Eating together, separately

"Sometimes the clients may confuse which pair of chopsticks is personal and which is for serving," Sun says. "It's a problem but also an opportunity for restaurants to design their own serving chopsticks that are memorable with interesting or stylish designs."

Wang Jing, a specialist at Shanghai's municipal center for disease control and prevention, tells Xinhua that it's important to make serving-chopstick use a new part of culture and fashion. This requires customers' insistence.

According to a survey about noncommunal dining by think tank Thinker, nearly 89 percent of almost 100,000 interviewees believe it's more hygienic because it reduces the risk of infection via saliva.

Respondents' three main reasons for not dining individually are tradition, which is hard to change, rapport among diners and that Chinese cuisine is typically served in shared plates and dishes are difficult to divide into individual portions. Three-quarters of respondents say they support non-communal eating.

One respondent likened it to wearing a mask to protect yourself and others. Another said that friendships weren't affected by the fact all students eat separately in a college canteen.

Wang Renxiang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Archaeology, says the tradition of eating from shared plates dates back over a thousand years.

"We previously customarily ate separately. We find evidence for this spanning a period of at least 3,000 years."

Many historical anecdotes mention individual servings, such as Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, which records the story of Lord Mengchang in the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). Every participant in his banquet is served separately.

Unearthed relics and murals in ancient tombs also indicate individual servings.

"Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) tombs' murals often show people sitting on the ground and eating separately. We also see many low wooden tables with beautiful patterns," Wang says.

The low wooden dining tables are also found at the Taosi site in Shanxi province, which dates individual portions to 4,500 years ago.

Communal dining gradually developed around the Tang Dynasty (618-907), when higher tables and chairs appeared, Wang says.

The famous painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival (Qingming Shanghe Tu) shows people eating together on high tables in the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

Wang believes both customs of individual and communal dining result from history.

"Eating together encourages advanced cooking skills in Chinese cuisine," he says.

"Some gastronomes worry that eating separately may influence traditional cooking methods."

"In modern times to eat individually may lose some tradition, but it can also mean more opportunities for creating something new in Chinese cuisine."