Japan has been encouraging Chinese tourists to visit by offering multi-entry visas of up to ten years, but their guests haven’t always been so cooperative. The latest scandal happened at a 1,200 year-old Buddhist temple in Kyoto where a mainland Chinese tourist was seen flagrantly breaking the temple’s rules even though other Chinese tourists had respectfully complied.
A person at the shrine said he saw a man speaking Mandarin bypass a line-up of people waiting to drink from a sacred waterfall, which is said to contain the ability to grant wishes. The unidentified man simply waded into the sacred pool below the Otowa-no-taki Waterfall instead of waiting for his turn.
Normal shrine rules ask visitors to use long-handed ladles as a way to collect water from the waterfalls. Tradition says each of the three streams of the waterfall represent longevity, love, and wisdom.
Visitors are not supposed to drink from all three streams, which is said to bring bad luck. The Chinese tourist that jumped into the sacred pool was photographed using an empty bottle to collect water from each of the three streams.
First built in 778 AD, the Kiyomizu shrine is a designated UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.
Chinese tourists had last caused a commotion during the this year’s cherry tree blossom festival when a disgruntled news personality suggested visitors from China be confined to a specific area in order to limit damage to area trees.