‘Macho restaurant’: raunchy eatery in China where muscle-bound waiters fed women diners mouth-to-mouth and licked ‘rods’ forced to close
- Racy eatery in tourist hotspot goes too far for local authorities, forced to close, has cash seized and owners slapped with fine
- Ripped male waiters exposed muscles, danced provocatively and wiped women diners’ mouths after feeding them mouth-to-mouth
A racy restaurant with provocatively dressed male waiters has raised eyebrows – and temperatures – in China leading to its closure by the authorities.
The self-styled “Macho Restaurant” operated between April and July in the popular tourist destination of Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture, Yunnan province, in the southwest of the country.
However, it faced the wrath of officialdom earlier this month after videos of scenes on premises began circulating online.
Clips of its sexily-clad male waiters prompted some online observers to quip: “No need to go to Thailand, you can experience a male model restaurant right here in Xishuangbanna!” according to Beijing Youth Daily.
The Siamese theme was no doubt fuelled by the restaurant itself, which took the name “Thai Drum Thai Drum Thai Cuisine” and displayed a sign at the entrance declaring “Macho Restaurant upstairs”.
Tall and muscular men, dressed in tank tops or entirely shirtless, performed provocative dance routines to tease mainly female audience members.
Racier dance routines included “rod licking” – something akin to pole dancing – and suggestive dancing. Some of the “macho men” even fed female customers mouth-to-mouth, wiped their mouths afterwards, and offered shoulder massages.
Reports say children formed part of the clientele at times.
Xishuangbanna is celebrated for its Dai ethnic cultural heritage and tropical climate. This draws large numbers of tourists and has created a competitive entertainment business environment.
A member of staff at the restaurant told Beijing Youth Daily: “Business was not doing well, so to boost customer numbers, the restaurant hired well-built actors to perform.
“Initially, there were just six actors offering relatively normal dance performances. When customers filmed at the restaurant and shared the videos online, the restaurant owner saw it as a promotional opportunity.”
On Dianping, one of China’s most prominent platforms for crowd-sourced reviews on catering services, the “Macho Restaurant”, with an average cost of only around 110 yuan (US$15) per person, had been well-received.
Many praised the male models for their “impressive physique” and “passionate dancing,” and some even compared their style to the famous “Magic Mike” live show in London.
Comments on Dianping also revealed that customers could request WeChat contacts from the models, but additional fees were required for taking photos.
However, on July 26, the local authorities announced that the performances had violated social ethics and besmirched the area’s traditions.
The restaurant was ordered to suspend its operations, had 10,664 yuan (US$1,600) of illegal income confiscated and was slapped with an additional fine of 10 times that of the illegal income seized.
A member of staff from the Enforcement Bureau of Yunnan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism told Beijing Youth Daily: “As a frontier province, Yunnan has seen some commercial performances that have been borrowed from foreign countries, which may infiltrate the cultural market in the border area and undermine the inheritance of our national outstanding traditional culture.
“Such performances should be firmly cracked down from the early stage,” the staff member said.
While many online observers supported the closure others did not.
One person said: “The restaurant should simply restrict entry for minors. There’s nothing wrong with adults watching this.”
Another agreed, saying: “I want to go. It sounds like paradise!”
