TW: Video Of A Diner Urinating In Hotpot Went Viral; 4,100 Customers Compensated By The Eatery

Trigger Warning: the article discusses and contains images of a man urinating in a hotpot at a restaurant in China. A shocking video clip from a Shanghai Haidilao restaurant has caused a public outcry, in which a customer was seen urinating into a hotpot that was boiling. The clip soon went viral on the internet, disgusted netizens and raised severe food safety concerns. As the backlash intensified, Haidilao issued an apology and said it would compensate more than 4,100 diners who had eaten at the restaurant from Feb 24 to March 8. 

Haidilao Hotpot Incident: What Occurred?

China restaurant chain refunds thousands after diner urinates in hotpot pic.twitter.com/OpiLDBpBFN

— DJBroid (@DjBroid) March 13, 2025

A clip went viral, in which a young man stood on a table at one of Haidilao’s Shanghai branches and urinated straight into a vat of boiling broth. The late-February clip rapidly gained traction on Chinese social media, with people outraged over the flagrant food safety violation at one of China’s best-known restaurant groups.

Haidilao apologised for the incident in a formal statement, describing it as ‘extremely sorry’ and stating that they were taking legal action against the culprits. The company clarified that its employees were not trained to respond to such an event, hence the inability to detect the misbehaviour.

Later, the Shanghai police arrested two 17-year-olds, Tang and Wu for the incident. They were put into administrative detention. Because China’s age of criminal responsibility is generally 16 but can be raised for serious crimes, the two minors received legal punishment under domestic law.

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Massive Compensation And Refunds For Impacted Customers

In response to the outcry, Haidilao revealed that it would give full refunds to all customers who had eaten at the impacted outlet between February 24 and March 8. The restaurant is also providing compensation of ten times the bill value to those impacted. The action, in an attempt at damage control, is an indication of the company’s attempts to restore public confidence.

Despite the refund policy, social media users condemned Haidilao for waiting weeks to apologise. Several wondered why the firm at first brushed off the incident as ‘malicious information spreading’ rather than acting quickly to address the issue.

While food safety standards in China have improved immensely over the years, cases like the Haidilao hotpot scandal point toward continuing issues in the sector. The Haidilao hotpot incident left customers stunned and raised new issues regarding restaurant cleanliness.

Although Haidilao’s offering of refunds and compensation reflects accountability, the slow response leaves many questioning the brand’s crisis management process.

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What do you think—should restaurants adopt tighter monitoring to avoid such an incident, or is this merely an unfortunate isolated case?

Cover Image Courtesy: @DjBroid/X & @asabeshehu/X

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