Tsinghua University Cafeteria Series 清华大学食堂

We used to eat at the Tsinghua cafeteria (shitang 食堂) everyday. There are lots of options, the turnover is tremendous, and sometimes it can be nutritious, filling, and warm on a cold day. Sometimes it is completely disgusting. Here, we eat our way around cafeteria #7, because we hear tell that it is the most delicious among the options on campus. Either way, it’s one of the cheapest: meals average 4-6 RMB each. Food is served (slopped?) on a tin plate, and with a swipe of a card, we sneak our plates out to eat outdoors, near a small jungle gym.

Each cafeteria has different stations, including the dough-centric station shown above. And each cafeteria proudly displays the workers who serve the students within.