Restaurant Slammed For Keeping & Displaying Celebs’ Leftovers For Photo Ops

An eatery in Haikou, China’s Hainan province, has come under fire online after a diner revealed it had kept celebrities’ leftovers overnight and even turned the table into a photo spot for fans.

A netizen who visited teahouse 幸福老爸茶 shared that they initially thought a cordoned-off “VIP table” was reserved.

But upon taking a closer look, they were shocked to find it was actually the table used by the cast of popular variety show Keep Running during filming the day before, complete with their leftover food still on display. The show is a spin-off from the popular South Korean show, Running Man.

“Maybe the intention was to let fans take photos,” the netizen wrote, “but the food had been left out overnight… and there were even small insects on it.”

They added that the sight completely ruined their appetite for breakfast.

The pics quickly went viral, showing the table sealed off with name tags of celebrities such as Bai Lu, Fan Chengcheng, Zheng Kai and Chen Zheyuan still in place. A sign also labelled it the “Keep Running dining table”.

While some understood the restaurant’s attempt to create a “fan moment,” many questioned the execution, calling it unhygienic and unnecessary.

Some netizens suggested that if the goal was to attract fans, the eatery could have opted for food replicas or introduced celebrity-inspired dishes instead, rather than leaving actual leftovers out and raising hygiene concerns.

The restaurant has since apologised and cleared the table.

“It’s possible our staff didn’t think it through. We originally wanted to create something for fans to take photos with, but didn’t consider hygiene issues like flies and mosquitoes. However, we have now cleaned everything up and carried out disinfection,” a staff member said.