Prison-themed bars have sprang up across China with customers flocking to seek an “immersive experience” they can share on social media.
Advertisement
Patrons wear inmate-like orange jumpsuits, while the bars’ interiors feature metal bars, suspect mugshots and graffiti-covered walls adorned with old newspapers.
Customer cubicles are designed as individual cells.
To heighten the prison vibe, bar owners also set aside a dark room as an interrogation chamber filled with instruments of punishment like handcuffs, foot chains and sticks.
Such venues have appeared in Qingdao, eastern Shandong province, Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, also in the east; and Chongqing in southwestern China.
Some owners attribute their business creation to the Netflix series Orange is the New Black.
Advertisement
The bars generally charge customers around 50 yuan (US$7) for drinks such as cocktails, soda water and coffee. At some outlets, customers need to pay an additional 10 yuan to rent signature orange jumpsuits.
