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BIZCHINA / Biz Life

Eating with strangers

By Zhang Ting (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-08-20 11:48

The combination of rising restaurant prices and the fact that Chinese
food is best eaten with others is bringing Shanghai's white-collar
workers together for meals via the alphabet soup of electronic
connections.

Workers on tight budgets are finding meal mates by logging onto a BBS,
leaving a QQ number or MSN address and waiting for replies.

Connecting with strangers for meals is the latest response to Shanghai's
rising restaurant prices as the cost of pork and other ingredients goes
up. Workers are left with two choices: foot the bill alone or share the
price of a meal with others.

Ms Zhang at Shanghai Heng Long Square said the rising food prices had
worried her for a long time. In restaurants near her office building, the
price of set meals has gone up by 1 to 3 yuan, increasing her monthly
meal costs by several dozen yuan.?

"Eating lunch became such a big expenditure that I used to just eat
fruit," Zhang said. "But by sharing meals we have solved the problem."

Now co-workers have turned into meal mates.?

As meal sharing has become increasingly popular, websites have joined the
game. Some have set up BBS where users can find meal mates by posting
invitations or answering them. Some BBS divide respondents into groups
according to workplace.

Besides offering invitations, some experienced sharers are giving tips.
Price-wise suggestions include ordering chicken and seafood instead of
pork to avoid soaring prices.

In the age of computer dating, connections for eating partners have also
turned social. On pinkecity.com, a Shanghai BBS, postings read: "Friends
as meal mates wanted." "Who wants to go to KTV after dinner?" Some users
even list their hobbies and background information, looking for eating
companions with similar interests.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)

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