Chinese state banquet standard changes

"The state banquet standard has changed from the previous 'four dishes and one soup' to 'three dishes and one soup' currently," said Wei Xuedong, director of the Great Hall of the People working office, the Yangcheng Evening News reported.

Recently, when the Great Hall of the People collected a landscape painting drawn by Liu Sifeng, chairman of the Guangdong Federation of Literature and Art Circles and also the former president of the Guangdong Provincial Art Gallery, it held an awarding ceremony to mark the occasion. During the ceremony, Liu and his colleagues heard the three-dish-and-one-soup standard for the first time. However, according to Wei, such standard had been implemented in the Great Hall of the People for quite some time. The new standard demonstrates Chinese senior officials' determination in exercising thrift, he said.

For a long time, Chinese state banquet had been marked with the "four dishes and one soup" standard, which was first proposed by Chinese late Premier Zhou Enlai. As time went by, the dishes served at state banquets might change greatly. However, the concept had become so popular among Chinese people that when dining out and ordering dishes, many Chinese people would say "let's have four dishes and one soup, the same standard as the state banquet". Now, the standard has changed. Will the new standard take root in the hearts of the Chinese people, like it once did before? Time will tell.

Industrial insiders applaud the change. At present, both the government and common people advocate the idea of frugality. If people can take some concrete action to back up the idea, it is definitely a good thing, they say.