Shanghai Disneyland bans watermelons, fermented tofu, but netizens smell a fish

Some netizens said that Shanghai Disneyland had missed the crucial point of the handbag inspection controversy, after it rolled out new regulations on Wednesday forbidding visitors from carrying certain types of food into the amusement park.

According to the new regulations, visitors are now allowed to bring food into the land except food with a pungent smell or that needs to be frozen, heated or processed. The prohibited foods include instant noodles, whole watermelons, durians and fermented tofu.

However, some netizens argued that the real controversy lies in whether Disneyland has the right to check the inside of visitors’ handbags (to make sure they don’t bring in inappropriate food).

“But handbag checks are related to privacy and we deserve an explanation from Disneyland,” one netizen named Jinribaozang commented in a Weibo post.

Disneyland rolled out the new food entry regulations after controversy was aroused over whether or not it had the right to check visitors’ handbags to prevent them from bringing food into the park, particularly as its own restaurants often provide food at well-above-average prices.

Disneyland later lifted its food entry ban amid public pressure. However, pictures began to circulate on the internet showing people bringing bizarre foods into the park, such as a whole watermelon along with a knife, again igniting discussions on the internet.

A resident surnamed Lu told the Global Times that she agrees with Disneyland that odorous food can’t be brought into the park because “the park is often densely populated and smelly food would affect others in such public places.”