Photo: Screenshot of Weibo video

A restaurant in famous tourism spot Xishuangbanna, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, which was previously known for vulgar shows performed by muscular male performers, has been ordered to cut the performances and fined 106,640 yuan ($14,921) by provincial culture and tourism authorities.

The Thai flavor restaurant in Jinghong city, Xishuangbanna, named Thaigugu, gained attention on social media platforms by their performances offered during meals, which many would describe as vulgar. These performances include muscular male performers feeding female consumers mouth-to-mouth, licking prop poles while dancing, among other provocative moves.

The restaurant's entrance sign reads "the restaurant of hunks," according to widely circulating videos, which feature muscular men in skimpy clothing doing sexually explicit dances while the customers enjoy their meal.

This restaurant's illegal performances were eventually investigated and punished during a centralized joint campaign led by the culture and tourism authorities between July 17 and 21, the Yunnan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism said in an announcement on Wednesday night.

According to the investigation, the operators of the restaurant, surnamed Tian and Han, have employed a number of male actors to provide provocative performances in order to attract consumers from April to July 2023.

The performances were witnesses by a number of minors, and have been uploaded and forwarded by a large number of netizens, causing an extremely negative social impact, according to the provincial culture and tourism authorities.

The behavior of the venue is in violating of the Regulations on the Administration of Commercial Performances, endangering social morality or national excellent cultural traditions. Xishuangbanna Culture and Tourism Bureau has filed a case for investigation and further disposal in accordance with the procedures.

The restaurant was ordered to stop the performance and payback illegal income worth 10,664 yuan, in addition to being fined of 106,640 yuan, ten times the illegal income. Its business license for live performances has been revoked.

Earlier on July 25, Yunnan Province held a provincial tourism market order rectification and service quality improvement work conference, during which provincial leaders asked all departments to carry out in-depth tourism market order rectification 100-day action, and resolutely rectify the market chaos.

Global Times