Seafood Consumption Tips
Sanya's seafood is famous far and wide. To ensure every visitor can dine with confidence, Sanya has established a full-chain system for seafood price regulation and consumer protection. Before enjoying your meal, take a moment to review this highly practical consumer guide:
Choosing a Restaurant and Checking Prices
When selecting a seafood restaurant or seafood processing shop, look for the following signs of a properly licensed business:
Verify official credentials: Before entering, check whether the Business License and Food Business Permit are prominently displayed.
Clear, standardized pricing: Compliant seafood tanks follow a "one tank, one item, one price" standard, clearly labeling the seafood category, size, unit of measurement and unit price — with no vague pricing or hidden markups.
Check the government-guided price cap: Sanya enforces a maximum price cap on fresh live seafood, updated daily. You can scan the QR code on the in-store seafood price board to check prices in real time, or search "Sanya Seafood Dining Live Seafood Price Regulation" on WeChat to see the latest daily price caps. If a merchant's price exceeds the guided price, you have the right to refuse the purchase.
Weighing and Verification
To prevent short-weighing, Sanya enforces extremely strict traceability standards for merchants' weighing procedures. Pay close attention to the following steps when making a purchase:
Use compliant scales: Licensed merchants are uniformly equipped with inspected, certified IoT-connected electronic scales whose data is recorded in real time.
Standardized tare weighing: Weighing must use a mesh "integrity basket"; once the basket is placed on the scale, it must be zeroed out (tared) in advance to exclude the container's own weight.
No added weight in raw seafood: Crabs and other shellfish may not be bound with thick rope to add weight. Merchants must fully demonstrate the zeroing, taring and weighing process for your inspection.
Verify the receipt before paying: After weighing, the merchant will issue a receipt showing the weight, unit price and total price. Check the receipt against the menu item by item before settling the bill. Official public fair scales are also available in the market for you to re-verify the weight at any time.
Eating Safely
Checking for freshness: When purchasing, choose lively, actively moving fresh seafood. You may confirm the seafood's condition together with the merchant before it's processed.
Stomach protection advice: In the tropical climate, seafood must be thoroughly and fully cooked before eating. Raw seafood (such as sashimi) should only be sourced from restaurants with specific cold-food processing qualifications.
Moderation and precautions: If you're trying tropical seafood for the first time, avoid overeating. When eating seafood, try to avoid drinking large amounts of ice-cold beer or eating large amounts of chilled tropical fruit (such as mango or coconut) at the same time, to prevent acute gastroenteritis.
Protecting Your Rights
Sanya has a comprehensive tourism rights-protection system. Be sure to keep your invoice, receipt, ticket or online payment record after settling the bill. In the event of a consumer dispute or price fraud, you can seek rapid resolution through the following channels:
WeChat rapid rights protection (recommended): Search for the "Sanya Worry-Free Travel" official account or mini-program on WeChat, tap "Complaints & Compensation" and upload your proof of purchase. The system will respond automatically within 3 minutes. If the evidence is sufficient, the platform will initiate advance compensation within 30 minutes.
24-hour phone complaints: Call 12345 or 12315 (Market Supervision Complaint Line) at any time.