Workers pack river snail rice noodles, also known as luosifen, on the production line at a workshop in an industrial park in Liuzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Aug. 30, 2020. Exports of Luosifen, an iconic delicacy known for its pungent smell in Liuzhou, registered soaring growth in the first seven months this year, with a total value of 15.35 million yuan (about 2.24 million U.S. dollars), statistics showed. (Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang)

A snail rice noodle store owner in East China's Zhejiang Province was recently forced to close shop after surrounding stores complained about the foul odor it often emitted.

Snail rice noodles from South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region became a surprise hit during the epidemic, attracting many new fans while putting others off who said they could not take its pungent smell. This was the reaction that a man surnamed Huang received after he opened a snail noodle store in a mall in Zhejiang. Huang's store is currently unable to operate because the landlord has cut off electricity due to repeated complaints from other shop owners in the mall, who say that the smell is unacceptable and is driving away customers.

After receiving numerous complaints from surrounding stores and customers, the landlord came to Huang's store and found that he often forgot to turn on the range hood. The landlord believes that this caused damage to third parties and therefore asked Huang to move out.

Some netizens said that Huang should not have chosen to open a store in a large shopping mall where it is difficult to ensure proper ventilation.

The police will conduct a follow-up investigation into the unresolved conflict.

Global Times