A mother in Harbin, China, was seen collecting her child’s urine in a paper bowl while dining at a Haidilao outlet, shocking nearby patrons and sparking a hygiene discussion online.
According to Mr Wang (name transliterated), a witness, the incident occurred on the evening of Thursday (30 Oct) when the mother’s child reportedly shouted that they needed to urinate.
In response, the mother used a paper bowl to collect the urine and then placed the bowl on the restaurant’s food tray before wiping the floor with a hand towel.
Source: Current News on Weibo
According to China’s news outlet Current News, the smell of urine quickly spread throughout the restaurant, causing discomfort among other diners.
Mr Wang immediately lodged a complaint. However, he was only offered a plate of fruit as compensation, which he found unacceptable given the circumstances.
He expressed his dissatisfaction with the restaurant, stating that such an unhygienic situation should never happen in any dining establishment.
“They urinated right across from me, and the smell was still there. We didn’t even eat the fruit platter,” he said.
On Friday (31 Oct), Haidilao responded, claiming that the restaurant underwent a thorough cleaning within 15 minutes of the incident.
All contaminated items were disposed of, and staff members were tasked with communicating with the affected customers.
The incident sparked outrage among netizens, who slammed the mother’s parenting.
“Haidilao should just sue directly, following the compensation from the previous urine incident. After that, everyone will behave properly,” one user commented on Weibo.
Translation: Haidilao should just sue directly, following the compensation from the previous urine incident. After that, everyone will behave properly
Source: Weibo
Other netizens have reacted to the incident with comments like, “Has Haidilao turned into a ‘public toilet’?” and “Eating hotpot now gives me psychological trauma.”
This is not the first time Haidilao has been involved in a urine-related scandal.
Earlier in the year, a similar incident occurred in Shanghai when two teenagers urinated into a hotpot. The news caused national outrage, leading to the detention of the teenagers.
Haidilao responded by destroying all affected tableware, deep cleaning the restaurant, and offering full refunds and ten times the amount in compensation to 4,109 customers.
The court later ordered the teenagers and their parents to pay RMB2.2 million (S$397,000) in compensation.
Also read: Teens in China fined nearly S$400K over viral Haidilao hotpot urination video
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Featured image adapted from Current News on Weibo.