...and then my relatives open them up and insist on rinsing each piece with boiling water anyway (conveniently always provided as part of the tea service). Als

...and then my relatives open them up and insist on rinsing each piece with boiling water anyway (conveniently always provided as part of the tea service). Also, in recent years, many restaurants have started to charge for the wrapped plastic cutlery + dishes, usually 1 RMB for cutlery and 2-5 RMB for the dish set (you don't get to keep them - it's basically just the fee for the cleaning + packaging). Perhaps they're trying to encourage people to bring their own, which is a bit of a weird (but probably environmentally friendly) idea.