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Phoebe Zhang

The popular hotpot chain Haidilao is in the midst of a public relations crisis, and internet users are describing the matter as “pee-gate”.
Last month, two 17-year-olds were dining at a Haidilao restaurant in Shanghai and, while drunk, got up on the table and urinated directly into the pot. A video of the incident went viral earlier this month and someone reported it to police.
Local police have since detained the two teenagers. Haidilao later said in a social media post that since the two youths involved in the incident were minors, it hoped the public would not attack the youths or their families, giving them a chance to learn their lesson and grow.
People online reacted to Haidilao’s actions with anger, saying the chain chose tolerance of wrongdoers at the cost of providing quality service and food safety to its customers. Last week, Haidilao moved to quell the public anger by offering every customer on the night of the incident a full refund and compensation that was 10 times the price people paid for dinner.
The reaction of the restaurant’s customers is easy to understand. Haidilao’s brand has long been built around excellent – sometimes over the top – customer service. People have posted stories about Haidilao service staff who helped them celebrate their birthdays, made festive events memorable and even provided a manicure or hair wash.
When the two youths urinated in the hotpot, they trampled on both the restaurant’s cleanliness and customers’ trust in Haidilao’s ability to provide safe food. It made customers worry they could be eating in a pot used as a urinal.


Customers appear to have given their verdict. News reports from a week after the incident indicate that, even though the restaurant was thoroughly sanitised, there were not as many customers as normal at that branch. One staff member told the media “only loyal customers would dine here now”.
In addition, many people appear to have less tolerance for misconduct by minors. The notion that minors needed to be protected, given time to grow and offered a second chance for offences was more prevalent in the past. With more reports of crimes committed by minors in recent years, though, society seems to have less tolerance. The authorities lowered the age of criminal responsibility from 14 to 12 in 2020.
In March last year, three youths under 14 in Handan, Hebei province, were arrested on suspicion of killing their 13-year-old classmate and burying the body in a local vegetable greenhouse. The three dug a burial pit and planned the crime in advance. In December, a local court sentenced one of the youths to life in prison and another to 12 years.
This incident sparked heated discussion on social media, including on the extent minors should be deemed responsible by law.
Though the Haidilao incident is far less serious than a murder, it raises a similar question: how far should young people be held responsible for their misbehaviour?

When it comes to public etiquette, young people in China may not have the best role models. It is not uncommon to spot boys peeing into the bushes, often encouraged by their parents or grandparents. Another thing I cannot get used to is how many people seem to still be accustomed to spitting everywhere.
Even though there are laws against such improper public conduct, they are rarely enforced. For instance, a Beijing law dictates that spitting, littering or urinating can be punished with fines of up to 200 yuan (US$28) per incident, but I have never heard of anyone being fined. The law is difficult to enforce. Whom should I report to when I spot a spitter on the street? How should I prove to the authorities that he really did spit?
The lack of consequences for bad behaviour surely played a part in the Haidilao incident. If the video had not gone viral, the restaurant might have got away with just a clean-up. It fully sanitised the shop and compensated diners only after the public backlash. Imagine if the public never heard about the incident. Would diners be eating out of the offending pot in the future?


A similar incident happened in Japan in 2023, when a 17-year-old boy licked a soy sauce bottle and an unused tea cup at a Sushiro restaurant in Gifu prefecture. The restaurant sued the youth for 67 million yen (US$447,000), though the suit was dropped after the youth admitted responsibility and the two sides reached a “reasonable” agreement. One comment on social media said, “Even though the 17-year-old is not yet an adult, he has already received many years of education at school, can’t he tell right from wrong?”.
I hope Haidilao has learned a lesson, as have any minors out there who think their “joke” or minor misbehaviour should be tolerated without consequence.


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China’s youth must be taught bad behaviour will not be tolerated

Haidilao is famous for its attentive and sometimes over the top customer service. Photo: Getty Images 

Pedestrians walk past a signboard urging people not to spit and litter along a street in Beijing in November 2007, ahead of the 2008 Olympics. Even today it’s not uncommon to spot boys peeing into the bushes. Photo: AFP

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Two teenagers have been detained in China after they urinated into a hotpot dish at a famous restaurant chain outlet. Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin/SCMP/Simon Song

A video shows the drunken teenagers standing on a table and urinating into the hotpot. Photo: Weibo

The Haidilao outlet involved says all its utensils, and the premises, have been thoroughly cleaned. EPA-EFE

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The Haidilao hotpot chain provides happy couples and guests with special table settings. Photo: Weixin

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A restaurant in China is being investigated for using a mixture of old and new cooking oil in its hotpot dishes. Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/Douyin

Oil from dishes already eaten by customers is blended with new oil and served up again. Photo: Weibo

Experienced diners in China say the use of so-called saliva oil in hotpot dishes is an “open secret”. Photo: Weibo 

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The uproar over Haidilao’s initially lackadaisical response to teens peeing in a hotpot shows the need for tougher enforcement of proper public conduct


The uproar over Haidilao’s initially lackadaisical response to teens peeing in a hotpot shows the need for tougher enforcement of proper public conduct.


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Haidilao

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Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


China’s youth must be taught bad behaviour will not be tolerated

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The uproar over Haidilao’s initially lackadaisical response to teens peeing in a hotpot shows the need for tougher enforcement of proper public conduct

The uproar over Haidilao’s initially lackadaisical response to teens peeing in a hotpot shows the need for tougher enforcement of proper public conduct