In February 2026, a monkey performance at Longquan Ancient Town · Drama Fantasy City in Luquan District, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, provoked public anger. Reports by Jimun News and HK01 said images posted online showed a monkey in a yellow vest kneeling on the ground with its head covered by a black cloth and its arms tied behind it to a plastic pole. Another image showed a monkey fitted with a metal muzzle and tethered by a long rope as spectators watched.

Fear Packaged as Entertainment

The cruelty of the scene lies not only in the rough handling, but in the way restraint, fear and submission were turned into spectacle. The Sun reported that the act included a prop gun and a mock-execution scene. World Animal Protection later described circulating footage in which macaques were tied, hooded and positioned as if facing a firing squad.

A monkey cannot understand a theatrical plot or consent to being muzzled, tethered, hooded and made to kneel. To an audience, it may last only minutes; to the animal, it is real pressure, control and humiliation.

Venue and Official Response

Jimun News reported that on February 25, staff at Longquan Ancient Town said the show was run by a cooperating performance team and that the venue had ended the contract and stopped the act. Customer service staff also said the performance had been removed from the programme. A staff member of Luquan District’s culture, radio, television, sports and tourism bureau said the matter had been noticed and was under active investigation.

Pointing to an outside contractor does not remove the public responsibility of a tourist venue. A place open to families and children should not use an animal’s fear, restraint or humiliation as a gimmick.

Why This Is Recorded

This archive records the incident not because public sources confirmed the animal’s death, but because it shows a form of harm too often minimized under the names of tradition, interaction or scenic entertainment: an animal deprived of freedom, forced into unnatural postures and surrounded by applause and cameras.

Kindness toward living beings does not begin only after death. It begins when people see an animal hooded, tied, muzzled and made to kneel, and can say clearly: this is not fun or education; it is the anxiety of a weaker life being turned into performance material.

Timeline

• Around February 22, 2026: The Sun reported that the mock-execution act took place at Longquan Ancient Town · Drama Fantasy City in Hebei.
• February 25, 2026: Jimun News reported that online images sparked criticism and that Luquan cultural and tourism officials were investigating.
• February 25-26, 2026: HK01 and Sing Tao reported that the venue had ended the contractor’s show and removed the act.
• March 6, 2026: World Animal Protection said the macaque mock-execution performance had been halted.

Sources

• Jimun News
• HK01
• World Animal Protection
• The Sun