It would be pretty irritating if someone in your dinner party ate the lion's share of the more flavorful food and left the rice for everyone else.

> if you keep eating the delicious side dishes you will be only left with large amounts of bland rice to eat last.

At a Chinese restaurant, you're not given more than a small bowl of rice anyway. There is no way to "be left with large amounts".

I've always thought I'd like to visit Japan someday, but have always been worried about the cultural significance and omnipresence of white rice. Like, I can see how not eating rice would seem boorish (like you only want to eat the more expensive proteins, don't understand the purpose of a palate cleanser, etc), but living with type 1 diabetes I have not eaten white rice in literal years. Every single time I do, I regret it -- it's a complete nightmare to control your blood sugar after, sometimes for the entire rest of the day. I've even wondered if I could find a way to avoid being impolite by deliberately under eating the whole time if I were to visit, to make it clear I'm not just taking the good stuff and leaving the rice out of greed.