Only the things they (scenic area merchants) sell can be brought in to eat, and we cannot bring the food we bring ourselves. "Recently, a tourist posted such a video. In the video, the staff of the scenic area stopped tourists from bringing food up the mountain, stating that the cleaning task was heavy and that "every day there are chicken feet and melon seed peels on the mountain". This matter has sparked a heated discussion in society. Many netizens commented that 'it's better to explicitly say that we can only buy things from the scenic area to eat' and 'it's just to force tourists to buy products from the scenic area'. Some netizens also expressed support for the approach of the scenic spot, believing that "many tourists throw away their food casually after finishing, which puts a lot of workload on the scenic spot staff" and "some tourists casually pour juice, soup, etc. under the trees, causing the rare trees in the scenic spot to die". The journalist found that the debate over whether scenic spots can bring their own food is not an isolated case. Several domestic scenic spots have made regulations and initiatives such as "prohibiting instant noodles from being brewed in scenic spots" and "not providing boiled water instant noodles to tourists in any form" on the grounds of environmental pollution, which has sparked controversy. The interviewed experts stated that regulations such as "prohibiting tourists from bringing their own food in scenic spots" have frequently become a social issue, highlighting the public's concerns about the excessive commercialization trend of scenic spots. The environmental considerations of scenic spots are reasonable, and when formulating relevant regulations, the environmental reasons and scientific basis behind them should be fully explained while taking into account the interests of tourists. When conflicts occur, scenic spots should also respond promptly to tourists' concerns and doubts, providing them with more comprehensive and reasonable scenic services. Due to environmental and safety considerations, food is restricted from entering the scenic area. Recently, the Daocheng Yading Scenic Area banned tourists from bringing their own instant noodles for fear of polluting the water body, which sparked public discussion. A tourist posted a video claiming that the scenic area staff stopped them from brewing their own instant noodles, but some sanitation workers casually poured food soup into the grassland. Later, Daocheng Yading Scenic Area issued a notice: after investigation, it was true that the video reflected that the sales of Hot dry noodles and the sanitation personnel did not handle the soup as required. For the instant noodles brought by tourists, the scenic area will provide free boiled water and a designated area for unified collection and standardized garbage disposal. Public information shows that many scenic spots have made prohibitive regulations on tourists bringing their own food into the scenic area or consuming brewed foods such as instant noodles. At the beginning of 2019, a college student named Xiao Wang from a certain university in Shanghai was checked and stopped by park staff while carrying snacks into Shanghai Disneyland. Xiao Wang believes that the rules set by the park are illegal, which has infringed upon his legitimate rights and interests. Therefore, he filed a lawsuit against Shanghai Disneyland. The case was mediated by the judicial authorities, and the plaintiff and defendant reached a mediation agreement, with the defendant compensating the plaintiff 50 yuan. Subsequently, Disney announced adjustments to the original food and security regulations, allowing visitors to bring food and beverages that do not require heating and processing for personal consumption into Shanghai Disneyland. In 2023, some tourists reported that Mount Huangshan Scenic Spot in Anhui Province stipulated that it was not allowed to provide boiled water and instant noodles to tourists in any form. After the dispute, the Mount Huangshan Scenic Spot reported that the unreasonable spilling of the leftovers and soup ingredients of boxed instant noodles would cause environmental damage and not conducive to wildlife protection. Mount Huangshan Scenic Area does not and will not prohibit tourists from taking instant noodles up the mountain, but it is recommended that tourists not brew instant noodles on the mountain. According to the Instructions to Universal Beijing Resort and Universal Studios, food that needs to be heated or processed (such as instant noodles, instant food hotpot, etc. that need to be processed by adding hot water, microwave heating or self heating) is prohibited from being brought into the park for safety reasons and may affect the experience of others. The reporter found that scenic spots have imposed restrictions or prohibitions on specific types of food mainly due to considerations of environmental protection, safety, and other factors. Correspondingly, there is a demand for tourists to bring their own food. During the interview, many tourists reported that they brought food into the scenic area either because the food was too expensive or because the scenic area lacked corresponding catering services. Qi Xiaobo, chief engineer of the Tourism Research and Planning Design Center of the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, analyzed that in recent years, regulations such as "tourists are forbidden to eat instant noodles in scenic spots" have frequently triggered social discussions, mainly because the prices of consumer goods purchased by tourists in some scenic spots are several times higher than daily prices. According to the Consumer Rights Protection Law, consumers have the right to independently choose goods or services and the right to fair trade. The practice of prohibiting tourists from bringing their own food into scenic spots is often clearly unfair and goes against the principle of fairness in the law. If the real purpose of prohibiting tourists from bringing their own food in the scenic area is to force or indirectly force tourists to purchase "high priced food" within the scenic area, it may constitute forced transactions, and tourists have the right to protect their rights. In the view of Liu Simin, Vice President of the Tourism Branch of the China Future Research Association, currently, many tourist attractions are widely regarded by public opinion as having excessive commercialization problems. Although such regulations in scenic spots are often introduced under the pretext of ecological environment protection, their true motives are easily questioned and seen as inconsistent with reality in the context of possible excessive commercialization. When the same products that are prohibited from being carried by tourists are sold within the scenic area at high prices, it creates a clear contradiction with the rule of prohibiting bringing their own food, making it difficult for tourists to believe that the original intention of the scenic area is only for ecological protection. This obvious inconsistency has intensified public questioning of the regulations of the scenic area, causing tourists to feel that their rights have been violated, which in turn has led to conflicts of interest and a crisis of trust between the scenic area and tourists Liu Simin analyzed that this is a problem of the difference between price rationality and consumer expectations. Liu Simin believes that it is necessary to clearly distinguish between public welfare important scenic spots and ordinary scenic spots regarding whether scenic spots are eligible to restrict tourists from carrying food. "Specifically, scenic spots such as Dunhuang, Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area, Zhangjiajie, etc. are regarded as unique and precious public resources because of their irreplaceable nature and profound cultural heritage (from nature or history)." Regarding such scenic spots, Liu Simin believes that tourists should not be restricted from carrying food and water sources, as these are part of the basic needs of tourists, and as public resources, scenic spots should ensure the reasonable needs of tourists. However, for specific areas such as the interior of Dunhuang caves, due to the need to protect cultural relics, it is indeed necessary to strictly manage tourist behavior and prevent destructive behaviors such as littering. In this situation, explore and implement effective management and punishment measures. For important public welfare scenic spots, a balance should be struck between the needs of tourists and the protection of cultural relics. It is necessary to protect the basic rights and interests of tourists while also strengthening the protection of cultural relics and the natural environment. Liu Simin said that the other type is ordinary scenic spots such as theme parks, which have no significant difference in essence from cinemas and belong to the category of enterprise behavior that fully follows market rules and has the right to operate independently. Consumers have the right to choose, which is called "voting with their feet": when they are not satisfied with the rules, they can choose not to purchase tickets to enter. The prices of food in scenic spots are high, and the pricing should be fair and reasonable. "When visiting scenic spots, sometimes you spend half a day in the scenic spots without food, so you can only buy food from the scenic spots. Sometimes you can't even eat for one or two hundred yuan." Mr. Qin, a resident of Beijing, is keen on self driving tours. He cannot understand the practice of some scenic spots restricting instant noodles. "Some scenic spots only allow you to bring bread and cookies, but people prefer to take a hot bite when they are tired. Isn't not allowing you to bring heatable food just to let tourists consume in scenic restaurants?" The reporter's investigation found that an important reason why many tourists criticize the dietary restrictions in scenic spots is that the prices of some scenic spots are too high. According to public information, the 22 yuan Hot dry noodles sold in the above Daocheng Yading Scenic Spot are only 8 yuan in the supermarket outside the scenic spot. When a tourist dined at a restaurant in Chimelong Resort, Zhuhai, Guangdong, two people ordered a chicken rice set meal, a river noodle dish, a fish ball, and two drinks for more than 200 yuan. Neither of them had enough to eat, but they "couldn't bear to order more". Ms. Huang, a tourist from Jiangsu, recently visited a wetland park in Inner Mongolia and found that the prices in the scenic area were outrageously high - a 3-yuan popsicle in the city costs 10 yuan per stick in the scenic area, and a small bottle of yogurt costs more than ten yuan. Previously, Shanghai Disneyland launched an ice-cream package with a price of 208 yuan, which included chocolate marshmallow ice-cream and mini chocolate bars, causing many people to complain about the "priceless ice-cream". In response, the staff stated that Disney is a park, and most of the food inside the park is more expensive than outside. "If you feel that the 208 yuan ice cream is more expensive, you can choose other more cost-effective food inside the park. Can the food in the scenic area be priced freely? Should there be any restrictions? Professor Zhu Xiaofeng from the Law School of the Central University of Finance and Economics believes that according to the Price Law, except for the prices of a very small number of goods that are closely related to the development of the national economy and people's lives, the prices of scarce resources, natural monopolies, important public utilities, and important public welfare services, the government may implement government guidance prices or government pricing when necessary. The prices of other goods and services shall be regulated by the market and independently formulated by operators in accordance with the law. The prices of food and beverages sold in scenic spots generally fall within the range set by the operators themselves. However, according to the Price Law and other regulations, the pricing of operators should follow the principles of fairness, legality, and good faith, and the basic basis for pricing is production and operation costs and market supply and demand conditions. Business operators should provide consumers with reasonably priced goods and services, and obtain legitimate profits in market competition, rather than illegally profiting by restricting consumers from bringing their own food to create shortages and selling at high prices Zhu Xiaofeng said. In Qi Xiaobo's opinion, the high prices of food and beverages in tourist attractions compared to daily consumption are largely due to the brand consumption premium they bear for special experience scenarios. Market regulated prices allow operators to set prices independently within a certain range, but are also constrained by laws and regulations to ensure the rationality and fairness of prices. Consumers can protect their legitimate rights and interests by filing complaints and reports when facing high prices. Improving the quality of catering services and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of tourists. How to resolve the frequent disputes over "eating" in scenic spots? Henan Laojunshan Scenic Area focuses on the dietary needs of tourists and has launched a "one yuan lunch" for many years in a row. From the live video during last year's National Day holiday, it can be seen that there were a continuous stream of tourists in front of the "One Yuan Lunch" booth, and the sign read "No one on duty, consciously put coins in" and other words. The staff introduced that more than 23000 copies of "one yuan lunch" were sold during the 8-day National Day holiday in 2023. From the perspective of providing more satisfactory services for tourists, it is recommended to optimize and improve the existing commercial operation and management of the scenic area from two aspects Qi Xiaobo suggests that firstly, when issuing relevant regulations, scenic spots should fully communicate and research with tourists beforehand, fully inform them during the promotion of the scenic spot, and timely adjust and improve them when encountering problems afterwards; Secondly, scenic spots should fully combine commercial interests with tourist demand, and reasonably price the catering, accommodation, and tourism products in the scenic area according to market conditions, taking into account both the brand premium of special consumption scenarios and the principle of fair trade with consumers. For the issue of high pricing of goods or services in scenic spots, if the scenic spot is irreplaceable and public, consumers have the right to demand reasonable pricing and carry necessary items. At the same time, severe penalties should be imposed for acts that violate public order and environmental protection regulations. This is not only the protection of consumer rights, but also the maintenance of public interests. Therefore, in balancing all parties involved