Must admit I really don't like eating noodles in public, since I always feel awkward and inelegant whichever implements I use. When eating them at home, I follow your second method (putting the first bit in your mouth and then lifting the rest in bit by bit). I do use a spoon when I'm eating Vietnamese phở, because I like to put the noodles and soup in my mouth at the same time.

Thank you for the info re eating styles in the Zhou dynasty! I suppose it was very lazy of me to only check one source. I've edited the post to point to your comment.