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With diners gathered around cauldrons of boiling soup, dropping meat and vegetables into the broth, hot pot is a quintessentially communal Chinese dish. But the country’s dominant chain has a new weapon to attract single diners: stuffed bears. 食客们簇拥在一锅热汤旁，将荤素菜肴放在底料中煮熟，火锅已经公认成为中国美食的精华。但是中国的火锅连锁巨头有了一种新手段去吸引单身食客用餐：毛绒熊。 The introduction of large plush toys to accompany solo diners in the 200 outlets of the Haidilao chain highlights the efforts of businesses in China to take advantage of a demographic shift creating a rising number of single consumers. 200家海底捞火锅店用毛绒玩具陪伴单身食客用餐，这凸显了中国人口结构变化已催生出众多单身食客，商家纷纷努力抓住这种变化带来的商机。 “They help people feel less lonely,” said Wang Ping, a waitress at a Haidilao in Shanghai, suggesting the Financial Times choose between a large teddy bear and a stuffed yellow chicken. 上海海底捞店的服务生王萍（音）说：“他们可以减轻人们的孤独感”，并向《金融时报》透露顾客可以在大泰迪熊和黄色毛绒鸡中任选其一。 | 
