According to China's The Paper , the woman in the family, surnamed Tian, ​​from Hebei province, bought a tour worth 17,000 yuan (nearly 2,400 USD) from a company called Yunnan Guoyou, for a family of five, including a husband, wife and three children.

This company authorized another company, Yunnan Golden Tree Leaf, to operate the tour.

On February 12, the third day of the trip, Ms. Tian's family had a conflict with the tour guide, Mr. Zhang, because they refused to buy jewelry from a local store.

Earlier, the tour guide, surnamed Zhang, took the group to a jewelry store in Lijiang City, Yunnan Province, where a sales clerk tried to convince Ms. Tian to buy a gold bracelet for 50,000 yuan, equivalent to $7,000.

Ms. Tian praised the item but did not want to buy it because it was too expensive for her. However, the staff persisted in asking why she did not want to buy the bracelet.

“Are you not satisfied with my recommendation?” the saleswoman asked Ms. Tian.

After Ms. Tian answered, the sales staff suggested that she should invite tour guide Zhang to talk with her.

“Are you sure you don't want to buy this bracelet?” Zhang asked.

At this time, Tian discovered that other tourists in the group had bought expensive items here, but she still did not change her mind about not buying the bracelet.

The tour guide then asked Ms. Tian and her family to transfer to another tour bus.

Shocked and angry, Ms. Tian reported the incident to Lijiang city authorities, local police and the tour operator.

The city opened an investigation and on February 18 concluded that tour guide Zhang was fined 20,000 yuan ($2,800) and suspended from work for three months.

Authorities also revoked the tour operator's license.

Ms. Tian received a 10,000 yuan refund from the original tour purchaser, but has yet to receive an apology from tour guide Zhang.

According to SCMP , this story angered many social media users in China.

"Unbelievable. The price of the bracelet is even higher than the travel package for 5 people," one person wrote.

"Is this tourism? This is a trap," another person complained.

In fact, it is not uncommon in China for tour guides to force tourists to pay.

In January 2024, a tour guide insulted three students because they did not buy his expensive tour packages to a snow town in Heilongjiang, in the north of the country.

In May 2023, a tour guide was caught on video trying to pressure tourists into shopping by saying the bus would not depart until they "donated" money to the shops.