Chinese tourist slammed for climbing up tree to shake down cherry blossom
Tens of thousands have visited a university campus in Hubei province to enjoy the annual display of blooms
A university in central China has strongly criticised a tourist’s bad behaviour after a man was filmed violently shaking trees on campus to create “cherry blossom rain”, a newspaper reported.
The man clambered over fences and into a cherry blossom tree on Saturday at Wuhan University in Hubei province, shaking branches violently to dislodge the petals, according to a video circulated on Chinese social media.
Onlookers cried out in surprise as the unnamed man laughed and shouted.
He also argued with another visitor who tried to stop him from climbing into another tree, according to The Beijing News.
“The university condemns such behaviour,” Zhou Long, director of the campus management office at the university, was quoted as saying. “We hope the visitor has self respect and realises his wrongdoing. We would welcome his apology,” Zhou said.
Thousands of visitors flocked to the university to see this year’s cherry blossom, a famous spot for appreciating the annual bloom.
The university set a quota of 30,000 tourists a day during weekends and 15,000 on weekdays to cope with the numbers wanting to visit.
It spends 6 million yuan (US$954,000) each year catering to tourists during the annual cherry blossom season, according to the college.
Similar incidents have regularly been reported in China.
