A hotel in China with rooms costing 2,500 yuan (US$350) per night has come under fire for charging customers for taking a second bath or shower, with widespread criticism of the practice on mainland social media.
An unidentified Chinese woman booked a two-night stay in the hotel in Yunnan province in southwestern China. When she arrived at the room, she was surprised to see a sign stating an additional fee for a second shower or bath to save water, Shangyou News reported.
After the woman shared details of the extra fee online, an unnamed hotel staff member said the hotel imposed the cost to reduce excessive water consumption by guests showering or bathing more than once.
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Another staff member added that the hotel needed to ensure a regular water supply for guests during the summer holiday season. The staff member said the sign had been up for a month, but no one had yet been charged for a second shower or bath.
The hotel’s policy outraged many who saw the woman’s story online.
One person asked: “Does the hotel charge for air conditioning usage?”
Another person added: “What happens if two people stay in a room?”
Earthquake under bed
A woman in Beijing became suspicious that someone was hiding under her bed after feeling movement and called the local police.
However, she was told by bemused police officers that the vibration was caused by a slight earthquake that took place earlier.
Star Video reported that the unnamed woman living alone called the police when she felt her bed shaking. During the call, she pretended to order takeaway food as she was afraid there was a person hiding in the room.
“Are you in danger?” a police officer asked.
“Yes,” the woman answered.
When two police officers arrived at the woman’s flat, they did not find anyone under her bed, which confused the woman.
“Nobody? Why was the bed shaking? There wasn’t any earthquake?” the woman asked.
“No, a slight earthquake just happened earlier,” one officer replied.
Hearing this, the woman burst into tears, and the police officers had to calm her down.
The story sparked debate on mainland social media, with many people praising the woman and the police for being vigilant, but some criticised the woman for wasting police resources.
Corpses in room prank
A father in China who told his young son to change the Chinese characters on a hotel blackboard sign from “there are rooms” to “there are corpses” as a joke has shocked mainland social media observers.
Surveillance footage from the hotel in Guangdong province in southeastern China showed the father talking with his son, whose age was unclear, at the entrance to the hotel before the boy turned around to write on the small blackboard, Star Video reported.
A hotel employee, surnamed Zhang, recalled that the father, his son and two other family members showed up at the hotel on the afternoon of August 9. When leaving, the father asked the boy to change the character on the sign for “room” into “corpse”.
“I’m very angry. An adult shouldn’t teach a child to do something like that,” Zhang told Star Video.
Zhang said that the hotel had been unable to identify the family.
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