Wuhan University creates cherry blossom filter to stop selfie tourists damaging trees

A Chinese university has created a special filter to mimic the effects of falling cherry blossoms to stop tourists damaging the trees for the sake of a selfie.

Wuhan University in central China is famed for its thousand cherry trees, which attract large crowds of visitors when they bloom in the spring.

But some of these hundreds of thousands of visitors have caused problems in the past by climbing onto the trees or shaking them to make the petals fall around them.

The new filter, designed in partnership with the video and live-streaming platform Douyin, allows visitors to add this “cherry blossom special effect” to their own shots without damaging the tree.

Douyin users are already posting pictures taken using the special effect on the site. For example, one young woman, who said she was a student at the university, posted a short video of her blowing the virtual petals in the air and smiling and waving as they rain down on her.