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CNN
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CNN
Restaurant in China offers lion cub cuddles alongside afternoon tea
Teatime revels in China now include hugs with lion cubs in a four-course afternoon set offered by a restaurant in the northern province of Shanxi, drawing widespread attention online and fueling concern for the animals' welfare. Customers cradled the lion cubs as if they were babies in pictures and video clips posted online on China's Wechat and Weibo platforms. The Wanhui restaurant in Taiyuan city features llamas, turtles and deer in addition to the cubs on its page on Douyin, China's counterpart to social media app TikTok. Wanhui, which opened in June, sells about 20 tickets a day to customers looking to snuggle with the animals as part of a set menu costing 1,078 yuan ($150), the state-run Shanghai Daily said on its official Wechat page. 'The service has raised serious concerns about legality and animal welfare,' the English-language newspaper added. Related video Japan's panda town was booming. Now China wants its pandas back Reuters was unable to independently contact Wanhui. Online comments were mostly critical, saying the venture was dangerous and not good for the animals. 'This is for the rich to play,' said one Weibo user. 'Ordinary people even can't afford to drink.' Another user urged action by the authorities, adding, 'The relevant departments should take care of it.' The incident comes just after authorities investigated a hotel in June for offering a 'wake-up service' starring red pandas, state media said. The hotel in the southwestern region of Chongqing allowed the animals to climb onto beds to awaken guests.


The Print
7 hours ago
- Business
- The Print
Lion cub cuddles on offer with afternoon tea in China
The Wanhui restaurant in Taiyuan city features llamas, turtles and deer in addition to the cubs on its page on Douyin , China's counterpart to social media app TikTok. Customers cradled the lion cubs as if they were babies in pictures and video clips posted online on China's Wechat and Weibo platforms. HONG KONG (Reuters) -Teatime revels in China now include hugs with lion cubs in a four-course afternoon set offered by a restaurant in the northern province of Shanxi, drawing widespread attention online and fuelling concern for the animals' welfare. Wanhui, which opened in June, sells about 20 tickets a day to customers looking to snuggle with the animals as part of a set menu costing 1,078 yuan ($150), the state-run Shanghai Daily said on its official Wechat page. 'The service has raised serious concerns about legality and animal welfare,' the English-language newspaper added. Reuters was unable to independently contact Wanhui. Online comments were mostly critical, saying the venture was dangerous and not good for the animals. 'This is for the rich to play,' said one Weibo user. 'Ordinary people even can't afford to drink.' Another user urged action by the authorities, adding, 'The relevant departments should take care of it.' The incident comes just after authorities investigated a hotel in June for offering a 'wake-up service' starring red pandas, state media said. The hotel in the southwestern region of Chongqing allowed the animals to climb onto beds to awaken guests. ($1=7.1806 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Farah Master in Hong Kong and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.


AsiaOne
8 hours ago
- General
- AsiaOne
Lion cub cuddles on offer with afternoon tea in China, Lifestyle News
HONG KONG — Teatime revels in China now include hugs with lion cubs in a four-course afternoon set offered by a restaurant in the northern province of Shanxi, drawing widespread attention online and fuelling concern for the animals' welfare. Customers cradled the lion cubs as if they were babies in pictures and video clips posted online on China's Wechat and Weibo platforms. The Wanhui restaurant in Taiyuan city features llamas, turtles and deer in addition to the cubs on its page on Douyin, China's counterpart to social media app TikTok. Wanhui, which opened in June, sells about 20 tickets a day to customers looking to snuggle with the animals as part of a set menu costing 1,078 yuan (S$192), the state-run Shanghai Daily said on its official Wechat page. "The service has raised serious concerns about legality and animal welfare," the English-language newspaper added. Reuters was unable to independently contact Wanhui. Online comments were mostly critical, saying the venture was dangerous and not good for the animals. "This is for the rich to play," said one Weibo user. "Ordinary people even can't afford to drink." Another user urged action by the authorities, adding, "The relevant departments should take care of it." The incident comes just after authorities investigated a hotel in June for offering a "wake-up service" starring red pandas, state media said. The hotel in the southwestern region of Chongqing allowed the animals to climb onto beds to awaken guests. [[nid:719906]]

Straits Times
11 hours ago
- General
- Straits Times
Lion cub cuddles on offer with afternoon tea in China
Find out what's new on ST website and app. HONG KONG - Teatime revels in China now include hugs with lion cubs in a four-course afternoon set offered by a restaurant in the northern province of Shanxi, drawing widespread attention online and fuelling concern for the animals' welfare. Customers cradled the lion cubs as if they were babies in pictures and video clips posted online on China's Wechat and Weibo platforms. The Wanhui restaurant in Taiyuan city features llamas, turtles and deer in addition to the cubs on its page on Douyin , China's counterpart to social media app TikTok. Wanhui, which opened in June, sells about 20 tickets a day to customers looking to snuggle with the animals as part of a set menu costing 1,078 yuan ($150), the state-run Shanghai Daily said on its official Wechat page. "The service has raised serious concerns about legality and animal welfare," the English-language newspaper added. Reuters was unable to independently contact Wanhui. Online comments were mostly critical, saying the venture was dangerous and not good for the animals. "This is for the rich to play," said one Weibo user. "Ordinary people even can't afford to drink." Another user urged action by the authorities, adding, "The relevant departments should take care of it." The incident comes just after authorities investigated a hotel in June for offering a "wake-up service" starring red pandas, state media said. The hotel in the southwestern region of Chongqing allowed the animals to climb onto beds to awaken guests. REUTERS
Business Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
Australian PM touts practical cooperation during Shanghai visit
[SHANGHAI] Australia looks forward to deepening practical cooperation and promoting sustained development of bilateral relations with China, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday (Jul 13) in Shanghai. The Australian leader's comments were carried in a statement posted on the Shanghai local government's official Wechat account. Canberra hopes to further strengthen economic and trade cooperation and jointly promote green and low-carbon development, Albanese told Shanghai Communist Party Secretary Chen Jining. Shanghai welcomes Australian companies to invest in the city, China's second largest, Chen said. 'We know the one in four of Australia's jobs depends upon free and fair trade. And our biggest export partner is China,' Albanese said in a video carried on the Global Times' official Wechat account. 'Engaging with China is in our interests to build a stable and secure region.' Albanese was visiting China for the first time since being re-elected in a landslide in May. He's trying to balance an increasingly confrontational relationship between the US and China – respectively, Australia's historic security ally and its biggest trading partner. He also needs to navigate a more complicated regional security environment as China becomes more assertive in the Asia-Pacific. China in February conducted live-fire naval exercises in the Tasman Sea off Australia's east coast, which Albanese said at the time was within international law but for which he would have liked more notice. The prime minister will visit through Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu, describing the visit as a 'further demonstration of the good relations' between the nations. China's economic heft is significant given it takes a quarter of Australia's exports, from iron ore to lobsters and wine. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong warned on Thursday about 'the worrying pace of China's nuclear and conventional military build up,' highlighting that Beijing aims to change the balance of power in the region. A delegation of corporate executives – including from Macquarie Bank and HSBC Holdings' BHP Group is travelling with Albanese. His visit will include a CEO round table in Beijing on Tuesday and an international supply chain Expo that China is hosting. BLOOMBERG