Criticism Over China's Past Prisoner Experience 'Tourism Product' Release
Offering Experience Wearing Prison Uniform and Walking Ancient Exile Routes
Bungee Jump Included to Reenact Suicide Scene
"Profiting from Tragic History?" Backlash Erupts
A scene of 'Ningguta exile' appearing in a Chinese drama. [Video source=Drama Hougong Jianhuanzhuan capture]
A tourism product that provides prisoner uniforms and shackles to allow people to experience the lives of exiled prisoners in the past has been launched in China, sparking controversy. Local netizens criticized it, saying it "exploits painful history for profit."
According to the Hong Kong media outlet South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 8th, Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China announced that starting in December, it will launch a so-called "Ningguta Exile Experience" program at the Jingpo Lake tourist site. They also expressed expectations that this product will greatly help increase tourists and revenue.
"Ningguta" was one of the most famous exile sites in Mudanjiang City, located in the southeast of Heilongjiang Province in the past. According to records, more than 1.5 million prisoners were exiled to Ningguta during the Qing Dynasty. Many prisoners lost their lives on the way to Ningguta, and those who survived were sometimes enslaved by local officials.
Tourists visiting this place can experience the lives of prisoners exiled to Ningguta in the past. First, tourists wear prisoner uniforms and put on wooden swords and shackles, then walk along the ancient exile route. Staff dressed as ancient prison guards are also present on site to enhance immersion. Tourists can even bungee jump to reenact the prisoners who, in despair, took their own lives by jumping off cliffs.
When the product was unveiled, local netizens poured out criticism. They responded with comments such as "Developing tragic history into a tourism product," "It's disrespectful to history," "What were the people in charge thinking?" "Will anyone actually go there?" "They have no sense at all," "If you go there, don’t call yourself Chinese," and "It’s shocking that this isn’t fake news." However, some positive reactions also appeared, such as "It’s important to remember history even like this," "It could be a good history lesson for children," and "It’s fun and fresh."
Meanwhile, Ningguta recently became a hot topic after appearing in the popular Chinese drama Hougong Jianhuan Zhuan (Empresses in the Palace). The drama is set during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty and depicts the story of a 16-year-old Han Chinese girl named Jianhuan who enters the palace as a maid, overthrows the empress, and rises to the position of empress dowager, along with the intrigues among the concubines. In the drama, Emperor Yongzheng exiles the empress’s family to Ningguta. Although this is fictionalized for dramatic purposes, in actual history many people were falsely accused and sent into exile.
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