A custom may take generations to form, especially in terms of choosing symbolic food for a holiday. But a new custom, eating birthday noodles for National Day, is quickly gaining popularity in China.

First proposed before last year's 70th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China, the birthday-noodle initiative has been well-received among many Chinese.

It is a widely practiced custom for people to enjoy a bowl of noodles on their birthday as a symbol of longevity. Their family members may also have noodles to share the joy and express their blessing.

National Day is the birthday of New China, and "we eat birthday noodles to show our best wishes for the motherland and the people," said Wu Xuemei, manager of a renowned restaurant in Shaanxi province.

On social media platform Weibo, a topic with the hashtag "noodles for National Day" had received more than 15.8 million views as of Thursday, with nearly 8,000 people joining the discussion.

Many video bloggers and official accounts also took the chance to proudly introduce their local noodles to the country and show people's enthusiasm for taking part in the initiative.

The Chinese have been eating and developing various kinds of noodles for thousands of years.

Before this year's National Day holiday, a new book with pictures, recipes and stories of 365 different noodles from across China was published by the People's Publishing House.

It also contains more than 170 teaching videos to help readers make noodles, said the publisher.

Xinhua