Changes help Tangshan restaurant greatly reduce food waste

"Some food was almost untouched, because some customers were used to ordering more food than they could eat to show how generous they are," she said.

Fortunately, the actions to reduce food waste have helped. Leftovers have been reduced to half of the amount in the past and most current leftovers are watery things, Dong added.

Li Xingming, a 24 year-old man who came to visit friends in Tangshan, sat at a table next to Qian.

"For me, how the to-go box looks has nothing to do with taking leftovers home, but I may reuse it as a vase if it's beautiful like this," Li said with a laugh, pointing at a box with patterns of blue and white porcelain.

At another restaurant in Tangshan that caters weddings and parties, a meeting was held on Wednesday about how to further enhance customer awareness of being thrifty.

At the door of a wedding hall, a roll-up banner saying, "Waste is shameful, thriftiness is applaudable" has been set up. On a round table with 10 seats, a smart-phone sized panel with the words "No leftovers" is laid. On a large electronic screen, which is usually used to play newlyweds' photos, the slogan"We are in action! Refusing to waste food!" is showed.

"These are very necessary because weddings and parties are typical (examples) of serious food waste,"said Zheng Li'na, general manager of Datang Fenghuangyuan Catering Entertainment Co in Lubei district, Tangshan.

"To avoid waste, we have made more efforts in designing dishes," she said, giving an example. For a dish with shrimp, the cooks usually put as many as a plate could hold in the past, but now will use only 10 or 12 shrimps for a table of 10 people. "Nothing will be left after each one has a shrimp," Zheng said.

What's more, the number of dishes for a table, which used to be set at 22, varies at 16, 18 and 20. "We will advise customers to choose a suitable package according to the number and ages of the guests," she added.

For the restaurant, reducing one dish means it will earn 40 yuan ($5.80) less. "I think it's worth it because less food would be wasted, customers would spend less on a wedding or a party, and our restaurant would gain a reputation and customers' trust," Zheng said.