Huangshan Mountain management advises tourists not to eat instant noodles

To protect the animals, plants and scenery of the Huangshan Mountain, a UNESCO World Heritage site, tourists are advised not to eat instant noodles at the site.

The administration of Huangshan Scenic Area in Anhui province made the announcement on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like platform, on Tuesday to address questions from netizens asking why Huangshan doesn't provide hot water for instant noodles.

The topic "Why doesn't the Huangshan Scenic Area provide boiling water for instant noodles" was the top trending subject on Weibo on Tuesday after a netizen posted a video claiming there was no hot water on the mountains.

Later on Tuesday, the administration of the Huangshan Scenic Area replied to the questions in a Weibo post.

Due to the protection of the ecological environment, boiling water is not provided.

Before implementing the measure, leftovers and packaging materials from instant noodles were often found littered inside the scenic area.

This led to soil salinization and significant damage to the vegetation. The consumption of leftovers by animals such as squirrels and birds also posed a threat to their health and caused semi-domestication — a state of being partly but not completely under human control — of the wildlife on the mountains.

Eating instant noodles is not prohibited on the mountains but it is not encouraged, an official with the scenic area told Dawan News, a news portal based in Anhui province.

The ban on sales of instant noodles on the mountains was put in place in 2006, and punishments for the violators were also specified.

The staff at the scenic area told the reporter tourists are allowed to bring their own food products such as bread, self-heating meals and canned ham. For those who do not bring food, the scenic area has supermarkets and other venues.