A restaurant in Shangcheng district, Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, makes custom serving chopsticks for customers. [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]

The government of Shangcheng district in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, recently custom-made 400 serving chopsticks for 43 restaurants in the Hubin business area and Qinghefang Street in a bid to promote healthier dining.

Since restaurants in Hangzhou were allowed to resume services following a lengthy closure due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, many of them have encouraged the use of serving chopsticks among customers.

"Since March, we have been providing serving sticks and spoons for customers to decrease the risk of virus transmission," Su Guochao, deputy general manager of the headquarters of Zhiweiguan, a local restaurant.

"We found that customers have been more than willing to use serving chopsticks since we started providing custom-made ones a month ago," said Zheng Leyun, an executive at Tianxinglou Restaurant on Hefang Street, adding that they will provide even more serving chopsticks for customers in the future.

He said that they usually disinfect the serving chopsticks for at least 40 minutes after cleaning them.

Officials say the local government in Shangcheng district will promote the use of serving chopsticks to more restaurants.

The government of Shangcheng district in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, releases a poster calling for healthier dining practices. [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]