A tourist accidentally dropped her phone into the water while rafting at a scenic spot. When a local man demanded a “fee for his effort” and was refused, he threw her phone back into the water, taunting her: “If you have the ability, get it yourself.” After the tourist reported the incident to the police, the villager was ultimately given an administrative detention of 7 days.
According to a report by Purple Cow News, an internet user said that she and a group of ten were rafting at the Yalu Rafting Scenic Area when her phone accidentally fell into the water. At first, they approached a villager’s stall inside the scenic area, and the person quoted 1,000 yuan (about 594 ringgit) to retrieve it, then led the group to another stall. There, a man asked for information about the make and model of the phone, and upon confirmation, demanded 1,500 yuan (about 891 ringgit) as a “hardship fee” for returning the phone.
After the two sides couldn’t agree on the fee, the man directly threw the phone back into the rafting river, mocking, “If you have the ability, retrieve it yourself.”
The phone owner, in a panic, jumped into the water to look for her phone, but due to the complicated river conditions, she was nearly endangered, only to be rescued in time by other passing tourists. The netizen also said that several staff members from the scenic area were present at the scene but did not intervene in time.
Since her phone could not be found, she chose to call the police, and officers arrived on the scene and took the man away.
Later, as the water level dropped, a local woman retrieved the phone again and also insisted on being paid a “hardship fee.” Upon learning that the owner was originally willing to pay 400 yuan (about 237 ringgit), she instead demanded 800 yuan (about 475 ringgit). In the end, after police mediation, the owner got her phone back.
The Administrative Penalty Decision document from Tonglu County Public Security Bureau shows that the offender, Fang (male, 49, with a criminal record), picked up the tourist’s phone at a spot in the Yalu Rafting area. Upon failing to get the desired fee, he knowingly threw the phone into the river full of hard rocks, risking its damage. According to Article 49 of the Public Security Administration Punishment Law of the People’s Republic of China, Fang was given an administrative detention of seven days.
When a reporter inquired about the incident at the Yalu Rafting Scenic Area, a manager, Mr. Chen, explained that while the scenic area always reminds tourists not to bring phones, it can’t strictly forbid it, resulting in frequent incidents of phones falling into the water. As the river is open and can’t be closed off, villagers often wait by the river to pick up phones dropped by tourists and ask for compensation.
Mr. Chen said that since some tourists are willing to pay for the villagers’ effort, such cases are hard to eradicate entirely, and occasionally tourists might complain and involve the scenic area, but neither the scenic area nor its staff ever participate in such activities.
At present, the scenic area is trying to prevent villagers from entering the river by putting up warning and notification signs at various locations.
Regarding the need for phone retrieval, Mr. Chen said that the scenic area will arrange for dedicated staff to handle such cases, and the service will be free of charge.