During a visit to Osaka in Japan, I was shocked by a warning.

    Before stepping into a local buffet restaurant, our tour guide told us seriously: “Do not waste food, or you’ll be fined.”

    Sitting in the restaurant, I found the local diners were very self-disciplined, choosing food carefully with no leftovers.

    When I was going to fetch food, I saw a warning in Chinese ONLY on a blackboard: “Don’t waste food!”

    I was so shocked by this warning. But what was more shocking was that a serious-looking waiter tapped the blackboard with a pen, to remind me of the warning.

    And, what was even more shocking was that I encountered a similar situation in many local restaurants during the tour.

    After returning to China, I searched for the information on Chinese waste of food. The result shocked me: 30 percent of the food was wasted at feasts in China. Flaunting and a lack of discipline were two main reasons for waste.

    I could not help recalling one of our ancient poems: “Farmers weeding at noon. Sweat down the field soon. Who knows food on a tray. Thanks to their toiling day?”

    Wasted food is a kind of guilt, so we Chinese must root out the bad habit without warnings from people in other countries.