Chinese Governor of Hainan pulled into Sanya seafood urchin scandal as tourist refuses to accept official investigation result
- The dispute centres around whether or not any sea urchin meat was used in a dish prepared at a restaurant on Hainan island last week
- Sanya is among the top tourist destinations on the mainland, making the island’s government wary of any potential threats to tourism dollars
Sanya, nicknamed China’s Hawaii, is among the country’s top domestic tourist destinations, making the island’s government wary of any potential threats to tourism dollars.
The incident happened on the evening of Friday last week when the tourist, identified by his surname Zhang, and four other tourists ate supper at Yunqi Guancanghai Restaurant. They ordered six dishes, including the urchin one, and were charged 2,655 yuan.
Zhang said after carefully checking inside the urchin shells, he was unable to find any urchin meat. He also said he suspected the urchin shells had been cooked previously more than once.
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Zhang reported the matter to local police, and after their mediation the urchin dish was removed from the bill which was then 2,427 yuan.
An initial investigation by the local government using surveillance records from the restaurant found no evidence of any wrongdoing, authorities said. However, Zhang remained unconvinced and has been defiant in online posts. In response, the restaurant owner has threatened to sue Zhang for damaging his reputation.
The local authorities said the preparation process was transparent, based on the surveillance footage it reviewed.
Zhang said he felt speechless after the investigation was concluded. “This is the result that the whole country’s internet users and us have been waiting for?” he said on social media.
At a press conference on Monday, Feng Fei, Hainan’s governor, said the government would launch a “deeper investigation to respond to the public’s concern in a timely manner”.
“Hainan provincial authorities have paid high attention to the tourism market order,” said Feng. “In the past few years, Hainan has been overhauling with high efforts the three aspects: supervision system, complaint channel and specific problems [of the tourism sector].”
During the investigation the restaurant said customers may not have found urchin meat in the dish easily because urchins do not grow much out of season.
The owner, whose name was not released, told China National Radio he was 95 per cent sure he would sue Zhang over his public comments which the owner said could ruin the restaurant’s reputation.
“The remaining five per cent depends on this customer’s attitude and sincerity of making an apology to us,” the owner was quoted as saying.
Zhang defended himself, saying he exposed the scandal because it was his legal right.
“We travelled to Sanya aiming to have make a happy memory. Making trouble is not my intention,” he told news portal Red Star News. “I spent so much money on eating in this restaurant but was still swindled.”
In the past Sanya has had a reputation for cheating tourists. In 2012, domestic media reported that a tourist was charged 4,000 yuan for just “three ordinary dishes” at a restaurant which prompted many online to complain of similar experiences.
Cases of tourists being cheated while holidaying in China remain common. A 2017 CCTV investigative report found that a tour agency in Guilin, Guangxi province, took tourists to fewer scenic spots than what were listed in itinerary and pushed them to spend more time shopping.
In 2015, a tourist to Qingdao, Shandong, ordered a shrimp dish priced at 38 yuan. However, on the bill, the restaurant charged him that amount for each individual shrimp in the dish.
