At this time of the year, with the Spring Festival only a week away, good restaurants in town are busy with customers booking rooms for their family reunion banquets on Spring Festival's Eve. However, some found an alternative by which they don't even need to worry about crowded restaurants: to hire a chef to cook at their homes.

Mr Liu is a company manager in the northeastern Chinese city of Dailan. For the sake of convenience, his 16-member big family had Spring Festival Eve dinners at restaurants in the past few years. But this year, his 80-year-old grandma insists to have it at home, saying only in this way can the festival have its true meaning. When the family members found it hard to make a good meal for sixteen, they decided to hire a chef from a restaurant for the Spring Festival's Eve.

"We will buy the cooking materials and then rely on the chef. We can just have fun." said Liu.

A catering service company in Dalian told a local newspaper that some 30 families had booked their chefs for the Spring Festival's Eve and the number is expected to grow. The customers can buy the cooking materials themselves or book a package service at a higher price.

Many citizens showed interest in this service, as "the Spring Festival means the family get together at home," and "eating at home is more comfortable."

Experts say the service shows the living standard of Chinese has improved and people are pursuing the true meaning of the traditional festival and higher quality of life.

(CRI February 2, 2008)