Chinese Restaurant Sparks Controversy with Lunch with Lion Cubs

Liputan6.com, Jakarta A unique restaurant in Shanxi Province, China, which offers a lunch experience accompanied by lion cubs, has sparked animal lovers' concerns.

Launching CNN on Wednesday (July 16), viral photos and videos on the WeChat and Weibo platforms showed customers of the Wanhui restaurant in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, China, hugging a lion cub like a baby.

On the social media account Douyin, known as the “Bamboo Curtain Country” version of TikTok, this restaurant in China also features other animals, such as llamas, turtles, and deer.

According to a report by Shanghai Daily, a newspaper owned by the Chinese government, this unique restaurant, which has been operating since June, offers a limited dining experience with animals.

The restaurant distributes around 20 tickets per day to visitors who wish to interact directly with the animals.

A complete lunch package with the opportunity to cuddle with the animals is priced at 1,078 yuan, or about US$120.

The Shanghai Daily, in its report, also highlighted concerns about the legality and welfare of animals in the services offered by restaurants in China.

Meanwhile, Reuters has not been able to contact Wanhui to obtain direct confirmation regarding the practice.

On social media, many of the comments were critical.

One Weibo user wrote, "This is for the rich to play. Ordinary people can't even afford to drink."

While another user urged the authorities to intervene immediately, “The relevant departments must deal with this.”

This incident surfaced just weeks after Chinese authorities investigated a hotel in Chongqing.

The hotel had offered a unique “wake-up service” using a red panda that was allowed to climb into guests' beds, state media reported.