BEIJING: A Chinese university student has sparked anger on social media in China and Japan after documenting his disrespectful “poverty travel” exploits in Osaka.
His outrage-causing actions included abusing free samples of food and drying his hair with a public hand dryer.
The travel influencer known as Yikeshu, who boasts nearly 200,000 followers on a major mainland social media platform, claimed to be a 21-year-old student at Hainan University in Haikou, Hainan province, southern China.
He gained online attention for documenting his budget travel in a video titled “Welcome to watch my day travelling Osaka for 100 yuan (US$14)”.
His disruptive behaviour reportedly began the moment he landed at Kansai International Airport.
While queuing at customs, he ignored “no filming” signs, pulled out his camera, and began shooting indiscriminately while muttering insults and declaring to the camera: “Directly entering little Japan.”
In the airport toilets, he treated a public sink like a personal spa, filming himself washing his hair and then using the powerful hand dryer as a makeshift hairdryer.
While on board the Nankai Electric Railway heading into Osaka, he was filmed performing pull-ups on the train’s hanging handles, treating the fixtures as fitness equipment.
He then lay across multiple seats in a quiet coach and loudly sang the patriotic song, Love My China.
To save money on drinks, he claimed to teach viewers how to “drink water for free”.
He boldly walked into a restaurant, asked staff for a cup and began frantically drinking the free tea before walking out without buying anything.
During a visit to a local market, in a bid to save yet more money, the man approached a fruit stall offering small samples and treated the tasting plate like his personal buffet by eating grapes one by one using a bamboo skewer.
The person running the stall noticed and reminded him to throw away the used stick.
But he ignored her and continued using the same one until she covered the sample plate with cling film.
He only stopped after eating seven grapes, at which point the vendor removed the entire sample tray.
The incident sparked a wave of criticism from both Japanese and Chinese netizens.
One Japanese commenter said: “Absolutely shameless. What a monkey.”
Another added: “Honestly, I have no problem with most Chinese tourists, but it only takes one person like this to drag down the whole image.”
Chinese netizens echoed the sentiment: “Some people work hard to build a positive image for Chinese people, while others go out of their way to destroy it. Why does the platform not ban people like this?”
“This kind of person is a cancer to China’s international image. Years of effort by 100 people can be ruined in an instant by just a single person’s stupid actions,” said another.
Amid a mounting backlash, the influencer eventually deleted the controversial video. The social media platform has not responded. - South China Morning Post
