Tourist claims to have been injured after clash with low-priced tour guide at shopping spot; relevant departments in Guilin have intervened

Tourist Claims Injury in Altercation with Tour Guide at Shopping Stop

Recently, Mr. Li from Pingdingshan, Henan province, reported to The Paper’s public interaction platform “Service Pai” (https://tousu.thepaper.cn) that on December 1st, while following a low-priced tour group organized by Guilin Shanhai Travel Agency to a shopping stop, he had a conflict with the tour guide, Ms. Liu, who stated that “if you don’t make a purchase, you must pay the price difference.” This led to a physical altercation where Mr. Li’s face was scratched, and his right cornea was damaged. Afterwards, he was also surrounded and insulted by Ms. Liu and others.

Regarding this dispute, on December 4th, a reporter from The Paper contacted the travel agency involved. The relevant person in charge of the travel agency stated that the tour guide Ms. Liu had been suspended from her duties to assist in the investigation, and other tourists continued their trip with a new guide without being affected. In response to the allegation of forced shopping, the person in charge said, “The tourist cannot provide evidence of being forced to shop by the guide. It is possible that the facts are exaggerated and distorted unilaterally.”

Mr. Li said that when he was insulted by Ms. Liu, he first shoved her, and then she retaliated. “If the other party was injured during the mutual fight, I am also willing to compensate according to the judicial appraisal report.”

A staff member from the Complaint Center of the Enforcement Squad of Guilin Municipal Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism Bureau responded to The Paper that the incident was under investigation.

Mr. Li joined a low-priced “6-day tour of Shaoshan, Guilin, and Yangshuo” in November 2024 upon a friend’s recommendation. The promotional poster indicated that the tour he joined was a “VIP exclusive event” with “government and scenic spot subsidies.” The introduction on the poster’s link stated, “The tour includes visits to 4+2 shopping stores. Supermarkets and ethnic minority villages are not considered shopping stores, and tourists are free to purchase during the visits. Please cooperate with the tour guide’s shopping schedule.”

Mr. Li said that on November 30th, the local tour guide Ms. Liu received the tour group. “She introduced herself as the local tour guide but did not show her guide license or inform us of the travel agency she belonged to.”

On the evening of December 1st, Ms. Liu took the tour group to a kitchenware store in Wayao Town. Mr. Li said that Ms. Liu informed the tourists that because it was a low-priced tour, there would be about four shopping stops, and she hoped everyone would purchase items as needed. For the next 20 minutes, the tour group was subjected to sales pitches by the staff in the exhibition hall. During this time, when Mr. Li checked his phone after receiving a message, he was told by Ms. Liu not to use it. He then left the exhibition hall and went to the corridor, where he was stopped by Ms. Liu again.

“She said that if I didn’t make a purchase, I had to pay the price difference for the low-priced tour,” Mr. Li said. He believed that the tour guide had no right to restrict tourists’ use of mobile phones or demand payment of price differences. He asked Ms. Liu to show her guide license and inform him of her travel agency. “After she refused to show it, she started insulting me. After several insults, I couldn’t bear it and shoved her, punched her, and then she retaliated. During the process, I was scratched on the face multiple times, and my right eye was injured by her fingernail.”

On December 1st, officers from Pingshan Police Station of Guilin Public Security Bureau took Mr. Li and Ms. Liu to the station to make statements. Mr. Li said that due to his injured right eye and decreased vision, he went to the hospital for examination first. The outpatient medical record he provided showed that the hospital diagnosed him with a corneal abrasion on his right eye.

Later that afternoon, Mr. Li went to the Guilin branch of the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University for a re-examination. The diagnosis was corneal abrasion, corneal epithelial injury, facial abrasions, and other injuries on his right eye.

On December 2nd, Mr. Li went to Pingshan Police Station again. He said that the police suggested both parties reach a settlement, but he refused due to the severity of his right eye injury and the uncertainty of its long-term impact. The police then imposed administrative penalties on both parties. Subsequently, Mr. Li applied for a judicial appraisal, and the police entrusted the Judicial Expertise Center of the Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical University to conduct the appraisal for him.

Offline mediation failed, and the tourist claimed to be surrounded by the tour guide. On the day of the injury, Mr. Li called the complaint hotline of Guilin Municipal Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism Bureau multiple times. He said that the staff stated that they needed the travel agency’s information to handle the complaint, but “Ms. Liu never provided any relevant information.”

On December 3rd, Mr. Li went to the Complaint Center of Guilin Municipal Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism Bureau with the judicial appraisal letter. The staff confirmed that the tour guide involved belonged to Guilin Shanhai Travel Agency. In the afternoon, the Bureau mediated between Mr. Li and the travel agency. He said that during the mediation, the person in charge of the travel agency promised that “the local travel agency would be responsible for Mr. Li’s current medical expenses. After the judicial appraisal results come out in three months, the subsequent medical expenses will have nothing to do with the local travel agency.”

Mr. Li said he would consider it and give a reply the next day.

However, on the way out of the Complaint Center, Mr. Li encountered Ms. Liu again. “She was standing on the roadside with four other people. I didn’t see them at first because my vision is very poor now,” Mr. Li said. “When she saw me, she started shouting, ‘It’s him, it’s him,’ and then the five of them surrounded me, blocked my way, insulted me, and prepared to attack. I called the police immediately.”

The tour guide involved has been suspended from her duties, and relevant departments have介入to investigate the incident. Regarding compensation for the incident, Mr. Li said he hoped it would be determined based on the recovery of his eye and whether his face leaves scars. “If the other party was injured during the mutual fight, I am also willing to compensate according to the judicial appraisal report.”

On December 4th, The Paper called Shanhai Travel Agency. The relevant person in charge of the agency stated that the tourist’s condition was unknown, and they had not been in contact since the mediation. “The travel agency has filed a case with the public security department, and the Cultural and Tourism Bureau is also coordinating. Ms. Liu has been suspended from her duties to assist in the investigation,” the person in charge said. “The tourist cannot provide evidence of being forced to shop by the guide. It is possible that the facts are exaggerated and distorted unilaterally. I hope everyone will not believe one-sided words.”

The person in charge of the travel agency mentioned above stated that the relevant tour group had been taken over by a new guide and continued their trip without any impact on the itinerary.

The video provided by Shanhai Travel Agency showed that Mr. Li and the tour guide Ms. Liu first had a verbal conflict, which then escalated into a physical altercation as both parties’ emotions intensified. The Paper noticed that in the 4th second of the video, Mr. Li shoved Ms. Liu, and by the 8th second, both parties started fighting each other. At the 11th second, staff from the shopping store tried to break up the fight, but they continued fighting again. At the 27th second, the two were separated and continued their verbal argument until the police arrived.

On the same day, The Paper called the Complaint Center of the Enforcement Squad of Guilin Municipal Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism Bureau, and the staff stated that the relevant incident was under investigation and no conclusion had been reached. When contacted, staff from Guilin Pingshan Police Station said that the progress of handling the incident could not be disclosed over the phone and required a face-to-face consultation.