The hotel manager says you must check out before 12:00 noon or you will have to pay for half a day's expense even though your departure is timed in a couple of hours. The restaurant waitress explains your high bill includes extra payment for disinfected chopsticks and napkins. The shop assistant insists your purchase cannot enjoy quality guarantee since they are on sale

Every business operator would respond to your inquiries that each item is required by a certain insider rule of the business or sector, probably practiced for years or decades, even though you may encounter it for the first time.

The new version of the Chinese Hotel Industry Guideline, published recently, has an article about checking-out-before-12 deleted. The guideline does not set rules about the time of checking out, though it says hotels should inform guests about the check-out time. But it's reported that many star-rated hotels still require their guests to move out before 12 despite the deletion.