As the recent central government mandate for civil servants and government functionaries to economize continues to awe our servants into abstinence, some restaurateurs are missing out on one of their most lucrative business opportunities: catering for the time-honored year-end office party.

There are murmurs of complaint from many of those who have taken this tradition so for granted that they no longer seem to be capable of reflecting on the adverse health, social, and environmental consequences of this ritual. The ritual of wasteful extravaganza, practiced on a national scale, has nothing to do with the mundane biological need for life-sustaining nutrition.

It has degenerated, like most Chinese banquets, into a pagan celebration of abundance and excess, with free flow of liquor and drink, and food Ñ food meant to impress, surprise, and utterly satiate.

Only then would foreigners realize why some of the grandest buildings in China are dedicated to this ritual.

During a recent conference in Japan, after a fully packed four-hour conference, I sat down to a frugal, cold bento (lunch box), of such moderate portion that it took me several seconds to become resigned to the mouthful of darkish soba, meant to be the main food.