The seven cities that had the fastest increase in online catering transactions in 2015 are all small cities, which include Yining in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Cangzhou in Hebei province and Shangqiu in Henan province.

Total online transactions in Yining in 2015 were nearly 47 times greater than the 2014 figure. That was the fastest increase in online transactions nationwide, followed by Cangzhou (37 times), and Kuerle in Xinjiang (30 times), the report says.

Lamb kebab, pilaf-style rice and yogurt are the signature and most popular foods in Yining, according to the report.

An executive with Meituan-Dianping, who asked not to be identified, also attributes the quick growth of online-offline catering service in small cities to the fact that people there are sensitive to price, and Meituan-Dianping apps enable them to get the most desirable deals that have competitive price and service.

In average price per head paid for a meal in 2015, Shanghai was the No 1 city, followed by Chengdu in Sichuan province and Datong in Shanxi province. People paid nearly 128 yuan per person for a meal in Shanghai on average, 126 in Chengdu and 125.9 in Datong.

Beijing ranked seventh last year, with an average bill of 117.2 yuan per head.

The report also showed hotpot is Chinese people's favorite food in every region. Spicy hotpot in the Chongqing or Sichuan style is most popular among Chinese diners, followed by fish hotpot and Hong Kong hotpot.

Among all Chinese, Beijing people love barbecue most, and in Sanya in Hainan province, Wuhan in Hubei province and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, people consume more seafood than people in other places.

Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangdong's capital, Guangzhou, are the top four cities in Japanese and South Korean fare consumption, while Guangdong people love Western cuisine more than people in other provinces.

The majority of Meituan－Dianping apps users are 20 to 30 years old, and about 70 percent are female, the report says.

Yuan Yuan, a young woman in Hengshui, Hubei, says she always uses apps to search for restaurants when she wants to dine out.

"It is very convenient to search for a restaurant by distance, rating, flavor or price, and to make a reservation, and pay online," the 28-year-old says.

"I just hope more restaurants will use online payment systems."

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