在一起吃饭是中国人常见的聚会方式，吃饭不仅仅是为了享受美食，同时也是交流感情的好机会。
Dining together is a common thing to do when the Chinese are getting together, which provides an opportunity for them not only to enjoy a meal, but also to communicate.

一般来说买单的时候，会由一个人付整顿饭的钱，而不是采用AA制。这是因为中国人吃饭时，习惯把所有的菜放在桌子中间，大家一起分享，这样谁吃了什么，吃了多少都不好计算，实行AA制很不方便。如果付钱的时候要每个人计算自己该付多少钱，这会大家会觉得失去了一家人或朋友间的亲近感，所以一般不会实行AA制。
Usually, in such a get-together, the bill would be paid by one person instead of by all. When the Chinese eat together, they put all the dishes in the middle of the table for everyone to share, and it is impossible to figure out what and how much each one has eaten, which thus makes it inconvenient to divide the bill equally.

那么买单的这个人会不会觉得吃亏呢？很多人都有自己固定的朋友圈子，几个朋友可能会经常在一起聚会，每次都由不同的人买单，大家轮流付钱。如果是几个家庭之间的聚会，那么就由不同的家庭轮流买单。这种现象很普遍，其实就是一种轮流AA制，这样也就无所谓吃亏不吃亏了。
You may wonder if the one who foot the bill would suffer losses. But actually Chinese people would go out eating with their friends from time to time, and they  prefer to take turns to pay the bill. If it is a get-together among several families, then different families can stand treat in turn. This phenomenon is quite common in China, which is in fact a kind of Dutch treatment, so it doesn't matter who pay the bill in the first place.

当然了，你也可以永远不付钱，但这样的话，时间一长，就不会再有朋友请你吃饭了。
Of course you can choose to never pay the bills, but gradually there will be no friends want to dine with you in the long run.

• everyone [´evriwʌn]   pron.=everybody 每人   (初中英语单词)
• equally [´i:kwəli]   ad.相等地；平等地   (初中英语单词)
• actually [´æktʃuəli]   ad.事实上；实际上   (初中英语单词)
• treatment [´tri:tmənt]   n.待遇；对待；治疗   (初中英语单词)
• phenomenon [fi´nɔminən]   n.现象；奇迹；珍品   (高中英语单词)
• inconvenient [,inkən´vi:niənt]   a.不方便的   (英语六级单词)