Stalwarts of starvation soldier on, and a new industry is born

We are in a bustling restaurant in downtown Beijing - or it could be any other Chinese city, town or village, for that matter. This evening the din of chatter mixed with soft music wafts through the warm summer's air, and the preoccupation of almost everyone seems to be matters oral: biting, chewing and swallowing the copious amounts of all kinds of food that has been delivered to their tables.

But in one corner of the restaurant sits a young woman who periodically sips juice from a small plastic bottle or dips into a small plastic container she has brought with her in a backpack, and which holds lettuce, carrots and a few other vegetables.

Welcome to a new world where those who have opted to starve their bodies of the better things in life for hours or days on end can happily sit right beside their friends and acquaintances as they gorge themselves on the very same better things in life.