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Qinhuangdao: Tourist Trap in Golden Beach
One
of the good things about hosting the Olympic Games is the
development of tourism. Tourist resorts throughout the country
are doing their utmost to benefit from the opportunity. They
should, however, refrain from killing the goose that lays the
golden egg with their exploitation of tourists.
Last weekend I took my
daughter and grandson to Golden Beach, a tourist attraction by the
Bohai Sea, to seek respite from Beijing's sweltering weather.
After checking in at
a hotel, we set out for the beach. When we got there, the boy and
her mother were attracted by the colorful plastic life buoys and
inflatable animals displayed at a row of stalls in front of the
shore. I bought a life buoy and an inflatable toy duck. Each cost 20
yuan ($2.60). But soon after we left the stall, we were dumbfounded
by what met our eyes: a sign board erected on the beach which read:
"For the sake of your own safety, plastic life buoys are prohibited
in the water."
The first question that
came to mind was: "Why is this sign placed right behind that row of
stalls?"
I looked round to find two
booths where some locals were renting rubber tires to tourists. Two
security men wearing ID badges yelled warnings to those who tried to
use plastic life rings. I had to fork out another 50 yuan to rent
two tires and left the plastic life buoys on the beach.
The following is an
exchange I had with one of the security men:
"Why do you allow plastic
buoys to be sold here since they are prohibited?"
"No, we do not allow them
to sell plastic buoys here; the stalls are over there."
"Then, why not place the
warning sign in front of the stalls?"
"That's not our business.
Ours is to ensure safety in the water. Hey, that guy with a plastic
ring, get onshore; it's not allowed in the water!" During the
conversation, more people carrying plastic buoys turned up.
"The stall owners are
doing their business legally, aren't they?" the security man said.
"You let the tourists buy
the plastic buoys; then you forbid them from using it; they have to
rent the rubber tires here. Isn't this cheating?" I said angrily.
"If you think so, you can
file a complaint (to the authorities) or call the police," the
security man said sarcastically.
I was speechless.
Most of the tourists are
there just for the weekend. None of them have the time to spend half
a day visiting the local authorities for an explanation. Losing 50
or 60 yuan is much less than the loss of one-third of a tourist's
time at the resort.
The locals obviously are
fully aware of this. The security men, the rubber tire vendors and
the stall owners were not breaking the law.
But it is obviously a
trap. I wonder why the local government has not taken action. They
can, at least, move the warning sign from the beach to the front of
the stalls.
Probably the government
sees it as added tourism revenue. But this should not be at the
expense of tourists. There are frequent complaints reported in the
press about cheating in restaurants and at the aquatic product
markets of Golden Beach and neighboring Beidaihe, a more famous
summer resort for Beijingers.
These two places belong to
Qinhuangdao, a city that will host the soccer matches of the 2008
Olympic Games.
I want to say to the city:
"For the sake of your own reputation, see that cheating is
prohibited."
(By Liu Shinan
Email:
liushinan@chinadaily.com.cn
)
(China Daily August
1, 2007)
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