Public toilets in popular travel destinations in mainland China could be the latest trap for extortion scams, a veteran Hong Kong tour guide has warned, advising tourists who planned to visit during the upcoming October National Day holiday to apply extra caution despite nature’s call.

A recent incident was reported near the city of Dunhuang in the northwest Gansu province, which is best known for the Mogao Caves and a stop on the ancient Silk Road. A tourist driving through the desert in mid-August saw signs pointing to a public toilet in an off-road base and as he headed in that direction, his car fell into a pit hidden beneath the sand dunes.

The tourist asked for help but the staff of the base said it would cost 3,000 yuan (US$442) to hire two trailers to drag the car out. Another traveler passing by witnessed the incident and tried to reason with the hostile staff, who then threatened to call the police.

A video capturing this incident went viral in mainland China, and dozens of travelers have since come forward sharing similar experiences. One traveler from Shandong said she had gone through the same ordeal at that exact location just a few days before the viral incident.

Veteran Hong Kong tour guide Lee Shu-kwan warned that tourists should be wary of potential tourist traps that attempted to extort money. He said he had a similar experience when leading a tour group to Tibet, where villagers would sometimes appear from out of nowhere, blocking the coach and asking for cash.

Lee advised travelers not to engage in arguments with those leading the scams, but to seek the help of locals or police.

The police department of the city of Dunhuang said on Sept. 15 that it already arrested five suspects from the base, and two of them were facing criminal detention. The Dunhuang Cultural Tourism Bureau recently began a 40-day campaign to clean up those tourist traps. The base and the toilet in question have since been removed, mainland media reported, and the local government has also built a new mobile toilet in the area for tourists.

Tourism in mainland China is on its way to recovery as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes and the October National Day holiday approaches.

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