SHENZHEN citizens love ordering late-night dishes, according to a report released Tuesday by online food delivery platform Meituan on late-night food orders in the first half of 2019, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

In the report, Meituan counts orders placed between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. the next day as late-night food orders.

The data show that Shenzhen ranks first in the number of late-night food orders, surpassing Guangzhou and Beijing, and saw a 50-percent increase in the number of orders placed at night compared to the first half of 2018.

According to the report, Chinese people like placing late-night food orders between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., and the number of orders placed during this period accounts for around 40 percent of all orders.

The number of late-night food orders placed by Shenzhen residents in this interval accounts for almost 60 percent of all orders placed across the country during the same period.

In Shenzhen, Chinese cabbage is the most-ordered late-night dish, while enoki mushrooms and grilled tofu rank second and third. Bao’an District has the largest number of late-night food orders, followed by Longgang and Futian districts. Guangming District has the least number of such orders.

Late-night snacks for one person or two are the most frequent orders by Shenzhen residents, accounting for 33 percent and 46 percent, respectively.

One resident placed 563 late-night food orders in the first six months of 2019, topping the list of number of orders placed, according to the report.

However, there are no higher education institutions in Shenzhen in the top 10 in terms of the number of late-night food orders in Guangdong Province. The Guangzhou College of Technology and Business (Foshan campus) and Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (the Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center campus) rank first and second on the list.  (Liu Wenjin)