Inflation has already overshot the central bank's 4 percent limit for three straight months after bad weather and an avian flu outbreak drove up egg, corn tortilla, meat and bean prices.
Wednesday's lunch offerings for the Beijing delegation featured the relatively mundane egg drop soup, boiled corn, stir-fried bokchoy and sticky rice with pork.
Sometimes, you're just in the mood for a plateful of General Tsao's chicken, egg salad, wings, canned corn and artichoke hearts with a side of pork spareribs.