It turns out that the rock located on Mt. Utong in Shenzhen, southern China, was an artificial structure with hollow parts. Mount Utong, which is 944 meters above sea level, is the highest mountain in Shenzhen, and is a tourist attraction that countless visitors visit every year for hiking. As the huge rock lies on the first peak of the mountain, any hiker who climbs to the top used to take a photo there.
Recently, however, a large hole was made in the side of the rock, and brick pillars and steel pipes were found inside the rock. It turned out that the building was not made of natural materials but artificial structures made of bricks and cement. Chinese Internet users were enraged, saying that it was a fraud targeting tourists to Mt. Wu Tong. The quality of the cement used to make the fake rock was also found to be poor, sparking controversy. “I thought it was a rock and went up to take a picture, but it was empty inside,” a tourist said. “Many people were exposed to the risk of accidents.” Other tourists also criticized, saying, “I don’t trust other famous tourists” and “I feel completely deceived after climbing this mountain for years.”
“The rock model was made in 2004, and we knew that those who visited Mt. Utong were artificial stones,” the management office of Mt. Utong said, protesting that it had no intention of deceiving people. “We are repairing and remodeling the internal safety structure of the rock, and we will reopen it to tourists later,” he said.
A similar incident that deceived tourists occurred in Shenzhen on April 14 (local time). A fake shark made of robots was displayed at the Xiaomeisha Sea World Aquarium, China’s largest aquarium. Before the opening of the aquarium, a whale shark about 20 meters long was promoted, saying that it would be displayed along with other marine animals, but in reality, a robot shark with clearly visible body connection and unnatural movement appeared. Angered by the announcement, visitors demanded a refund, saying, “I bought an admission ticket to see a whale shark, but I got cheated.” Immediately after the controversy, the aquarium admitted, “The robot is right,” but said, “We had no choice but to release a robot shark because it is currently an endangered species and cannot be traded. We invested millions of yuan to make the robot.”
SOPHIA KIM
US ASI JOURNAL
