The restaurant was extremely large. There was a central area, something like a buffet, but some of the foods would be cooked to order after you selected the ingredients. There was a large Chinese section and a Japanese section. A waitress appeared soon to help me select things and carry my plate. Once at the table, our glasses were kept full with whatever we wanted (there were two kinds of melon juice, as well as beer and Chinese wine). There were a few toasts. In China, you say "gan-bei", which means, empty the cup. Then, you do just that--it's rude not to empty your glass. My guidebook says it is also rude to drink alone--you're supposed to do all your drinking in toasts. Now and then the waitresses and waiters would bring additional good things that you hadn't ordered, and just put them on the lazy Susan. There were some desserts on the buffet, but they also came by with an ice-cream cart. Things weren't accounted for item-by-item, I don't think. I believe the organizers simply paid a fixed fee per person. That would never happen in Europe, where the waiter would make a note of each glass of juice and each dish. I guess that it might happen in America but more likely, in America there would be one price for the buffet, but drinks and desserts would be itemized.