The use of separate serving chopsticks and spoons becomes a popular village regulation in Quzhou. [Photo/qz828.com]

Catching the whole world by surprise, COVID-19 has also made residents in Quzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, and local residents consider changing traditional table manners, especially adopting the use of separate serving chopsticks and spoons.

Chinese eating and dining customs have long favored large serving plates on a round table surrounded by many people. By the late Tang Dynasty (618-907), eating communally had become very common. However, even when people sat together the food was still served separately, and diners used their private utensils such as chopsticks, thus reducing the risk of germs being passed on.

Shangyang village in Kecheng district has written the use of separate serving chopsticks and spoons into the village rules and regulations, which made the village a hotspot web celebrity punch village.

Using separate serving chopsticks and spoons has become fashionable in Shangyang. Zhu Jinmu, a 78-year-old villager, and his 75-year-old wife Zheng Jixiang have changed their 50-year dining habits and have been named one of the village's first role model families – "Virtue Farmers".

All the villagers in Shangyang now are strong supporters of using serving chopsticks and spoons.