Chinese tourists smash up resort office after bugs fail to appear in display

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Chinese tourists smash up resort office after bugs fail to appear in fireflies display

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 01 May, 2014, 2:53pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 01 May, 2014, 9:57pm

Mimi Lau in Guangzhou [email protected]



A man tries to smash a window at the tourism office of Xiang Lake in Hangzhou. Photo: Weibo

What was promised as a romantic evening display under the glittering lights of 30,000 fireflies by a scenic Zhejiang lake resort turned into hours of staring at the blank night sky.

This prompted a mob of angry tourists to march on the resort's management office and smash the doors and windows when they couldn’t get a refund.

The nearly 10,000 tourists had paid 30 yuan (HK$38) to see the fireflies show – some paid up to 180 yuan for scalped tickets – for opening night at the Xiang Lake plaza in Hangzhou city.



A woman kicks down what appear to be lockers for tourists at Xiang Lake. Photo: Weibo

But after the scheduled 7.30pm start, the insects were nowhere to be seen, China News Service reported today.

After two hours of waiting, the tourists surrounded the lake management office in Xiaoshan district, demanding refunds and an explanation. They got more upset when the organisers provided neither.



Another tourist tries to smash a window at the tourism office of Xiang Lake in Hangzhou. Photo: Weibo

Witnesses said some people began vandalising nearby exhibition facilities, according to China News Service. Pictures from the scene showed people smashing windows and kicking down the doors of what appeared to be lockers for tourists.

The low temperatures in Xiaoshan were likely a factor in the absence of the fireflies, which emit beams of light from their abdomen to attract mates and “flash” more in warmer weather. It was expected to be below 20 degrees Celsius over the next six evenings.



A broken window at the scene. Photo: Weibo

A tourist at the scene posted a message on Weibo criticising the event organisers for failing to return the audience’s money, some of whom came from faraway provinces just to see the show.

“We can live with the fact that no insects showed up, due to [the cold], but the organiser should have stopped selling tickets and offered us a refund,” the tourist said.

According to a report today from Dushi Kuaibao, a tabloid owned by Hangzhou Daily Press Group, the event organiser has decided to cancel the firefly show and visitors can claim refunds in the next 10 days.



The mob flocked to the tourism office to demand a refund. Photo: Weibo

The fireflies display was slated to run during the golden week holiday from yesterday to May 3. Local police said they were investigating the vandalism.

Wild fireflies had been spotted late at night in July and August at parks and in rural areas where there were rarely crowds.

When the event in Xiaoshan was announced before the holiday, mainland netizens had criticised it, saying it was “cruel” to bring 30,000 fireflies on a 10-hour journey from a Jiangxi farm to Xiaoshan Lake.

Some said releasing the bugs into a strange environment would kill them as they are sensitive to temperature, noise and light.



Thousands of fireflies were promised at a golden week exhibition at Xiang Lake in Hangzhou city. Photo: ArgusPhoto

Adult fireflies have a notoriously short life span, living for three to five days (long enough to mate and lay eggs) depending on the species or up to two months in the wild.

Last July, a forest park in Hunan province released 15,000 fireflies but the insects were deterred by the crowds’ noise and camera flashes, which also nearly caused chaos among disappointed tourists.

The same month, Qingdao’s Zhongshan Park also released 10,000 fireflies but more than half of the insects died after three days.





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