Hold off on drinking until the host makes the first toast, typically a welcome or a wish for a successful relationship. After that, toasts move around the table more freely.
When you clink glasses with someone more senior than you, tip your glass so its rim lands lower than theirs, physically placing yourself beneath them. It’s a small gesture but a well-recognized one.
- Don’t refuse a toast without a real reason — declining a host’s toast outright can read as a rejection of the relationship itself, not just the drink. A genuine health reason or “I’ll toast with tea instead” is an accepted way out.
- Face matters here as much as anywhere else — enthusiastic participation in toasting is a way of showing respect and building goodwill, which is part of why it carries more social weight than a casual drink would elsewhere.