Study on influence factors of popular Chinese restaurants

Abstract

There are great differences in restaurant soundscape between China and the United States, as Chinese people prefer to be engaged in an animated conversation during dining. This study emphasizes on revealing the relationship between restaurant soundscape and local culture, dining custom and restaurant arrangement, etc., and identifying the unique characteristic of the restaurant soundscape in China. Typical Chinese restaurants are selected to investigate the dining culture in China, and to further analyze the relationship between Chinese restaurant soundscape and people’s opinion toward it by both objective and subjective soundscape parametric study. It is shown that the high sound pressure lever, for instance, 70–80 dBA in dining lobby with capacity crowd, in Chinese restaurant is mainly due to a long reverberation time. Meanwhile, since dining in restaurant is regarded as a popular social activity, and people like to gather in a restaurant and chat merrily when dining, the larger table people sit by, the louder voice people have to speak in. It is also found that for the most of the time, people enjoy in the conversation, not bothered by the high sound pressure level, and if a silent dining environment is required, a private room is often available. Therefore, there is a close connection between the local culture and restaurant soundscape in China, of which better understanding can be obtained only if you are involved in.