Late-night diners wait outside restaurants in Beijing's Dongcheng district last month. (Photo: China Daily)

A chef cooks meals for diners at a night market in Jinan, Shandong province, in June.

Diners enjoy barbecue skewers at The Lancet, an eatery set up by physician Wang Jian in Dongcheng in July.

Roadside vendors sell barbecue fare on a food street in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.