Chinese Officialdom Indulges in the Almost-Free Lunch

There is such a thing as a free lunch, and it can be had at the cafeteria in China's Ministry of Transportation and Communications. According to an anonymous university professor who recently published an account of his meal there, diners can have their fill of 10 meat and vegetable dishes, a carton of yogurt and a piece of fruit for 1 yuan, or about 15 cents. The only catch: Diners have to be employees or guests of the ministry.

As Chinese government profligacy goes, this is small potatoes. But for middle-class Chinese buffeted by rising inflation and stagnating wages, the 1 yuan government lunch was a sharp reminder of the perks and privileges that Chinese government officials enjoy, and are denied to almost everyone else. Thus, it was no surprise when, early this week, "Department of Transportation and Communications cafeteria" quickly became a top search term at Baidu, China's leading search engine, and trended on Sina Weibo, China's top microblog.