China's food culture has long included lavish banquets, where hosts order far more than guests can eat, and rising middle-class meat consumption has added to the environmental cost of waste. Researchers estimated in 2015 that Chinese restaurants discarded 17 to 18 million tons of food a year. In 2012 activists began posting photos of empty plates online, which grew into the Empty the Plate Campaign. In 2021 China passed an Anti-Food Waste Law that fines restaurants and creators who promote overeating. Because the law targets consumption, it led platforms to crack down on eating broadcasts, while critics argue that much of the waste happens earlier. Data for 2022 suggests post-harvest losses were far larger than consumer waste.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.