Cafeteria no. 7 at Tsinghua University is incredibly crowded. The space issue is compounded by the reservation system, which is a fancy way of saying that students stake out seats with a mitten, hat, or notebook. Walking into the cafeteria at rush hour – 12 pm sharp – is an entire lesson in strategery. Otherwise you may find yourself with a full plate of whatever RMB 4 buys you these days, no seat, and nowhere to go but the -2 C weather outside. Groups complicate the issue; it’s really best just to go with one other friend to lunch. On a particularly crowded day, I once saw a guy chowing down on his plate of rice and brown-sauced stir-fry standing over the sink at the back.
After one finishes eating, one dumps the plate, chopsticks, and whatever food one couldn’t finish at the dish collection station. It’s acceptable, however, to leave little piles of bones on the table, as you see here.
Unaware of the word “stategery” until today: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategery
Long live the Bushism!!!
Hey! I was a foreign student in Tsinghua too! I miss the dumplings buffet and jianbing inside campus!