MEN VERSUS FOOD
Diners divide opinion after scoffing 300 crabs, 80 desserts & 50 boxes of fruit at buffet
A GROUP of diners have faced a major backlash after filming themselves tucking into an all-you-can-eat Chinese banquet.
The table shared a video of their gut-busting feast, including 300 crabs and 80 desserts.
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But the clip of the diners - made up of just six men and one woman - has sparked a huge row in China, with some accusing the group of over-eating.
Chinese news site Bailu Video reported that the group - all aged in their 20s - visited the all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant in Qingdao, in China's eastern Shandong province, on May 3.
They arrived at around 5pm and stayed there gorging themselves until the restaurant shut at 9.30pm.
A video shared on Chinese social media by one of the party shows them tucking into a seemingly endless supply of dishes.
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Hundreds of crab shells and empty dessert cups can be seen strewn across the table.
But one of the party, who gave his name as Zhang, defended the party over claims their display of overeating was disgusting.
He told Bailu video that he and his friends all have big appetites and insisted it was normal for people his age to eat excessive amounts of food.
Zhang said: "The seafood this season is still expensive. But we all wanted to eat seafood so we chose a seafood buffet."
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The group 160 yuan (£18) per person for their meals.
Zhang went on: "Besides crabs, mango sago desserts and durians (a Chinese fruit), we all ate many plates of salmon, prawns, and more desserts and meat. We also ate a lot of crayfish."
A restaurant employee said that customers are only given a two-hour window in which to eat all they can.
But on the night the group were eating, the place was so busy that staff forgot to check what time they arrived and ask them to leave.
Many commenters accused the group of over-eating as well as exploiting the restaurant.
One wrote: "It's all right that you ate so many things. But it made people sick that you showed off the crab shells and other waste.
"You are proud because you've gained at a cost to others. You don't have a moral bottom line."
Another wrote: "I am worried about you all. Won't eating in this way hurt your stomach?"
A third said: "They will later pay for it with bad health. Consequences."
However, another commenter defended the group, writing: "Haven't we all stupidly done this once though when in our 20s? Remember going to Buffets and eating 10 plates full, then having a pit-stop, and eating another 4. Let them be kids. You only live once."
But Zhang insisted that they hadn't overeaten and that they had tried to get more food later that night.
He said: "We digest food quickly. By midnight that night, one friend in the group said he was hungry again. He wanted to go out again to eat more, but because it was too late, he didn't."
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China's government passed a law two years ago to prevent food waste and curb excessive consumption, as the country's food producers continue to face issues with supply and demand.
Last month, two women in China's eastern Zhejiang province were detained by authorities after secretly taking 400 yuan (£46) worth of food from a buffet restaurant after they had eaten inside.
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