In Mingzhu Community in Guanyinqiao Sub-district, Jiangbei District on April 3, the staff member is adjusting the price, quantity, weight, and calorie information of the dishes for the day, which will be showed on the display board. (Photographed by Cui Li / Visual Chongqing)

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- In the digital community canteen, the dining tables will calculate the price of dishes, and you can check in through facial recognition. It will also calculate your calorie intake to help you keep a balanced diet. To give a detailed introduction to Chongqing’s first digital community canteen located in Mingzhu Community, Guanyinqiao Sub-district, Jiangbei District, the reporter visited the canteen himself.

It's the lunch rush in the digital community canteen before noon on April 3. “Digitalization is the core of the operation of our canteen. You will have a full understanding of it after seeing how I order and pick up food here,” said Lu Yue Ting, head of the canteen. He showed the reporter how he ordered and picked up food in the canteen.

If you are new to this digital canteen, you need to open an account through facial recognition on WeChat and then link the account with your payment account. Before picking up his food, Lu Yueting finished opening an account and link it with his payment account before the face recognition equipment.

With a plate and tableware, he entered the food pickup area, where 12 dishes, three types of rice, six kinds of noodles, and two kinds of fruits are available on several rows of tables for lunch and dinner. It also serves breakfast.

Lu Yueting took a spoonful of braised pork with preserved vegetables in soya sauce into his bowl and put it on the checkout table. The display board automatically showed the name and price of the selected dish and collected the fee.

How the price is calculated without a scale? How payment is made without scanning a QR code? Lu Yueting said, “the answer lies under the dining table. Though it looks similar to the ordinary tables, it’s equipped with chips that can calculate the price of dishes and scan the plates of customers to offer a time-saving and convenient dining experience.

What interested the reporter more is that the display board also showed the calories, fat, protein, and carbohydrates of dishes. It showed that the braised pork Lu Yueting had taken contained more than 1,100 calories, and fat and carbohydrates exceeded the health standards. He said, “the calories contained are enough for me. I’ll just have some more green vegetables."

Lu Yueting told the reporter that the calorie, fat, and other data of the dishes shown in the canteen were rigorously calculated through the scientific algorithm. They will launch a health management system in their WeChat official account soon, which will provide a weekly diet report for residents based on their age, height, weight, disease history, and other information they provide.

It is understood that a technology company has been introduced to offer social marketing services for this digital community canteen in Guanyinqiao Sub-district. The canteen was almost full during lunchtime. We could see that, in addition to the elderly, there were lots of mothers with their children and young people working nearby by.

Over 800 users had registered with the digital community canteen for the past few days, and the elderly accounted for 40%. It’s more popular among young people, said Lu Yueting. At present, the canteen receives up to 300 customers a day. (Translated by Yuki, Fathom Language Limited)