Do not go to scripted murder-mystery games (剧本杀, jubensha) or escape rooms opened in a residential building or on basement level 2 or below

A 2022 notice from 5 departments states that a script-entertainment venue must not open inside a residential building, and must not open below basement level 1. These sites are often dim, with narrow passages. Some are fitted out with flammable materials, and the evacuation routes are locked or blocked, so they are hard to get out of in a fire. Before you book, look at the address and the floor on the review page. If it does not comply, pick another place.

Cost

No cost. Before you book, ask which floor the address is on.

Benefit

A dedicated 2022 notice from 5 departments is specific: "Script-entertainment business premises must not be located inside residential buildings, below basement level 1 of a building (not including basement level 1), or in similar places." The notice also requires venues to carry out the Work Safety Law and the Fire Protection Law, and to "routinely identify, inspect, and correct their own fire risks, and improve the ability to organize evacuation and escape in an emergency and to fight a fire in its early stage." The same notice also requires an age notice on the script. If a scenario is not suitable for minors, minors must not be allowed in. Except on statutory holidays, rest days, and winter and summer school breaks, script-entertainment activities must not be provided to minors. At the end of 2021, the fire service and the culture and tourism departments of Qingpu District, Shanghai, inspected 13 venues of this kind. The bulletin said these venues are usually dim, with narrow passages, and that the problems included decoration with flammable materials and evacuation routes that were locked or occupied.

Notes

The Qingpu bulletin also said that some businesses, for the atmosphere, make the rooms into a maze and hide the evacuation signs and the emergency lights. Once something happens, people cannot find an exit straight away. Before you book, the review page already shows the floor, and whether it is a residential building. If it does not comply, switch to another place.

Sources · 2

1. 文化和旅游部、公安部、住房和城乡建设部、应急管理部、市场监管总局 (2022). 关于加强剧本娱乐经营场所管理的通知. gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2022-06/27/content_5…
2. 上海市青浦区文化和旅游局 (2022-01-10). 关于我区「密室逃脱」类场所消防安全专项检查的情况通报. shqp.gov.cn/tv/wlzwgk/ml/yw/20220217/913272.html