5,000 dinner tables set record in Zhejiang

Tourists and local villagers of Taishun county in Zhejiang province enjoy a potluck dinner together for the Lantern Festival on Feb 28, 2010. Staffers from the headquarters of the Great World DSJJNS in Shanghai announced the potluck’s entry into the company’s record. The annual potluck is said to originate in Zhangzhai village of Sankui county, where people who moved from Heibei province in north China to avoid the scourge of war more than 1,000 years ago kept the tradition of holding a feast together on the Lantern Festival. It then evolved into a grand banquet, which the public was invited to, and today it plays an important role in boosting tourism as well as fellowship among the people. This year’s potluck attracted more than 70,000 people with 5,400 dinner tables in counties such as Sankui, Yayang and Xiyang. [Photo/CFP]