Coronavirus threatens Chinese traditions of chopsticks and family-style meals

BEIJING - At Chilli Kitchen in Beijing, spicy and mouth-numbing Sichuan dishes are laid out family style.

Most Chinese diners pick up food from communal platters with the same pair of chopsticks that they then use to eat, or serve others. Double dipping is the norm. But the government hopes to change habits by urging people to use a second pair of chopsticks - just for serving.Dr. Zhong Nanshan and Dr. Zhang Wenhong, outspoken infectious disease experts who have become celebrities since the start of the outbreak, have voiced their support.

"Before, people felt like using serving chopsticks was bothersome," Bai, 31, said."But now, everyone is becoming more aware of the problem and slowly they are getting used to it." Liu Peng, 32, an education consultant and proud northerner from the coastal city of Qingdao, said that while he had grown accustomed to wearing a mask in recent months, he and his friends had not changed their dining habits.

But the campaign barely registered in mainland China. Most Chinese grow up learning the basics of chopstick etiquette: hold them two-thirds of the way up; don't stick them vertically into your rice bowl because it resembles incense offerings for the deceased; and don't suck on them. For 3,000 years up until the Tang Dynasty, news reports say, Chinese people ate separate portions of food. The articles point to the famous 10th-century scroll painting,"The Night Revels of Han Xizai," which depicts a government minister and his guests eating individually plated portions of food.

another test on wisdom vs traditions ? I prefer to b wise n considerate .

Don’t be dramatic; it’s not that bad. Besides, if traditions are irrelevant in the new age they have to go. Much like foot-binding.

They should change their dirty eating styles for the sake of health! I doubt!

We must be the outliers, otherwise this wouldn’t even make news; we have different spoons for different dishes, so no one is to use their own wares. Period.

恢复正常了吧，内地如斯也：

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