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

Tourist Claims to Be Injured 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 1, 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 any purchases, you must pay the difference in price.” 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 4, a reporter from The Paper contacted the travel agency involved. The relevant person in charge of the travel agency stated that Ms. Liu, the tour guide involved, had been suspended from her duties to assist in the investigation. The other tourists continued their trip with a new tour guide and were not 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 tour guide. It is possible that the facts have been unilaterally exaggerated and distorted.”

Mr. Li said that when he was insulted by Ms. Liu, he first pushed 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 expertise 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, stating that the incident was under investigation.

The tourist claimed to have been injured in a conflict with the tour guide at a shopping stop.

In November 2024, Mr. Li signed up for a low-priced “6-day tour of Shaoshan, Guilin, and Yangshuo” upon a friend’s recommendation. “A friend who loves to travel told me that there was a tour group going to Guilin and Hunan and they were still missing one person. Since I had nothing to do recently, I decided to join,” he said.

“I didn’t fill out any registration form since it was through a friend. There was indeed a lack of procedure, but the local travel agency in Guilin had my information,” he added.

The promotional poster showed that the tour Mr. Li 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. Visitors are welcome to make purchases voluntarily during the group visits, and please cooperate with the tour guide’s shopping schedule.”

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

That evening, Ms. Liu led the tour group to visit Xiangshan Park and the Sun and Moon Twin Towers, and then the tourists checked into a hotel for rest.

On December 1, Ms. Liu took the tour group to a kitchenware store in Wayao Town. Mr. Li said that Ms. Liu informed the tourists that since it was a low-priced tour, there would be about four shopping stops, and she hoped everyone would purchase what they liked based on their needs. For the next 20 minutes, the tour group received sales pitches from the sales staff in the exhibition hall. During this time, Mr. Li looked down at his phone to check a message, and Ms. Liu told him not to play with his phone. When he left the exhibition hall to go to the corridor, he was stopped by Ms. Liu again.

“She said that if I didn’t make any purchases, I would have to pay the difference in price for the low-priced tour,” Mr. Li said. He believed that the tour guide had no right to restrict tourists’ use of their phones or to demand payment of the difference. Therefore, he asked Ms. Liu to show her tour guide license and inform him of the travel agency she belonged to. “After she refused to show it, she started insulting me. I couldn’t bear it after a few insults, so I pushed her and hit her. Then she retaliated. During the fight, I was scratched on my face multiple times, and my right eye was injured by her fingernail.”

On December 1, officers from Pingshan Police Station of Guilin Public Security Bureau took Mr. Li and Ms. Liu to the police station to make statements. Mr. Li said that since his right eye was injured and his vision decreased, 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.

The outpatient medical record issued by Guilin Hospital of The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University

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

On December 2, Mr. Li went to Pingshan Police Station again. He said that the police station suggested both parties reach a settlement, but he refused because his right eye was severely injured, and he was unsure if there would be more serious consequences later. Therefore, the police station imposed public security penalties on both parties. Subsequently, Mr. Li applied for judicial expertise, and the police station entrusted the Judicial Expertise Center of The Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical University to conduct the expertise for Mr. Li.

The power of attorney for judicial expertise

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 information of the travel agency to handle the complaint, but “Ms. Liu never provided any relevant information.”

On December 3, Mr. Li went to the Complaint Center of Guilin Municipal Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism Bureau with the power of attorney for judicial expertise to lodge a complaint offline. The staff confirmed that the travel agency the tour guide belonged to was Guilin Shanhai Travel Agency. In the afternoon of the same day, the bureau mediated between Mr. Li and Shanhai 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 expertise 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 first and give a reply the next day.

However, on the way out of the Complaint Center, Mr. Li encountered Ms. Liu, the tour guide involved, 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. Then I called the police.”

The tour guide involved has been suspended from her duties, and relevant departments have介入 to investigate

Regarding the compensation for this incident, Mr. Li said he hoped it would be determined based on the recovery of his eye and whether his face would leave scars. “If the other party was injured during the mutual fight, I am also willing to compensate according to the judicial expertise report,” he added.

The notice of administrative case filing

On December 4, The Paper called Shanhai Travel Agency. The relevant person in charge of the travel agency said that the current situation of the tourist was unknown, and they had not contacted him after the mediation. “The travel agency has filed a case with the public security department, and the culture, radio, television, 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 tour guide. It is possible that the facts have been unilaterally exaggerated and distorted. I hope everyone will not believe one-sided words.”

The person in charge of the travel agency mentioned above said that the relevant tour group had been taken over by a new tour guide and continued the 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, and then both parties became emotionally intense and started a physical altercation. The Paper noticed that in the 4th second of the video, Mr. Li pushed Ms. Liu, and in the 8th second, both parties started fighting each other. In the 11th second, the staff of the shopping store tried to break up the fight, but they started fighting again. In the 27th second of the video, the two were separated and continued their verbal argument until the police were called to handle the situation.

On the same day, The Paper called the Complaint Center of the Enforcement Squad of Guilin Municipal Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism