The Mount Qomolangma tourism authorities in Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region are now considering putting tourists who graffiti the scenic spot on blacklist, after several monumental tablets have been defaced.
"Starting this year, we will set up a blacklist system to punish badly-behaved tourists, such as those who leave graffiti. The blacklist will be made public through media outlets," said Gu Chunlei, deputy head of the tourism bureau of Tibet's Tingri county, condemning tourists who doodled on the tablets which have now "lost their beauty," news site thepaper.cn reported Monday.
The busy tourist season on Mount Qomolangma, also known as Mount Everest, begins every May with an influx of tour buses arriving at the Mount Qomolangma Base Camp.
However some of these visitors have left tablets at the camp and a viewing platform at the entrance of Jiawula Pass covered with doodles, according to Gu.
The base camp is located 5,200 meters above sea level and allows climbers and tourists to rest.
Online photos showed one tablet covered with doodles, mostly signatures. One piece of graffiti, right in the middle of a tablet, read "tonight we hunt tigers" next to a drawing of a tiger claw, according to thepaper.cn.
The total number of trips to the base camp topped 40,000 in 2015 and an average of 550 trips were made every day during the busy season, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
"We will separately set up tablets for graffiti to meet the tourists' demand," Gu said.
