Residents in a county in southwest China's Sichuan Province have been told they can only hold banquets on three occasions — weddings, funerals and birthdays of those over the age of 70.
The new rules target a predilection for banquets for anything from moving house to children going to school, the Chengdu Economic Daily reported.
The Tongjiang County government in Bazhong says 70-year-olds can have a banquet for their birthday but then can't have another until they're 80. The rules for civil servants are stricter, they can't have birthday banquets at all. Violators will be warned and punished, a government notice said.
Public reaction has been mixed.
"There are simply too many banquets here," Tongjiang resident Yang Deying told the paper.
"Today the elder son hosts a banquet for his father's birthday, tomorrow the younger son will hold another, and it happens every year."
Zhu Kun is happy because of the "red envelope" problem, where guests bring cash for the banquet host.
Zhu said the minimum red envelope had increased to 200 yuan ($32.22) from the one or 2.00 yuan common 20 years ago.
"One should give at least 200, and closer friends or relatives should put in 500 yuan, and there is no upper limit," said Zhu, who works in a pharmacy and earns 3,000 yuan a month. "When a person gives 1,000 yuan to my banquet, I will have to return 1,200 yuan next time at his/her banquet as a tradition."
Tongjiang resident Yuan Mingxin, a man in his 60s, told the paper he thought the new regulations were too strict and would be hard to enforce.
"Banquets need to be regulated, but this notice is not practical. For those who are not healthy enough to live to 70, he or she might never have the chance to host a banquet."
