Recently, personnel within the system in Fushun City, Liaoning Province, disclosed that some local government agencies and institutions have been receiving frequent notices, requiring employees and their family members to participate in local cultural and tourism activities on weekends and holidays. These activities include hiking, watching games, and visiting scenic areas. Some units even demand that “each department must send representatives.” Following public concern over topics such as “high-intensity hiking” and “sudden death risks,” some activities also require participants to sign liability waivers.
Screenshots circulating in chat groups on Tencent QQ and WeChat show that the Fushun City Committee and Municipal Government of the Communist Party of China plan to organize cadres, employees, and their family members from municipal government agencies to participate in local cultural tourism activities. Relevant notifications include the “Notice on Organizing Cadres and Employees to Participate in the ‘Passionate Northeast, Meet in Leifeng City’ Su’erqin Scenic Area Tourism Activities” and the “Notice for Cadres, Employees, and Their Families from Municipal Government Agencies to Watch the Event On-Site.” The notifications require civil servants to sign up for activities and indicate, “We are sending 6-7 people,” etc. The notifications indicate that in addition to government agency cadres, some activities also involve “non-staff members” and “personnel sent for service.”
A local civil servant, Mr. Sun, told reporters, “The most difficult situation now is for non-staff members. Many people already have low wages and now have to participate in these additional activities. When the leadership says ‘support local development,’ no one below dares to refuse.”
Ms. Zhang, the owner of a bridal photography studio in Fushun, told Epoch Times that there have been intensive large-scale cultural tourism promotion and collective activities in the area recently. She said, “Hasn’t Fushun been promoting Leifeng City all along? Recently, the news has been promoting the so-called ‘Most Beautiful Salhu, Happy Fushun Tour’ extensive hiking activities, and organizing ‘Meet in Leifeng City’ events at Salhu Scenic Area with ten thousand people hiking around the mountain. If ordinary people don’t participate, the government asks civil servants to make up the numbers, and not participating will affect performance bonuses. Besides civil servants, non-staff members are also required to participate.”
Zhang expressed that recently, the high temperatures make long hiking on mountain roads easy to lead to heatstroke. She said, “Those officials do not consider the weather conditions, they act on impulse, only engaging in superficial efforts, coming up with one tactic after another. Why don’t they consider cutting civil servants? It’s really doing harm.”
A circulated “Liability Waiver” indicates that participants must sign and confirm that “the organizer is not responsible for accidents and sudden illnesses that occur during the activity.” Mr. Hu, a laid-off employee from a local institution in Fushun, told reporters that grassroots units, in order to show off tourism achievements, force employees to attend activities on weekends. They are unwilling to stop the hiking activities that strain people or fear sudden death incidents.
He said, “Zhang Xuefeng felt unwell after running, and later died. They are afraid that accidents will happen during the organized activities, so they force participants to sign liability waivers before departure, shifting the risks of accidents and sudden illnesses during the activities onto individuals to bear, which is trying to transfer risk. They tell you to participate in hiking activities, and if something happens, you bear it yourself. Is this a decision made by reasonable people? I told my daughter not to participate.”
On March 24, Zhang Xuefeng, a coaching lecturer for China’s postgraduate entrance examination and internet celebrity, felt unwell after running in the company and died despite all efforts to save him by the hospital. The diagnosis was sudden cardiac death.
Over the past two years, various local governments in China have continued to promote “cultural tourism,” “night economy,” and “holiday economy.” Driven by short video platforms, areas have been striving for propaganda effects such as “hotspot cities,” “internet-famous scenic spots,” and “events of ten thousand people.” In some places, cultural tourism promotion is combined with implicit matchmaking. A video circulated online shows a restaurant owner in Fushun holding a plate of fried fish saying, “Young couples over the age of 18 are welcome to enjoy for free.”
Liu Yu, a scholar in Chengdu (pseudonym), told reporters that local authorities often create enthusiasm through cultural tourism activities to please Beijing’s leaders and demonstrate their presence: “Many cities do not naturally have tourist resources, nor stable consumer ability, but the higher-ups continue to emphasize the role of cultural tourism in driving the economy. Localities can only rely on administrative mobilization to create enthusiasm and promote achievements through online propaganda. Recently, when I went on business trips to Shanghai and Hangzhou, high-end restaurants saw few customers, quiet and empty, and the same in Chengdu’s shopping malls.”
He said, “A truly market-oriented flow of people requires consumer capacity, industrial foundation, and employment security. If you don’t have these conditions, relying on a few administrative mobilizations won’t boost consumption. The main problem now is solving employment, not through layer-by-layer deployment and mobilization.”
Currently, Fushun’s official response to the authenticity and specific scope of the related screenshots has not been publicly disclosed. Reporters called the Fushun High-tech Development Zone Management Committee, but no one answered the phone.