Guess who's coming to dinner?

Photo provided to China Daily

Every week through his website Youfanapp, about 60 hosts in Beijing and Shanghai provide meals at their homes, from various traditional Chinese cuisines to Western-style brunch to cozy afternoon tea and desserts.

As of the end of July, more than 3,000 people have bought meals and the website has attracted about 150,000 fans, according to Feng.

Besides Woyoufan, many startups in China have followed the social dining trend already popular in the West since 2013. Peer-to-peer dining is seen as a new kind of "sharing economy" fostered by online companies like Airbnb and Uber. Many see a greater market in China, considering the nation's food culture.

Chinese people are born with strong love for cooking and sharing food with others. "It's rooted deep in our blood. Just look at the number of Chinese restaurants around the world," says Feng, 28, who graduated from Yale University and returned to China in 2014.

In order to organize a more comfortable setting, a Shanghai-based host has rented another house, a period structure in a former concession area, for the once-a-week meal. A Beijing-based host has moved into a downtown apartment to make it more convenient for diners.

Many of the hosts, says Feng, used the site first as diners.

For Jiang Pingping, a housewife who quit her job this year, taking part in this kind of social dining seems to be a regular activity. Every week, she will try a new meal, meet different people and make friends. She says she loves to find new dishes at hosts' houses－and to learn to cook them for her children at home.

Making friends while eating together is a good way for Chinese, who are often shy in public, to break the ice, says Jiang.

Feng says, a home-cooked dinner creates a comfortable environment for many Chinese, who might otherwise feel embarrassed to talk to someone they meet for the first time. The food is a medium to gather people and provides a good topic for conversation, too.

A few customers even start dating others they meet at such dinners, adds Feng.

To organize a comfortable and interesting dinner, some hosts play musical instruments for their guests, while others offer cards and games.

As a new host, He Manxi cooks hot and spicy crayfish, a special local cuisine from her hometown in Central China's Hunan province. After dinner, her daughter plays the piano for diners and her son-in-law will start a conversation with their young guests, mostly in their 20s.

He says, although she has to prepare the dinner one day earlier, spending many hours in the kitchen, she feels satisfied when she sees her guests relax and laugh at the table and hears them praise her food－usually homeland cuisines for people working in Beijing.

"Most Chinese don't know this kind of dining. Once they learn of it, they will be passionate about it," says Feng. He believes it represents a new kind of lifestyle for people, just like going to watch a movie or dining out at restaurants. Later this year, his team will recruit hosts in many new cities, including Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Guangzhou.

Contact the writer at dengzhangyu@chinadaily.com.cn