Tourist site introduces innovative measure to tackle graffiti

A tourist attraction in inner Hubei province has taken an innovative approach to combat graffiti by installing large touch screens that allow visitors to create digital designs.

Administrative officials at Yellow Crane Tower Park in Wuhan have set up three giant electronic graffiti walls, each two metres tall, on different floors of the tower. Besides accessing transport and hotel information, tourists can also draw on the giant touch screens, allowing visitors to leave their marks at the famous tourist site on the Yangtze River without causing any permanent damage.

The screens have been introduced in response to the widespread habit of Chinese tourists of defacing attractions and monuments, no matter how important or ancient they might be.

The most commonly-seen messages left by Chinese tourists are their names or “dao ci yi you”, meaning “have been here”.

The national penchant for defacing tourist sites not only has a negative aesthetic impact, but in many cases constitutes vandalism, resulting in permanent damage to some important sites.