PLA cooks up new menus to beef up soldiers
By Sun Shangwu (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-05 06:16

In a country famous for its delicious food, the quality of life is often judged in a very big way by what is on the dinner table.

PLA soldiers at a navy base in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province, tuck into one of their sumptuous dinners on Friday. [China Daily]

But dishes served up to those who might one day have to fight for the country haven't always been up to scratch. Now that could be changing.

In an effort to improve the combat ability of its more than 2 million servicemen, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has quietly been undertaking a "kitchen revolution" to raise food quality.

The General Logistics Department of the PLA has equipped all units with better kitchenware and, more importantly, skilled chefs, according to a report by the PLA Daily, the official army newspaper.

The food allowance for officers and ordinary soldiers this year is 50 per cent more than five years ago, according to the report.

The daily food expenditure for each serviceman now ranges from 10 yuan (US$1.23) to 38 yuan (US$4.69), depending on where they work and what they do.

Usually, fighter pilots have the best food, followed by sailors and soldiers.