During this year’s May Day holiday, many mainland Chinese tourists traveled to Sai Kung in Hong Kong for hiking and camping, but their irresponsible behavior of littering and other actions have drawn attention from the public. Some were fined 3000 Hong Kong dollars for littering food scraps, and when interviewed, one of their friends casually commented that “just pay the fine,” and even smoked on the spot, sparking criticism for their remarks and improper behavior.
Last Friday evening (May 1st), the Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department patrolled the Ham Tin Wan campsite in Sai Kung, issuing fines to mainland Chinese tourists who littered and left food scraps, with some receiving fines of 3000 Hong Kong dollars.
Regarding the question of whether the promotional efforts of Hong Kong authorities urging tourists to “take their trash with them” are sufficient, a Hong Kong Now TV reporter interviewed a friend of a mainland Chinese tourist who was fined.
The mainland Chinese tourist said, “I find it ridiculous. I just have to pay money, right? Does he have the right not to take away the garbage? Does he? You can call the police to take it away for him.”
The man then went on to say, “I just knew smoking is not allowed, smoking is not allowed in public places. I just asked the person in uniform (the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department officer) whether I could smoke, and he said it’s allowed.” After speaking, he smoked in front of the camera.
The arrogant attitude of the mainland Chinese man has sparked dissatisfaction among Hong Kong netizens. Hong Kong netizens criticized, “His point is, I am unethical and uncivilized, so what?” “Shall we dump garbage at your doorstep and give you money for it?” “Too arrogant, the logic is that as long as you pay the fine, you can do whatever you want.”
Some Hong Kong residents also commented, “As Hong Kong people, these days are truly unbearable.”
According to a report by “Hong Kong 01,” a mainland Chinese netizen who claimed to be the person interviewed in question and uses the username “Person interviewed at Ham Tin Wan on 5.1 (Didn’t litter)” on the social media platform Little Red Book, later posted saying that he only met the student from Chongqing who was fined while on the bus, and his initial intention of speaking out was to help his friend “assert his rights,” but the video was “maliciously edited and taken out of context.” He mentioned that there were no signs near the restroom prohibiting the disposal of food scraps and questioned the incomplete identification and lack of sufficient evidence of the two Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department staff who directly issued high fines without proper Mandarin communication.
The post also claimed: “There were foreign white people with dogs on the beach, letting the dogs defecate everywhere, they ignored it and caught a child who didn’t understand anything, and fined them without notification… I’ve heard about double standards and now I’ve seen it.”
The above post on Little Red Book has since been deleted. It is noteworthy that on May 4th, the news report and video clips by Now News in Hong Kong were completely taken offline.
Renowned commentator in Hong Kong, Fung Yi-kin, wrote on Facebook that the interview segment with the mainland Chinese tourist was quickly taken down from the Now News website. It is evident that someone wanted to cover up the facts and attempt to downplay the negative image of mainland Chinese tourists.
Since the implementation of the National Security Law by the Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong, the region has been moving closer to mainland China, and its freedom has been restricted. In the 2026 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders, Hong Kong, which used to rank as high as 18th in press freedom globally, has maintained its position at 140th for two consecutive years, categorized as an area with “very bad situation.”
In recent years, the uncivilized behavior of many Chinese tourists has been criticized both domestically and internationally. Ms. Pang, who currently resides in Southeast Asia, stated that Chinese people were not like this in the past. In the past, China was known for its etiquette, but the current improper behavior of Chinese people is a result of decades of destruction of traditional Chinese culture and forceful reshaping of Chinese people by the Communist Party.