Last week, seven visitors were murdered and eight were injured when a massive flood struck a valley in Sichuan province in western China.
The tragedy that occurred on August 13 in a valley in Pengzhou, in a rural region of the county, has revived concerns about ‘wild adventures’ promoted on social media to young people.
There are calls for influencers and their platforms to act properly while promoting potentially harmful vacations, according to The Guardian.
A video depicting floodwaters rushing down a valley and sweeping away individuals in their path has subsequently gone viral on social media.
The Global Times, a state-run publication, reported: ‘Warning signs and chain-link fences were constructed, and security personnel were despatched to discourage visitors, but these precautions were largely useless.
‘Wild excursions,’ or ‘yeyou’ in Chinese, became a social media sensation in 2020, with young people traveling to off-grid areas for adventures.
Influencers on Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of Tiktok, and Little Red Book, which is comparable to Instagram, have promoted the Sichuan Valley as a haven of “hidden resorts.”
Consequently, unknown locations are gaining notoriety as young travel destinations in surprisingly short periods of time.
However, the country’s natural geography poses a threat to individuals who are inexperienced with the terrain. Locally known as Longcaogou, the Sichuan Valley is a flood discharge corridor with frequent flash floods and mudslides.
It is believed that Covid travel limitations played a role in altering people’s holiday preferences, with many opting for adventurous travel over traditional places.
Beijing Youth Daily quoted Xu Guilin, a partner at the Beijing law firm Jurisino, as saying, “When it comes to undeveloped beautiful areas that offer possible safety dangers, media platforms should be required to issue safety alerts and monitor the material.”
‘Publishers of such content should also inform the public of the potential risk posed by a particular destination. If not, then both platforms and publishers should bear some legal obligation.