Chinese tourist town pledges to clean up act after attacks, scams
Communist Party boss says tourism market in Lijiang will be regulated with an ‘iron fist’, news website reports
Officials in a famous tourist town in southwest China have pledged to clean up its image after a series of attacks on visitors and allegations that tourists are overcharged and the victims of scams.
The Communist Party secretary in Lijiang in Yunnan province told a meeting attended by nearly 1,500 people involved in the tourism industry last Friday that the authorities would regulate the market this year with an iron fist, the news website Thepaper.cn reported.
“There will be nothing too small for Lijiang’s attention. We will find fault with anyone who affects the town’s tourism market and environment,” party boss Luo Jie was quoted as saying.
An attack on two young women at a barbecue restaurant in the town by a gang of about a dozen young men in November was prominently covered by the media in China.
One of the victims released photographs showing her scarred face with swollen eyes and a long deep gash the length of her nose.
The two had complained about their experiences in Lijiang when they were attacked with beer bottles.