A restaurant in Southwest China sparked an uproar by serving body sushi, a traditional Japanese dinner featuring sushi served on the naked bodies of women.

The Huaishi restaurant in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, premiered the controversial body sushi Friday, the Daily Sunshine reported Monday.

The restaurant chose two college students to serve the body sushi. The two bathed in salt water for 30 minutes and had their temperatures lowered before the service, said a restaurant source. The women were not completely naked when serving the dinner and the restaurant did not plan to include body sushi in its menu, the source said. However, some media reports said the restaurant had set a price of 1,000 yuan (US$122) per head for a body sushi.

Many Kunming residents were against the service. "It was a humiliation for women," said a Mr. Qian. However, some people believe body sushi can be served in China so long as it was not against the law.

(Shenzhen Daily April 6, 2004)