China’s tourists flock to experience a pretend typhoon as ‘dark tourism’ flourishes
Source: The Guardian ·
The concept of ‘paying to suffer’ soars in popularity, with simulated disasters proving a modern twist on visiting sites of historic tragedies When Leon Lv was looking for somewhere to travel last year, she turned to the Chinese social media app RedNote for ideas. The algorithm took her to videos of people struggling to survive typhoon-strength winds and flash floods.“I never experienced a…
From the source
When Leon Lv was looking for somewhere to travel last year, she turned to the Chinese social media app RedNote for ideas. The algorithm took her to videos of people struggling to survive typhoon-strength winds and flash floods. “I never experienced a typhoon. I don’t know how it will feel and what will happen. I just have seen it on the news,” says the 28-year-old from Chongqing in south-west China. “So that’s why I want to go there to have a safe place to experience it and learn something.” She travelled more than 1,300km to Hangzhou in the east, and joined a group of 20 to take part in a disaster simulation that featured a typhoon-fuelled flooding scenario. Standing in a simulated flood, her mind momentarily went blank as hundreds of tonnes of water swept people off their feet, and carried them towards a safety barrier. As the surge hit, she forgot she was in a simulation. “One thing I learned is how to stay calm and protect myself during a flood. I learned how to use the right…
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