"Hello. Here is a friendly reminder before dinner: this small bucket contains serving chopsticks and spoons for you," reads a notice at a hot pot restaurant in Shijiazhuang, north China's Hebei province.

The serving chopsticks (R1) and spoon (R2) in a restaurant in Shijiazhuang. (People’s Daily/Shi Zhiqiang)

The notice was part of a drive by the Hebei provincial department of commerce in collaboration with the provincial market supervision bureau, the provincial department of culture and tourism, and the provincial cultural office on April 10 to promote healthier table manners among the public.

A poster reading "One pair of chopsticks for every dish, and one spoon for every soup" was placed at the door of the hot pot restaurant, and there were signs advocating the use of serving spoons and chopsticks on every table in the restaurant.

 "Sitting together to share dishes is really unhygienic, and the use of serving spoons and chopsticks should have been advocated a long time ago," said one customer at the restaurant, surnamed Yang.

The specification issued by Hebei makes it clear that serving spoons and chopsticks should be clearly distinguishable from individual spoons and chopsticks in terms of size, color and material. 

A poster promoting use of serving chopsticks in Shijiazhuang. (Photo/Xinhua)

In this hot pot restaurant, the color of public chopsticks and spoons is obviously darker than personal ones. The serving chopsticks are also about 5 centimeters longer than the others, and are marked with the words "serving chopsticks". 

After customers leave the restaurant, waiters will quickly change the tableware and disinfect it, according to Wang Lijun, manager of the hot pot restaurant.