HIGH ALTITUDE NAMING AND SHAMING

Posted on 05/18/2016 | About Beijing, China

Two granite tablets on the Chinese side of Mount Everest's northern base camp are meant to provide information about the earth’s highest mountain. However, they are continually defaced by graffiti that obliterates the message which is written in Chinese, Tibetan and English.

The Chinese government has had the tablets cleaned so many times that they have now come up with an innovate solution. They will be naming and shaming those who leave their penmanship hoping to eliminate the vandalism problem altogether. The government already has a blacklist naming those involved in unfavourable behavior and giving airlines, hotels and other travel outlets the option of refusing them service. Tourism official Gu Chunlei said those who deface the property on Mount Everest will be added to the list and the update will be made public through social media outlets.

The government is also planning to install monuments where people are free to document their name or the “I was here” doodle, such as the one at the Great Wall outside Beijing. "It's a way of getting travellers to change their habits without even knowing it," Gu has been reported as saying. Tourists who climb Everest have to register their names before the climb so it would be easy for the government to identify the scribblers. Most of the graffiti is at the base camp, which is roughly 5,200 meters (17,060 feet) and a popular tourist site.

Gu said, “The spectacular natural scenery has lost its beauty because of the graffiti.” See recent stories about the Chinese government blacklist. Consequences

Named and Shamed