Young food enthusiasts, for the past couple of decades, have been seen frequently in an all-night restaurant in Beijing.
This particular restaurant is called A Very Long Time Ago. Customers go here to eat food in skewers and are roasted on coal. The dining experience is not extraordinary.
However, every few minutes, a recorded message reminds customers that they can tip their service staff through scanning QR codes with their smartphones. The codes are seen on pins attached to the staff's sleeve.
One scan will pay for a tip equivalent to 4.56 yuan. Customers can scan as often as they want.
According to the restaurant owner, Song Ji, this type of technology is a first in China. "To customers, that's like just a game," he said.
Song added, "Where the average bill is $30 per person, I recommend a tip of no more than 70 cents."
The restaurant owner just came back from the U.S. He said that in America, tipping has become a burden to customers.
He said, "No matter how bad the service gets, you still have to give a 15 percent tip. That's no good!"
In the restaurant's tipping system, the owner can see how much tips were given and who received it. Song owns 36 restaurants in 3 cities.
One customer said that the tipping system makes the service better, and matters most in an eatery where grilling is involved.
"Especially when you're grilling meat, you don't know if it's cooked through or not," he explained. "The waiter or waitress can show up at the right time to tell you when it's ready."
Tipping in China is slowly being reintroduced and remains a practice in China's high-tier cities.
Feng Enyuan, deputy director of the Chinese Culinary Association, advised restaurant owners to be cautious when asking customers to give tips.
He said, "Don't ruin a good thing. Whatever you do, don't make things difficult for customers or make them feel uncertain about what to do."