“Chi shitang (eating canteen)” is a type of phrase in Chinese which is made up of verb and object (“zai NP chi”). It is regarded as a metonymy in the sense that the object is used as patient. By referring to the examples using “shitang” in the Chinese corpus and comparing “chi shitang” and other chi-phrases, this paper elaborates on how this construction conveys the meanings it intends to. “Chi shitang” is an example of licensing a non-core argument to appear as an object. The emergence of this new metonymy will lead to more creative phrases appearing in the Chinese language.