Changes in Women’s Social Status and Eating-related Interactions in Metropolitan China

The aim of this article is to discuss the problem of social role of women in contemporary China from eating and drinking behaviour perspective. The article has been written on the base of long term empirical study conducted in contemporary Beijing. The author is focusing on two issues he has noticed during his research: the growing number of young Chinese men behaving courteously towards women, and the growing participation of women in interactions which have been taking place in public (in Beijing restaurants). The author is trying to find out if those phenomena can be considered as important indicators and catalysts of the women’s social position advancement or they are just manifestations of insignificant and short-lived fashion.