Forkfuls of charity

Eating well and supporting a good cause come together more and more frequently in China as charities find that food lovers will open their hearts - and their wallets - for a great meal. Mike Peters reports.

As I dig into a platter of Korean barbecue at a new Beijing restaurant, Jim Boyce is in a bar a few blocks away, enjoying Belgian beer and "liar's dice". At her Shunyi home, Allison Cooke is dreaming of tasty gingerbread houses studded with gumdrops, the roofs made "snowy" with thick white icing.

What such local foodies have in common - besides a rather well-developed fondness for good food and drink - is finding ways to combine our appetites with charity. Proceeds from the "Korean tapas" meal being wolfed down by 80 guests at the just-opened Sulyi restaurant will support refugees who arrive in Greece with literally nothing but the clothes they are wearing. "Maovember" events organized by Boyce and others will generate funds for Chinese orphans. Cooke's gingerbread fantasy - and plenty of hot mulled wine and a freshly roasted whole pig - will be served up at the German Christmas bazaar in late November, which generates hundreds of thousands of yuan for disadvantaged children and families in China.