Park Forced To Close For Whole Year Because Chinese Tourists Keep Stealing Its Flowers
Videos show tourists climbing over the locked gate of Longqiao Cultural and Ecological Park in Sichuan to get in.
By Alyssa J. Oon — 03 Jul 2019, 03:27 PM
'Aunties' and thieving tourists have forced an ecological park in Sichuan, China to close down for the rest of the year
South China Morning Post reported that Longqiao Cultural and Ecological Park in Sichuan, China has decided to stay closed after its main attention was stripped bare by "barbaric" tourists.
The park is famed for its lotus flowers that bloom across a field that spans 250,000 square metres. For comparison, its area is larger than New York's Grand Central Terminal.
An estimated 200 to 300 people have trespassed the park to strip it bare of its gorgeous lotus flowers
Videos of groups of 'aunties' breaking into the park to pluck out its lotus flowers and bring them home have been circulating across China's web, drawing strong criticism from netizens.
In one video published by The Paper, a group of 'aunties' can be seen holding a bunch of lotus stalks while walking along the path of the walk. At some points, they stopped to take videos and photos of themselves.
The flowers are believed to have bloomed sometime last month.
The park, which was due to reopen after some minor construction work, decided to stay closed after this incident
According to South China Morning Post, the park has been closed since late March for watercourse construction. It will now remain closed for the rest of the year.
Notices of the park's closure had been put up near its gates and the number of security personnel was increased, but that has not deterred tourists.
A park staff member by the name Zhou said, "We cannot control the tourists. We can just guarantee we've done our job well."
