In the heart of French capital city of Paris, where the Olympics is going on, a new restaurant owned by a former athlete is embracing the opportunity the world's top sports event presents.
As the spotlight shines brightly on the Olympics in Paris, the city has continued to uphold its reputation as a culinary haven.
Frenchman's particular obsession for food goes beyond aged cheeses, hearty recipes, and bodied wines, and it infuses every part of French culture right down to the phrases.
Paris, often known as a global capital of gastronomy, is where the French passion for food is palpable. The phrases like "your carrots are cooked" signal the end of a matter, "mind your own onions" is a call for discretion, and "go boil an egg" is a brusque dismissal.
At 'Datil,' an exciting new restaurant with a mission in central Paris, they are relishing the platform the Olympics brings.
"It's a moment we can show what Paris is able to do," said Manon Fleury, owner of Datil.
Talented young chef Fleury is a high-level saber fencer who once represented France, and now she has brought the discipline and teamwork from her sporting days into her culinary endeavors.
''It's like, collective spirit, involvement and effort," she said.
The Olympics reached gender parity for the first time ever at Paris 2024, but in the world's top kitchens, women are still too often shouted out.
''I think we need to change this idea by putting women in this industry and like big positions also. I think we have to fight for this equality," Fleury said.
Offering eco-friendly food is also a top priority, with various vegan choices available on Datil's menu.
Former fencer's restaurant welcomes Olympic fans in Paris
The concept of eco-friendly burials -- ways of laying loved ones to rest that reduce environmental impact -- has grown in popularity among the Chinese people, especially over the past five years.
In China, eco-friendly burials comprise forms such as lawn burials, flowerbed burials as well as tree burials, which require minimal land. Sea burials and biodegradable urn burials that do not take up any land are also popular options.
Analysts believe eco-friendly burials will help to alleviate the strain on land resources, contribute to environmental protection, and also fulfill people's emotional needs for remembering their departed loved ones. The Ministry of Civil Affairs said in 2024, there were 194,700 ecological burials of ashes across the country, up 67 percent from 2019. Among them, 53,500 were sea burials, an increase of 26 percent over 2019, and 141,200 tree burials, an increase of 90 percent over 2019. Today, 28 provinces in China offer rewards and subsidies to families who choose eco-burials.
"More and more people begin to accept land-saving ecological burial methods. China's land-saving ecological burial methods such as sea burials and tree burials have been on the rise every year. China's land-saving ecological burial facilities have become more full-fledged as local governments have increased their efforts to build these facilities," said Liu Tao, director of the Department of Social Affairs under the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
April 4 marked this year's Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day, a traditional Chinese festival for people to pay tribute to the deceased and to worship their ancestors.
During the period around this festival, people often visit graveyards, where they traditionally pay tribute to the dead by offering food and burning incense and paper money.
In recent years, with the support from the government, many have turned to greener practices, such as offering flowers and lighting electric candles. During this year's three-day Qingming Festival holiday from Friday to Sunday, people across China made nearly 54.34 million trips to burial sites, up 14.3 percent from last year.
Eco-friendly burials take root among Chinese people
