behavior. There are many types of dining establishments in Beijing, so in more privileged places such as teahouses and formal restaurants, the opportunity to receive large tips is pretty high. But in normal restaurants servers are unlikely to see big tips, therefore their understanding of the issue is different.

Overall, the service in Beijing and China is changing. While the current style of restaurant hospitality in Beijing is different to other places, I wouldn’t call it poor. I’ve been to many countries overseas and noticed the waiters in these countries are overly enthusiastic and attentive. In these countries, tips are like a small balance that has to be paid.

Of course, Beijing’s waiters aren’t as attentive. It is just normal. There are different levels but no relative superiority. I don’t think we should compare Beijing’s service to other places and say it’s not courteous or ‘smiley’ enough. Overseas, the practice of tipping is wage-driven, whereas here it’s just a nice gesture.

It’s hard to say whether tipping will become more commonplace in Beijing in the future, due to our cultural mindset towards the issue, as well as our wide range of dining establishments. If tipping is actually part of the server’s income, then maybe it will become more accepted and frequent.

Personally, I tip when I’m overseas and sometimes I tip in Beijing too. It depends on the place – its environment and whether the service warrants it. I like to tip the young ladies at the KTV.

You May Also Like... 

For more Beijing news, click "Read more" below.