Sunday, July 17, 2022

Chinese influencer cooks and eats protected shark on livestream, police investigating
JULY 16, 2022
By MANDY ZUO

A Chinese influencer is under fire for eating what appears to be a protected shark.
South China Morning Post


Police in southwest China are investigating a popular Chinese food vlogger who has come under fire for cooking and eating a shark believed to be an endangered species in her latest video.

The police inquiry in Nanchong, Sichuan province, came after web users pushed for an official investigation into Tizi, a young female influencer with millions of fans on Douyin and Kuaishou, China’s two major live-streaming platforms.More from AsiaOneRead the condensed version of this story, and other top stories with NewsLite.

Tizi is believed to have eaten a 50kg fish that appeared to be a young great white shark, a protected species in the country.

The video posted on both platforms on Tuesday (July 17) has been removed, along with all her previous videos, after it triggered widespread criticism.

A potentially offensive shark’s tale covered in spices getting prepped to be cooked.
PHOTO: Weibo


The woman, from Sichuan province, which is famous for its spicy food, attracted her fans because of her sweet look but bold food choices, such as crocodiles and ostriches.

Tizi denied she was eating an endangered species after some viewers noted that it looked like a great white shark.

“I bought it legally and I am looking for a lawyer. These people were talking nonsense,” she responded to Sichuan local news app Red Star News on Thursday.

She always cooks rarely-eaten animals in a massive wok with a large amount of spices and cooking oil.

In the latest controversial video, she ate the roasted tail of the shark covered with pepper while exclaiming, “This is so yummy!”

The rest of the shark was cut into small pieces and boiled with spices.

Read AlsoChinese 'pangolin princess' detained after allegedly eating endangered animals


At one corner of the video frame was a notification saying the animal was “bred in captivity and is edible”. However, people online have questioned the integrity of that warning label.

Web users have urged for an investigation from the authorities as many found her behaviour “disgusting”.

“I’ve seen her videos before. They were outrageous. She also ate a crocodile and a golden giant salamander … It was extremely disturbing.” one user wrote on Weibo.

Another said: “She literally eats anything to grab eyeballs. I was horrified when seeing her eat a crocodile tail once.”

China once had a booming industry of people watching live streams of other people eating large quantities of food, typically referred to by the Korean word Mukbang.

But, these live streams have come under scrutiny over the past two years after President Xi Jinping made it a policy point to combat unnecessary overeating and food wastage in China.

After censors started to target videos featuring the consumption of absurdly large quantities of food, many influencers tried to earn clicks and followers by eating extremely unconventional foods.

Another popular food vlogger and chef surnamed Zou was detained in May last year after sharing a video that featured him cooking and eating a giant triton, a protected species of sea snail.

This article was first published in South China Morning Post.

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